In February 1964, the Beatles made their first visit Stateside. The Liverpudlians performed twice on the Ed Sullivan show, and played concerts in Washington, D.C.’s Coliseum and New York’s Carnegie Hall, all while I Want to Hold Your Hand and the album Meet the Beatles rode high on the U.S. charts and dominated the airwaves. Meanwhile, in Miami's 5th St. Gym, 22-year-old Cassius Clay was preparing for his fight against world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston the following week. At the time, Liston was the most fearsome fighter in the world, and Clay was a considerable underdog. Fleet Street photographer Harry Benson was traveling with the Beatles. Benson sold them on the idea of a photo shoot with Liston. But Liston wouldn't play, and the closest Benson could get was a shoot with — in the words of John Lennon — "that bigmouth who's going to lose." Clay was late to the shoot, leaving the Beatles hanging around in the boxer's dressing room, furious with Benson. "Where the fuck is he?" asked Ringo Starr. "Let's get the hell out of here," John Lennon said. The Beatles ended the day by going to a drive-in movie, Elvis Presley's Fun In Acapulco. One week later, on Feb. 25, Clay stunned the world by scoring a technical knockout over Liston, when the champion failed to answer the bell for the seventh round. Cassius Clay was named world heavyweight champion. Soon after, he announced his conversion to Islam, and that henceforth he would be known by a new name: Muhammad Ali.