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Ali won most of his fights before they even started, by getting into his opponent's head. He had Sonny Liston beat in their first fight before it started. Sonny was a classic bully, but there were two things that Liston was deathly afraid of---needles, and crazy people. Ali played the crazy role to the hilt. Liston was so reluctant to mix it up with Ali, and so frustrated by not being able to land a big punch, that his corner put liniment on his gloves, hoping that it would get into Ali's eyes, and Liston could blindside him. It almost worked---Ali managed to dance around blinded, and almost quit on his stool between rounds. Angelo Dundee rinsed his eyes and shoved him back out, and in another 15 seconds or so, his vision cleared. By the time of the rematch, Liston knew there was no way he could beat Ali, so he took a dive. Liston's fear of needles was legendary, so when they reported his death as a heroin overdose, many were suspicious.
The head games didn't work with Frazier. But that didn't stop Ali from trying.
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