Why did the Beatles's album cover for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", released in 1967, feature Sonny Liston and not Cassius Clay?

4. Even Beatle naysayers were included
Boxer Sonny Liston was an odd choice , given that The Beatles had met and posed famously with Muhammed Ali, who twice defeated Liston. Also, after attending a Beatles concert in 1964, Liston said of Ringo, "My dog drums better than that guy."

The Beatles had only been in the US for 11 days when their tour managers marshalled them into Miami Beach's 5th Street Gym for a photo opportunity with 22-year-old boxer Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali following his conversion to Islam). At the time, Clay had been busy preparing for his big upcoming fight with the Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston. The Beatles, meanwhile, had turned up in Florida to film their second performance for the Ed Sullivan Show.

The Beatles were photographed multiple times in the ring with Clay for the newspapers during the visit. As seen in the photo collection below, the visit was quite the occasion, with all involved seemingly in great spirits. Despite appearances, though, The Beatles were purportedly hoping to see Liston and not, as John Lennon said, the "loudmouth who's going to lose".

In the following weeks, Clay, "the loudmouth", was the one to win the fight as Liston bowed out in the seventh round. Clay also went on to win the highly anticipated rematch the following year in a first-round knockout on his unstoppable rise to prominence as one of the finest boxers in history, or as he put it, "the greatest". Despite Clay's dominance over this period, The Beatles remained loyal fans of Liston and even included his wax model in the photograph taken for the famous, star-studded album cover for 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.