- Manufactured by
- Unidentified
- Written by
- Ali, Muhammad, American, 1942 - 2016
- Subject of
- Liston, Sonny, American, 1928 - 1970
- Deford, Gill, American
- Date
- 1963
- Medium
- graphite on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W: 6 × 3 3/8 in. (15.2 × 8.6 cm)
- Caption
- This note was written in the summer of 1963, months before the World Heavyweight Championship fight between Clay and Sonny Liston in February 1964. The Sports Illustrated reporter Frank Deford was on the train with Clay, headed back to New York, when he asked for an autograph for his younger brother Gill. Clay wrote the note on a piece of paper from Deford’s reporter’s notepad. Though the fight with Liston was months away, Deford noted that “[Clay] had recently begun to predict victory for himself.” He added that “So far as I know, though, this was the first written declaration of the prediction which would so shock the sports world.”
- Description
- A handwritten autograph note from Cassius Clay to Gill Deford, brother of Sports Illustrated Reporter Frank Deford. The note is handwritten in pencil in cursive text that reads [To Gill / From / Cassius / Clay / Next Champ / Liston / in 8]. The note is written on white, college rule paper, torn from a pocket sized, top bound, spiral notepad. The back of the note is blank.
- Place made
- New York, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Memorabilia and Ephemera - Other
- Type
- autographs
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Given to Frank Deford, a writer for Sports Illustrated, in August 1963
- Object number
- 2018.33
- Restrictions & Rights
- No Known Copyright Restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




