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>> so when these workshops happen, sort of anti-blackness workshops, it feels like it's either black people showing up who are kind of like, yeah, i already know this. you know what i mean? or it's like white people showing up who are like, oh, my god, i never had any of these thoughts. and it feels like if those people are living together, one of them is not being served sometimes. you know what i mean? >> what we've learned is that a lot of the issues of other intersections of oppression become more real here. so we focus on race. yeah, you can bring up that white people are problematic. but while we're talking about anti-blackness, black people play into that, too. even you. >> oh, yeah. >> so what does that mean in this space? >> okay, and just for the record, as i came in here, one of the producers told me that you're related to sunny liston. i'm pretty proud of myself that i didn't ask any sunny liston questions. >> oh, yeah, that's my great uncle. >> yeah, that's cool. i'm not going to ask any questions because that's not what we're here to talk about. >> ok, well, i represent, though. >> i like that. ..
i took on the world. i took out the world. >> see, that fight had everything. politics, civil rights, and race all in one. here's the big story. the washington times had a freedom of information request and they got it. the fbi believed that that fight was fixed and they have all different types of characters from the mob world, a big gambler, ash resnic, all involved in this. bob, you're a big boxing guy. you watch that fight, all eight rounds, as upsetting and shocking as it was, was it fixed? >> look, it may have been fixed. but there was no question he was beaten. ali killed the guy. there was no fix in this thing. if anybody had it fixed, they had a pretty bad bet on their hands because ali was right, he didn't have a mark on his face. liston looked uglier than when he went in the ring. ali was the single greatest fighter in the history of the world, and he knocked the hell
cnn's pamela brown is here with more. fascinating. >> it really is. rumors have swirled for decades. now, new details are emerging that may fuel even more speculation about this fairy tale fight. the fbi reportedly received tips that it may have been fixed. for the first time, we are hearing that the fbi launched a brief investigation into the matter to confirm or deny the rumors. even 50 years after that bell rang, mo ham mid ali's underdog victory against sunny liston still has people mesmerized. his round three pummeling of liston cut open his eye leaving the winner on the sidelines. he bowed out before round 8, the most surprising upset of the century, forever writing ali into the history book. four decade-old fbi documents
it was one of the greatest sports moments of the 20th century. february 25th, 1964. a young 22-year-old boxer named cassius clay clocked out sunny liston, supposed to be unbeatable, to win the heavyweight title. he renamed himself muhammad ali the next day. no one could have predicted out the match would end. not even the greatest's own rinkside team. >> hardly anyone gave him a chance against sonny liston, a cold, brutal ex-conwith a devastating left hook. even fergie pacheco was concerned. >> you were really worried liston was going to hurt cassius clay. >> not hurt him, kill him. >> but it didn't turn out that way at all. here's ali after the fight. >> so great, i don't have a mark on my face. and i just turned 22 years old. i must be the greatest. i am the king of the world. >> hold it, hold it. >> i'm a bad man.
it was one of the greatest sports moments of the 20th century. february 25th, 1964. a young 22-year-old boxer named cassius clay clocked out sunny liston, supposed to be unbeatable, to win the heavyweight title. he renamed himself muhammad ali the next day. no one could have predicted out the match would end. not even the greatest's own rinkside team. >> hardly anyone gave him a chance against sonny liston, a cold, brutal ex-conwith a devastating left hook. even fergie pacheco was concerned. >> you were really worried liston was going to hurt cassius clay. >> not hurt him, kill him. >> but it didn't turn out that way at all. here's ali after the fight. >> so great, i don't have a mark on my face. and i just turned 22 years old. i must be the greatest. i am the king of the world. >> hold it, hold it. >> i'm a bad man.
i took on the world. i took out the world. >> see, that fight had everything. politics, civil rights, and race all in one. here's the big story. the washington times had a freedom of information request and they got it. the fbi believed that that fight was fixed and they have all different types of characters from the mob world, a big gambler, ash resnic, all involved in this. bob, you're a big boxing guy. you watch that fight, all eight rounds, as upsetting and shocking as it was, was it fixed? >> look, it may have been fixed. but there was no question he was beaten. ali killed the guy. there was no fix in this thing. if anybody had it fixed, they had a pretty bad bet on their hands because ali was right, he didn't have a mark on his face. liston looked uglier than when he went in the ring. ali was the single greatest fighter in the history of the world, and he knocked the hell
10,000 miles away and fight a white man's war or any war for that matter. that cost him dearly in the short term but in the long term i think we the people in this country largely came around to understand and support where he was coming from. at the time he was vilified in many corners. he was always a hero to many, but in, you know, mainstream white america he was a villain. people have forgotten that. >> it's very difficult to think back to that time and how much he was hated in that time and how much he's loved now. i want to dig in deeper to something you talked about. a lot of the the film is about ali's spiritual development talking about a young christian, why is jesus white and then becoming a nation of islam figure. i feel like the cassius clay you're talking about, preparing to fight sunny liston, he became a muslim, nobody knew about it. that had a huge impact on him in the ring, giving him a
handcuff lightning, throw thunder in jail. floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. who are we talking about? muhammad ali. we honor the greatest by remembering that. on this date back in 1964 ali beat sunny liston for the world heavyweight championship. it is hailed as the fourth greatest sports moment of the 20th century. well back now to just where we are in today's reality. with 48 hours to go the supreme court is going to hear arguments in a case that examines the constitutionality of a law considered the most effective civil rights statute in american history. the law is the voting rights act signed by lyndon johnson in 1965. what's under scrutiny, section 5 of the act. requires states in areas with a history of racial discrimination to get federal approval before changing their voting laws and nine poll states and parts of seven others are subject to it. the significance of that is not lost on civil rights activists. many are ramping up their messaging ahead of wednesday's