While Liston publicly denied taking a dive, "Sports Illustrated" writer Mark Kram said that years later Liston told him, "That guy was crazy. I didn't want anything to do with him. And the Muslims were coming up. Who needed that? So I went down. I wasn't hit." The fact that Liston didn't complain about the clear breach of boxing rules (being declared knocked out without a count) and Ali's obvious state of bewilderment, shouting at Liston "Nobody will believe this" and asking his handlers "Did I hit him?" confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. There have been a number of unproven theories as to the background to the purported dive including that Liston was threatened by the Muslims, or agreed to lose in return for a share in the more marketable Ali's future purses. Credence to the latter theory is provided by the fact that Liston, immediately after his fight with Chuck Wepner, seemed more concerned about supporting the proposed Ali-Frazier bout and Ali's claims to be champion than promoting his own career.