Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 1930 – December 30, 1970) was an American
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
champion in 1962 after knocking out
Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural
WBC heavyweight champion. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long
reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance.
Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he
lost the title in 1964 to
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
(then known as Cassius Clay), who entered as a 7–1
underdog
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...
. Liston retired in his corner due to an inflamed shoulder. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. In his 1965 rematch with Ali, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix. He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died in mysterious circumstances in 1970. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma.
''The Ring'' magazine ranks Liston as the tenth greatest heavyweight of all time, while boxing writer Herb Goldman ranked him second and Richard O'Brien, Senior Editor of ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'', placed him third. Alfie Potts Harmer in The Sportster also ranked him the third greatest heavyweight and the sixth greatest boxer at any weight. Liston was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
in 1991.
Early life
Family
Charles "Sonny" Liston was born into a
sharecropping
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
family who farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township,
St. Francis County, Arkansas. His father, Tobe Liston, was in his mid 40s when he and his wife, Helen Baskin, who was almost 30 years younger than Tobe, moved to Arkansas from Mississippi in 1916. Helen had one child before she married Tobe, and Tobe had 13 children with his first wife. Tobe and Helen had 12 children together; Sonny was the second youngest child.
Date of birth
There is no official record of Liston's birth. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965.
His family, but not one Charles (or Sonny) Liston, can be found in the 1930 census, and in the 1940 census he was listed as 10 years old.
[ It has been suggested Liston himself may not have known what year he was born, as he was not precise on the matter. Liston believed his date of birth to be May 8, 1932, and used this for official purposes] but by the time he won the world title an aged appearance added credence to rumors that he was actually several years older. One writer concluded that Liston's most plausible date of birth was July 22, 1930, citing census records and statements from his mother during her lifetime.[
]
Youth
Tobe Liston inflicted whippings so severe on Sonny that the scars were still visible decades later. "The only thing my old man ever gave me was a beating," Liston said.[Reputations: Sonny Liston: The Champion Nobody Wanted (2001), 50 min, BBC Documentary] In 1946, Helen Baskin, along with some of her children, moved to St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
to seek factory work. Liston—aged around 13, according to his later reckonings—remained in Arkansas with his father. The following year, Sonny—determined to reunite with his mother and siblings—thrashed the pecans from his brother-in-law's tree and sold them in Forrest City, Arkansas
Forrest City is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who used the location as a campsite for a construction crew completing a railroad between Memphis and Litt ...
. With the proceeds, he traveled to St. Louis to live with his mother. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative.
Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed muggings and armed robberies. Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." When caught in January 1950, Liston gave his age as 20, while the '' St. Louis Globe-Democrat'' reported that he was 22.[ Convicted and sentenced to five years in the ]Missouri State Penitentiary
The Missouri State Penitentiary was a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, that operated from 1836 to 2004. Part of the Missouri Department of Corrections, it served as the state of Missouri's primary maximum security institution.Lombardi, George ...
, Liston started his prison time on June 1, 1950.
Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed three meals every day. The athletic director at Missouri State Penitentiary, Rev. Alois Stevens, suggested to Liston that he try boxing, and his obvious aptitude, along with an endorsement from Stevens, who was also a priest, aided Liston in getting an early parole. Stevens organized a sparring session with a professional heavyweight named Thurman Wilson to showcase Liston's potential. After two rounds, Wilson had taken enough. "Better get me out of this ring," exclaimed Wilson, "he is going to kill me!"
Amateur career
After Liston was released from prison on October 31, 1952, he had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders
Edward Sanders (born August 17, 1939) is an American poet, singer, activist, author, publisher and longtime member of the rock band the Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and hippie generations. Sanders is considered to have be ...
. He then outpointed Julius Griffin, winner of the New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, to capture the Intercity Golden Gloves
Intercity Golden Gloves is an amateur boxing tournament which is considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the three most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Chicago Golden Gloves and the New York Golden Gloves.
Goal
The Intercity ...
Championship on March 26 (representing Chicago). Liston was knocked down in the first round, but came back to control the next two rounds and had Griffin hanging on at the end.
Liston competed in the 1953 United States National Championships at Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (lat ...
and passed the preliminaries, stopping Lou Graff in the second round on April 13, but lost in the quarterfinals to 17-year-old Jimmy McCarter on April 15. He would later employ McCarter as a sparring partner
Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively ' free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to minimize injuries. By extension, argumentative debate ...
.
On June 23, 1953, a team consisting of ten recent St. Louis Golden Gloves champions of all weight classes, with Liston on top as the heavyweight, was gathered to represent the United States in an International Golden Gloves (USA vs. West Europe) competition at Kiel Auditorium
Kiel Auditorium was an indoor arena located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, from 1955 to 1968.
The site was home to Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. W ...
in St. Louis. Liston knocked out Hermann Schreibauer of West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
at 2:16 of the first round. The previous month, Schreibauer had won a bronze medal in the European Championships. At this time, the head coach of the St. Louis Golden Gloves team, Tony Anderson, stated that Liston was the strongest fighter he had seen.
Professional career
Early fights
Liston signed a contract in September 1953, proclaiming: "Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do." The only backers willing to put up the necessary money for him to turn professional were close to underworld figures, and Liston supplemented his income by working for racketeers as an intimidator-enforcer. The connections to organized crime were an advantage early in his career but were later used against him.
Liston made his professional debut on September 2, 1953, knocking out Don Smith in the first round in St. Louis, where he fought his first five bouts. He was , and had an exceptionally powerful physique, with a disproportionately long reach at . His fists measured around, the largest of any heavyweight champion. ''Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' writer Mort Sharnik said his hands "looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists." Liston's noticeably more muscular left arm, crushing left jab and powerful left hook lent credence to the widely held belief that he was left-handed, although he fought in an orthodox stance
In combat sports such as boxing, an orthodox stance is one in which the boxer places their left foot farther in front of the right foot, thus having their weaker side closer to the opponent. Because it favors the stronger, dominant side (often th ...
.
Early in his career, Liston faced capable opponents. In his sixth bout, he faced ranked heavyweight Johnny Summerlin (18-1-2) on national television and won in an eight-round decision. In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. Both fights were in Summerlin's hometown of Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
.
On September 7, 1954, Liston suffered defeat for the first time in his eighth professional fight, losing to Marty Marshall, a journeyman with an awkward style. In the third round, Marshall nailed Liston—reportedly while he was laughing—and broke his jaw. A stoic Liston finished the fight, but lost in an eight-round split decision. On April 21, 1955, he defeated Marshall in a rematch, dropping him four times en route to a sixth-round knockout. They fought for a third time on March 6, 1956, which Liston won by a ten-round unanimous decision.
Liston's criminal record, compounded by a personal association with a notorious labor racketeer, led to the police's stopping him on sight, and he began to avoid main streets. On May 5, 1956, a policeman confronted Liston and a friend about a cab parked near Liston's home. Liston assaulted the officer, breaking his knee and gashing his face. He also took his gun. He claimed the officer used racial slurs. A widely publicized account of Liston resisting arrest—even after nightsticks were allegedly broken over his skull—added to the public perception of him as a nightmarish "monster" impervious to physical punishment. He was parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
d after serving six months of a nine-month sentence, and was not prohibited from boxing during 1957. After repeated overnight detention by the St. Louis police and a thinly veiled threat to his life, Liston left for Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
March to the title
In 1958, Liston returned to boxing. He won eight fights that year, six by knockout. He also went with a new manager in 1958: Joseph "Pep" Barone, who was a front man for mobsters Frankie Carbo
Paul John "Frankie" Carbo (born Paolo Giovanni Carbo, ; August 10, 1904Bureau of Narcotics, Sam Giancana, The United States Treasury Department. ''Mafia: The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime''. 2007(pg. 85)/ref> – November 9, 1976) w ...
and Frank "Blinky" Palermo. The year 1959 was a banner one for Liston: after knocking out contender Mike DeJohn in six rounds he faced Cleveland Williams
Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams (June 30, 1933 – September 10, 1999) was an American professional boxer. A poll in '' The Ring'' magazine rated him as one of the finest boxers never to win a title.
Early life
Born in Griffin, Georgia, Williams sta ...
, a fast-handed fighter who was billed as the hardest-hitting heavyweight in the world against whom he showed durability, power and skill, nullifying Williams' best work before stopping him in the third round. This victory is regarded by some as Liston's most impressive performance. He rounded out the year by stopping Nino Valdez
Nino or Niño may refer to:
*Nino (name)
*Niño (name)
* Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court justice whose nickname was "Nino"
*El Niño, a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean
*NINO, an abbreviation for National Insurance number in th ...
and Willi Besmanoff
William David Besmanoff (October 4, 1932 – October 20, 2010) was a German boxer who was a heavyweight contender in the 1950s. He was born in Munich, Germany. His father was Jewish American. When Willi was 11, he was imprisoned in the Buche ...
.
In 1960 Liston won five more fights, including a rematch with Williams, who lasted only two rounds. Roy Harris
Roy Ellsworth Harris (February 12, 1898 – October 1, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote music on American subjects, and is best known for his Symphony No. 3.
Life
Harris was born in Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, 1898. His ancestr ...
, who had gone 13 rounds with Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
in a title match, was crushed in one round by Liston. Top contender Zora Folley
Zora "Bell" Folley (May 27, 1931 – July 7, 1972) was a mid-20th century American heavyweight boxer, known for his defensive game and punching ability.
Early life
Born in Dallas, Texas on 27 May 1931, Folley moved with his family to Chandler ...
was stopped in three rounds. After demolishing these top-ranked fighters in the heavyweight division, Liston was regarded as the top-contender champion-in-waiting.
Liston's streak of nine straight knockout victories ended when he won a unanimous twelve-round decision against Eddie Machen
Edward Mills "Eddie" Machen (June 15, 1932 – August 8, 1972) was an American professional boxer. He was one of 6 children of a rural mail carrier. Machen dropped out of high school and became an amateur boxer. However, after just 3 bouts he wa ...
on September 7, 1960. Machen's mobility enabled him to go the distance but he was clearly outpointed despite Liston being penalised for a low blow in the 11th round. Machen's taunting and his spoiling tactics of dodging and grappling—at one point almost heaving Liston over the ropes—so alienated the audience that Liston received unaccustomed support from the crowd. Before his bout with Liston, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
consulted Machen and was advised that the key to survival was to make Liston lose his temper.
Title challenge delay
Liston became the No. 1 contender in 1960, but the handlers of world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
refused to give him a shot at the title because of Liston's links to organized crime. While Liston began working into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he also continued his criminal behavior. Two more arrests—for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and another for impersonating a cop—led to Liston being suspended by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission on July 14, 1961. The suspension was honored in all states. Ironically, Patterson's manager, Cus D'Amato
Constantine "Cus" D'Amato (January 17, 1908 – November 4, 1985) was an Italian-American boxing manager and trainer who handled the careers of Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, and José Torres, all of whom went on to be inducted into the Internatio ...
, associated with racketeers and had his manager's license revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission
The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...
for alleged misconduct in connection with the Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
– Ingemar Johansson title fight in June 1959.
Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. The NAACP had urged Patterson not to fight Liston, fearing that a Liston victory would hurt the civil rights movement. Many African-Americans disdained Liston. Asked by a young white reporter why he was not fighting for freedom in the South, Liston deadpanned, "I ain't got no dog-proof ass."[ However, in 1963 in the aftermath of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Liston broke off a European boxing exhibition tour to return home and was quoted as saying he was "ashamed to be in America."][''Jet'', October 3, 1963, pg. 57.]
U.S. President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
also did not want Patterson to fight Liston. When Patterson met with the president in January 1962, Kennedy suggested that Patterson avoid Liston, citing Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
concerns over Liston's ties to organized crime.
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...
spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. Liston angrily responded by questioning whether Dempsey's failure to serve in World War I qualified him to moralize. Frustrated, Liston changed his management in 1961 and applied pressure through the media by remarking that Patterson, who had faced mostly white challengers since becoming champion, was drawing the color line against his own race.
Liston vs. Patterson
Patterson finally signed to meet Liston for the world title on September 25, 1962, in Comiskey Park in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. Leading up to the fight, Liston was an 8–5 betting favorite, although many picked Patterson to win. In an Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
poll, 64 of 102 reporters picked Patterson. ''Sports Illustrated'' predicted a Patterson victory in 15 rounds, stating: "Sonny has neither Floyd's speed nor the versatility of his attack. He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter." Former champions James J. Braddock
James Walter Braddock (June 7, 1905 – November 29, 1974) was an American boxer who was the world heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937.
Fighting under the name James J. Braddock (ostensibly to follow the pattern set by two prior world boxing ...
, Jersey Joe Walcott
Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the NYSAC, NBA, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight titles from 1951 to 1952 ...
, Ezzard Charles
Ezzard Mack Charles (July 7, 1921 – May 28, 1975), known as the Cincinnati Cobra, was an American professional boxer and World Heavyweight Champion. Known for his slick defense and precision, he is often considered the greatest light heavywei ...
, Rocky Marciano
Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the onl ...
and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
(at the time a rising contender named Cassius Clay), however, predicted a knockout by Liston in the first five rounds.
The fight turned out to be a mismatch. Liston, with a 25-pound weight advantage, to , knocked out Patterson at 2:06 of the first round, putting him down for the count with a powerful left hook to the jaw. ''Sports Illustrated'' writer Gilbert Rogin wrote that "that final left hook crashed into Patterson's cheek like a diesel rig going downhill, no brakes." It was the third-fastest knockout in a world heavyweight title fight, and the first time the defending champion had been knocked out in round one.
Rogin wrote that Patterson backers expected him to "go inside on Liston, fire away and then run like a thief in the night. He would not close in until the accumulated inside damage and Liston's own frustration had sapped the challenger's strength and will." Patterson's fatal mistake was that he "did not punch enough and frequently tried to clinch with Liston. ... In these feckless clinches he only managed to tie up one of Liston's arms. A grateful Liston found there was no need to give chase. The victim sought out the executioner." Rogin discounted speculation that Patterson had thrown the fight, writing: "The genesis of all this wide-eyed theorizing and downright baloney was the fact that many spectators failed to see the knockout blows."
World heavyweight champion
Upon winning the world heavyweight title, Liston had a speech prepared for the crowd that friends had assured him would meet him at the Philadelphia airport. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. Writer Jack McKinney said, "I watched Sonny. His eyes swept the whole scene. ... You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. ... He had been deliberately snubbed. Philadelphia wanted nothing to do with him."
During an era when white journalists still described black athletes in stereotypes, Liston had long been a target of racially charged slurs; he was called a "gorilla" and "a jungle beast" in print. Larry Merchant
Larry Merchant (born Larry Kaufman; February 11, 1931) is an American sportswriter, a longtime commentator for HBO sports presentations of ''HBO World Championship Boxing'', ''Boxing After Dark'' and HBO pay-per-view telecasts, called "the grea ...
, then a writer with the '' Philadelphia Daily News'', wrote: "A celebration for Philadelphia's first heavyweight champ is now in order. ... Emily Post would probably recommend a ticker-tape parade. For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." He also wrote that Liston's win over Patterson proved that "in a fair fight between good and evil, evil must win." Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. He also had a reputation for bullying people such as porters and waitresses.
Liston's run-ins with the police had continued in Philadelphia. He particularly resented a 1961 arrest by a black patrolman for loitering, claiming to have merely been signing autographs and chatting with fans outside a drugstore. A month later, Liston was accused of impersonating a police officer by using a flashlight to wave down a female motorist in Fairmount Park, although all charges were later dropped. Subsequently, Liston spent some months in Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
where a Catholic priest who acted as his spiritual adviser attempted to help bring his drinking under control. After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia."[
]
Liston vs. Patterson II
Patterson and Liston had a rematch clause in their contract. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Patterson, a 4-1 betting underdog, was knocked down three times and counted out at 2:10 of the first round. The fight lasted four seconds longer than the first one.[ Liston's victory was loudly booed. "The public is not with me. I know it", Liston said afterward. "But they'll have to swing along until somebody comes to beat me."]
Liston vs. Clay
Liston made his second title defense on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
against Cassius Clay
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
(Muhammad Ali). Liston was a heavy favorite. In a pre-fight poll, 43 of 46 sportswriters picked Liston to win by knockout. Odds makers gave Liston 7–1 to win. Clay countered in verse, "If you want to lose your money, then bet on Sonny!” Liston was supremely confident of easily beating Clay, trained minimally for the fight and went ahead with it despite an injury to his left shoulder.
From the opening bell Liston attempted to close with Clay, looking to land a hard punch to the head to end the fight quickly and decisively. Although Clay often carried his gloves down at his waist, seemingly open to attack, he proved very difficult to hit. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. As Liston pursued his target Clay retreated, using his foot speed to slip away into open space in the ring, largely circling to the left and away from the threat of a Liston left hook. Although the opening round saw Clay largely on the defensive, it was soon established that Clay could reverse roles quickly and take to the offensive with a remarkably fast series of combinations delivered to Liston's head. A sudden violent combination delivered with 30 seconds left in the round electrified the crowd. The opening round was fought an extra eight seconds, since both fighters and referee Barney Felix apparently did not hear the bell.
The second round saw Liston continue to pursue Clay. At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. Clay confessed later he had been hurt by the punch, but Liston was unable to press his advantage home. Two of the three official scorers, or judges, awarded the round to Liston, and the other scored the round even.
In the third round, Clay began to take control of the fight. At about 30 seconds into the round he hit Liston with several combinations, causing a bruise under Liston's right eye and a cut under his left, which eventually required eight stitches to close. It was the first time in his career that Liston had been cut. At one point in this attack, Liston was rocked as he was driven to the ropes.[Muhammad Ali, Thomas Hauser] A clearly angered Liston rallied at the end of the round when Clay seemed tired, delivering punishing body shots. It was probably Liston's best moment in the entire fight. Sitting on his stool between rounds, however, Liston was breathing heavily as his cornermen worked on his cut.
During the fourth round Liston appeared dominant as Clay coasted, keeping his distance. Joe Louis commenting on TV at ringside said "It's looking good for Sonny Liston". However, when Clay returned to his corner, he started complaining that there was something burning in his eyes and he could not see. "I didn't know what the heck was going on", Angelo Dundee
Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger".
People People with the given name
*Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church
*Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
, Clay's trainer, recalled on an NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
special 25 years later. "He said, 'Cut the gloves off. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' And I said, 'Whoa, whoa, back up, baby. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. What are you doing? Sit down!' So I get him down, I get the sponge and I pour the water into his eyes trying to cleanse whatever's there, but before I did that I put my pinkie in his eye and I put it into my eye. It burned like hell. There was something caustic in both eyes."
Biographer Wilfrid Sheed
Wilfrid John Joseph Sheed (27 December 1930 – 19 January 2011Christopher Lehmann-Haup ''The New York Times'', 19 January 2011) was an English-born American novelist and essayist.
Biography
Sheed was born in London, to Frank Sheed and Maisie ...
wrote in his book, ''Muhammad Ali: A Portrait in Words and Photographs'', that Clay's protests were heard by ringside members of the Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930.
A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
who initially suspected Dundee had blinded his fighter, and that the trainer deliberately wiped his own eyes with the corner sponge to demonstrate to Clay's approaching bodyguards that he had not intentionally blinded him.
The commotion was not lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run!"
It was later theorized that a substance used on Liston's cuts by Joe Pollino, his cut man, may have caused the irritation.
Clay later said that in round five he could only see a faint shadow of Liston during most of the round, but by circling and moving frantically he managed to avoid Liston and somehow survive. At one point, Clay was wiping his eyes with his right hand while extending his left arm—"like a drunk leaning on a lamppost" Bert Sugar
Herbert Randolph Sugar (June 7, 1936 – March 25, 2012) was an American boxing writer and sports historian known for his trademark fedora and unlit cigar.
Biography
Early life and education
Sugar was born in Washington, D.C. on June 7, 193 ...
wrote—to keep Liston at bay.
But by the sixth round his sight had cleared, and a clearly enraged Clay fought a blisteringly aggressive round landing numerous combination punches.
Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...
. At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. It was the first time since 1919—when Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...
defeated Jess Willard
Jess Myron Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was an American world heavyweight boxing champion billed as the Pottawatomie Giant who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title. Willard was known for size rat ...
—that a world heavyweight champion had quit on his stool. Liston said he quit because of a shoulder injury. Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. However, David Remnick
David J. Remnick (born October 29, 1958) is an American journalist, writer and editor. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his book '' Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire'', and is also the author of ''Resurrection'' and ''King of th ...
, for his book ''King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero'', interviewed one of Liston's cornermen, who told him that Liston could have continued: " he shoulderwas all BS. We had a return bout clause with Clay, but if you say your guy just quit, who is gonna get a return bout? We cooked up that shoulder thing on the spot." Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
matchmaker Teddy Brenner also disputed the shoulder injury, claiming he saw Liston use the same arm to throw a chair in his dressing room after the match.
There is ample evidence that Liston did carry an injury to his left shoulder into the fight. Sports Illustrated writer Tex Maule wrote that Liston's shoulder injury was legitimate. He cited Liston's inability to lift his arm: "There is no doubt that Liston's arm was damaged. In the sixth round, he carried it at belt level so that it was of no help in warding off the right crosses with which Clay probed at the cut under his left eye." He also cited medical evidence: "A team of eight doctors inspected Liston's arm at St. Francis Hospital in Miami Beach and agreed that it was too badly damaged for Liston to continue fighting. The torn tendon had bled down into the mass of the biceps, swelling and numbing the arm." Those findings were confirmed in a formal investigation immediately after the fight by Florida State Attorney Richard Gerstein, who also noted that there was little doubt that Liston went into the fight with a sore or lame shoulder. Despite Liston carrying an injury and being undertrained, Clay stated in 1975 that the first fight with Liston was the toughest of his career.
Ali vs. Liston II
Liston trained hard for the rematch, which was scheduled to take place November 13, 1964, in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. ''Time'' magazine said Liston had worked himself into the best shape of his career. However, there were again rumors of alcohol abuse in training. The extent to which Liston's heavy drinking and possible drug use may have contributed to his surprisingly poor performances against Ali is not known.
Three days before the fight, Ali needed emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia
A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin herni ...
. The bout would need to be delayed by six months. The new date was set for May 25, 1965. But as it approached, there were fears that the promoters were tied to organized crime and officials, most notably Suffolk County District Attorney Garrett H. Byrne, began to have second thoughts. Byrne sought an injunction blocking the fight in Boston because Inter-Continental Promotions was promoting the fight without a Massachusetts license. Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. On May 7, backers of the rematch ended the court battle by pulling the fight out of Boston. The promoters needed a new location quickly, whatever the size, to rescue their closed-circuit television commitment around the country. Governor John H. Reed
John Hathaway Reed (January 5, 1921 – October 31, 2012) was the List of governors of Maine, 67th Governor of Maine, Governor of Maine, holding office during the 1960s. He was once an Aroostook County, Maine, Aroostook County potato farmer. R ...
of Maine stepped forward, and within a few hours the promoters had a new site: Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...
, a mill town with a population of about 41,000 located north of Boston.
The ending of the fight remains one of the most controversial in boxing history. Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. Liston went down on his back. He rolled over, got to his right knee and then fell on his back again. Many in attendance did not see Ali deliver the punch. The fight quickly descended into chaos. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott
Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the NYSAC, NBA, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight titles from 1951 to 1952 ...
, a former world heavyweight champion, had a hard time getting Ali to go to a neutral corner. Ali initially stood over his fallen opponent, gesturing and yelling at him, "Get up and fight, sucker!" and "Nobody will believe this!"
When Walcott got back to Liston and looked at the knockdown timekeeper, Francis McDonough, to pick up the count, Liston had fallen back on the canvas. Walcott never did pick up the count. He said he could not hear McDonough, who did not have a microphone. Also, McDonough did not bang on the canvas or motion a number count with his fingers. McDonough, however, claimed Walcott was looking at the crowd and never at him. After Liston arose, Walcott wiped off his gloves. He then left the fighters to go over to McDonough. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him out—the fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. "Nat Fleischer
Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector.
Career
Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ' ...
The_Ring''.html" ;"title="The_Ring_(magazine).html" ;"title="ditor of ''The Ring (magazine)">The Ring''">The_Ring_(magazine).html" ;"title="ditor of ''The Ring (magazine)">The Ring''was sitting beside McDonough and he was waving his hands, too, saying it was over." Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fight—awarding Ali a first-round knockout victory. Strict interpretation of the knockdown/count rule states it is the referee's count and not the timekeeper's that is the official count. Furthermore, that count cannot be started until the fighter scoring the knockdown goes to and remains in a neutral corner. Ali did neither. Walcott never began a count in the ring because of Ali's non-compliance and his physical struggle with getting Ali to go to that neutral corner. The interference of ringside reporters regarding interpretation of the rules, the fight stoppage and the controversy after the fight had not been seen since The Long Count Fight between champion Gene Tunney
James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1 ...
and challenger Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...
in 1927.
The fight ranks as one of the shortest heavyweight title bouts in history. Many in the small crowd had not even settled in their seats when the fight was stopped. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. Liston went down at 1:44, got up at 1:56, and Walcott stopped the fight at 2:12.
Numerous fans booed and started yelling, "Fix!" Many did not see the punch land, and some who did questioned that it was powerful enough to knock Liston out. Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." Ali called it "the anchor punch." He said it was taught to him by comedian and film actor Stepin Fetchit
Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black a ...
, who learned it from Jack Johnson.
There were some, however, who believed the fight was legitimate. World light-heavyweight champion José Torres
José ("Chegüi") Torres (May 3, 1936 – January 19, 2009) was a Puerto Rican-born American professional boxer. As an amateur boxer, he won a silver medal in the junior middleweight division at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1965, he d ...
said, "It was a perfect punch." Jim Murray of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that it was "no phantom punch." And Tex Maule
Hamilton Prieleaux Bee Maule, commonly known as Tex Maule (May 19, 1915 in Ojus, Florida – May 16, 1981) was the lead American football writer for ''Sports Illustrated'' in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Early life
Maule played football (end) at S ...
of ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote, "The blow had so much force it lifted Liston's left foot, upon which most of his weight was resting, well off the canvas."
Still, some found it hard to believe that the punch could have floored a man like Liston. Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
announcer Don Dunphy
Don Dunphy (July 5, 1908 – July 22, 1998) was an American television and radio sports announcer specializing in boxing broadcasts. Dunphy was noted for his fast-paced delivery and enthusiasm for the sport. It is estimated that he did "blow-by ...
said, "Here was a guy who was in prison and the guards used to beat him over the head with clubs and couldn't knock him down." But others contend he just was not the same Liston. Dave Anderson of the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said Liston "looked awful" in his last workout before the fight. Arthur Daley
''Minder'' is a British comedy-drama series about the London Organized crime, criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV for ten ...
of the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote that Liston's handlers knew he "didn't have it anymore," and allegedly they had secretly paid sparring partner Amos Lincoln an extra $100 to take it easy on him - - the same man, incidentally, that Liston dismissed in less than two rounds a full three years later.
Former champions Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...
, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
and Gene Tunney
James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1 ...
, as well as contender George Chuvalo
George Louis Chuvalo, CM (born September 12, 1937 as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been kno ...
all declared they considered the fight to be a fake. Some felt the knockdown was real but the knockout was fake. Ali biographer Wilfrid Sheed wrote, in his ''Muhammad Ali: A Portrait in Words and Photographs'', that Liston planned to throw the fight for reasons unknown and used the legitimate first-round knockdown for that end. Sheed says that the punch and the knockdown "may have been genuine, but when referee Joe Walcott blew the count and gave him all evening to get up, Liston's rendition of a coma wouldn't have fooled a possum."
Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. In his own words in Thomas Hauser's 1991 biography: "The punch jarred him. It was a good punch, but I didn't think I hit him so hard that he couldn't have gotten up. Once he went down, I got excited. I forgot about the rules." In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. I was down but not hurt, but I looked up and saw Ali standing over me. … Ali is waiting to hit me, the ref can't control him."
While Liston publicly denied taking a dive, ''Sports Illustrated'' writer Mark Kram said that years later Liston told him, "That guy liwas 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 did not 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.
Subsequent fights
After the second loss to Ali Liston stayed out of the ring for more than a year. He returned with four consecutive knockout victories in Sweden between July 1966 and April 1967, all four co-promoted by former world heavyweight champion
At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...
Ingemar Johansson. One of the victories was over Amos Johnson, Liston's former sparring partner, who had recently defeated British champion Henry Cooper.
Liston returned to the United States and won seven fights, all by knockout, in 1968, increasing his string to eleven. America's first look at Liston since the Ali rematch was when he fought fifth–ranked Henry Clark in a nationally broadcast bout in July 1968. He won by a seventh-round technical knockout, and seemed on the verge of making a comeback to the big time. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." Liston won 14 consecutive bouts, 13 by knockout, before fighting third-ranked Leotis Martin, previously beaten by Clark, in December 1969. Liston decked Martin with a left hook in the fourth round and dominated most of the fight, but Martin came back and knocked Liston out cold in the ninth round. Unfortunately for Martin, however, his career ended after that fight due to a detached retina
Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...
he suffered during the bout.
Liston won his final fight, a tough but one-sided match against future world title challenger Chuck Wepner
Charles Wepner (born February 26, 1939) is an American former professional boxer. He fell just nineteen seconds short of a full fifteen rounds against world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 championship fight. Wepner also scored notab ...
in June 1970. The bout was stopped after the ninth round due to cuts over both of Wepner's eyes. Wepner needed 72 stitches and suffered a broken cheekbone and nose. Wepner, who also fought George Foreman
George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...
and Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
, said after his career was over that Liston was the hardest puncher he faced.
Boxing style
Writer Gilbert Rogin assessed Liston's style and physique after his win over Zora Folley
Zora "Bell" Folley (May 27, 1931 – July 7, 1972) was a mid-20th century American heavyweight boxer, known for his defensive game and punching ability.
Early life
Born in Dallas, Texas on 27 May 1931, Folley moved with his family to Chandler ...
. He said that Liston was not quick with his hand or footwork, that he relied too much on his ability to take a punch, and that he could be vulnerable to an opponent with more hand speed. "But can he hit!" Rogin wrote. "There is power in both his left and his right, even though the fists move with the languor of motoring royalty or as if passing through a gaseous envelope more dense than air." Rogin called Liston's physique "awesome—arms like fence posts, thighs like silos." His defense was described as "the gate-crossing of arms ''à la'' Archie Moore
Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (December 1952 – May 1962). He had one of the longest ...
."
Future world heavyweight champion George Foreman
George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...
, who sparred with Liston after Foreman's amateur career, assessed Liston's jab
A jab is a type of punch used in martial arts. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a fighting stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended from the side of ...
as the most formidable he faced and Liston as the strongest man he encountered in the ring, describing Liston as having the most natural talent and skill. Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. He had the whole package." While much has been written about the effectiveness of his left jab, others have commented favorably on Liston's wide range of boxing skills. These include Muhammad Ali, who stated in a 1975 interview that he was a great admirer of Liston's talents: "Liston had a tremendous jab, could punch with either hand, was smart in the ring and as strong as any heavyweight I’ve ever seen."
Liston is ranked second in the ESPN.com list of "The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History." Johnny Tocco, a trainer who worked with George Foreman and Mike Tyson as well as Liston, said Liston was the hardest hitter of the three. Herb Goldman stated that Liston, when in his prime between 1958 and 1963, was the most feared fighter in boxing history.
Personal life
Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. Geraldine had a daughter from a previous marriage, and the Listons subsequently adopted a boy from Sweden. Liston biographer Paul Gallender claims that Liston fathered several children, though none with his wife. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. He was a gentle man."[ Although largely illiterate through lack of schooling, Liston was a more complex and interesting individual than has often been acknowledged. Former light-heavyweight champion Jose Torres said, "I have never met an athlete in baseball, basketball or football who is smarter, more intelligent than Sonny Liston".
]
Death
Liston was found dead by his wife, Geraldine, in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971. On returning home from a two-week trip, Geraldine had smelled a foul odor emanating from the main bedroom and on entering saw him slumped up against the bed, a broken foot bench on the floor. Authorities theorized that he was undressing for bed when he fell over backward with such force that he broke the rail of the bench. Geraldine called Liston's attorney and his doctor, but did not notify the police until two to three hours later.
Following an investigation, Las Vegas police concluded there were no signs of foul play and declared Liston's death a heroin overdose. "It was common knowledge that Sonny was a heroin addict," said Sgt. Caputo, one of the investigating police officers, "The whole department knew about it." The date of death listed on his death certificate is December 30, 1970, which police estimated by judging the number of milk bottles and newspapers around the front door of the property. Coroner Mark Herman said traces of heroin byproducts were found in Liston's system, but not in amounts large enough to have caused his death. Also, scar tissue, possibly from needle marks, was found in the bend of Liston's left elbow. The toxicology
Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...
report said his body was too decomposed for the tests to be conclusive. Officially, Liston died of lung congestion and heart failure. He had been suffering from hardening of the heart muscle and lung disease before his death. Liston had been hospitalized in early December, complaining of chest pains.
Liston was buried at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. The grave's marker-plate bears the dedication: "A Man."
Theories regarding the circumstance of Liston's death
Sgt. Dennis Caputo of the Clark County Sheriff's Department was one of the first officers on the scene. He found a quarter-ounce of heroin in a balloon in the kitchen, and a half-ounce of marijuana in Liston's pants pocket, but no syringes or needles. Some found it suspicious that authorities could not locate any drug paraphernalia that Liston presumably would have needed to inject the fatal dose, such as a spoon to cook the heroin or a tourniquet to wrap around his arm. But former Las Vegas police Sgt. Gary Beckwith said, "It wasn't uncommon for family members in these cases to go through and tidy up ... to save family embarrassment."
Many people who knew Liston insisted he was afraid of needles and never would have used heroin. "He had a deadly fear of needles," said Davey Pearl, a boxing referee and friend of Liston's. "There was nothing Sonny feared more than a needle. I know!" said Liston's Philadelphia dentist, Dr. Nick Ragni. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. "He would do everything to avoid taking shots." According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. Liston's wife also recalled that her husband would refuse basic medical care for common colds because of his dislike of needles.
"The month before he died, some guy ran into Sonny while he was making a left turn. He had a whiplash, so they took him to the hospital," said boxing trainer Johnny Tocco. "He said: 'Look what they did!' and he was pointing at some little bandage over the needle mark in his arm. He was more angry about that shot than he was about the car wreck. A couple weeks later, he was still complainin' about that needle mark. To this day, I'm convinced that's what the coroner saw in his exam—that hospital needle mark."
Some claim Liston was murdered.[ There are several theories as to why: (1) publicist Harold Conrad and others believed Liston had been deeply involved as a bill collector of a ]loansharking
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
ring in Las Vegas. When he tried to muscle in for a bigger share, Conrad thinks his employers got him very drunk, took him home and stuck him with a needle. (2) Professional gambler Lem Banker insists that Liston was murdered by drug dealers with whom he'd become involved. Banker said he was told by police that Liston had been seen at a house that would be the target of a drug raid. Banker said, "Sheriff alph Alph may refer to:
* Alpheus River, a river on the Peloponnese
*Alph River, a river in Antarctica
* Alph Lake, a lake in Antarctica
*Alph, a fictional river in the poem ''Kubla Khan'' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
*Alph, a character from ''Luminous Arc ...
Lamb told me, 'Tell your pal Sonny to stay away from the West Side because we're going to bust the drug dealers.'" Banker later learned that the police told Liston the same thing to his face. Liston was allegedly present at dealer Earl Cage's residence during a raid by narcotics detectives. Because of that, Cage may have thought Sonny was an informant and shot him with a hot dose as retribution. (3) The mob promised Liston some money to throw the second Ali fight, but they never paid him. As the years passed and Liston's financial situation worsened, he got angry and told the mob he would go public with the story unless they gave him the money. That got him killed. (4) Liston was supposed to take a dive when he fought Chuck Wepner six months earlier, and killing him was payback for his failure to do so.
On January 1, Liston's wife, Geraldine, called Johnny Tocco and said she had not heard from her husband in three days and was worried. A few years before Tocco died, he allegedly told one of his good friends, Tony Davi, that he went to Liston's house and found the door locked and his car in the driveway. Tocco called the police, and they broke into the house. Tocco said that the living room furniture was in disarray, but the house did not yet smell of death. He said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. Tocco left the house before the police did. "Johnny wasn't a braggart," Davi told Liston biographer Paul Gallender. "He told me in the strictest confidence, but it was like he wanted to get it off his chest." Gallender claimed, "A lot of officers knew Sonny was dead before Geraldine returned home on January 5, but they chose to let him rot."
Tributes
A bronze copy of a marble statue of Liston sculpted by Alfred Hrdlicka in 1964 was erected in 2008 between Old Castle and Karlsplatz in Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Germany. A successful racehorse which won the Irish St Leger classic race in 2021 was named Sonnyboyliston.
Life outside boxing
Acting
Liston played a fist fighter in the 1965 film ''Harlow'', made a cameo appearance in the 1968 film '' Head'', which starred The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...
, and played the part of The Farmer in the 1970 film ''Moonfire'', which starred Richard Egan and Charles Napier. Also in 1970, Liston appeared on an episode of the TV series '' Love, American Style'' and in a television commercial for Braniff Airlines
Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...
with Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
.[
]
Portrayal in film
In '' The Greatest'', the 1977 film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali in which Ali played himself, Liston was portrayed by Roger E. Mosley
Roger Earl Mosley (; December 18, 1938 – August 7, 2022) was an American actor, director, and writer best known for his role as the helicopter pilot Theodore "T.C." Calvin in the CBS television series '' Magnum, P.I.'', which originally aired ...
.
Liston was the subject of a 1995 HBO documentary titled ''Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion''.
In the 2001 film ''Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
'', Liston was portrayed by former WBO Heavyweight Champion Michael Bentt
Michael Bentt (born September 4, 1965) is a British-born American film and television actor, and retired professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1994. Of Jamaican heritage, he was born in East Dulwich, London, but raised in the Cambria Hei ...
.
Liston was the subject of a 2008 feature film based upon his life titled '' Phantom Punch''. The film starred Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
as Liston and was produced by Rhames, Hassain Zaidi and Marek Posival.
In the 2015 British crime film ''Legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
'', Liston is played by Mark Theodore in a scene where gangster Reggie Kray
Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...
poses for a picture with the boxer.
In the 2020 film '' One Night in Miami...'', Liston is played by Aaron D. Alexander.
Portrayal in fiction
Liston appears as a character in James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, ...
's novel ''The Cold Six Thousand
''The Cold Six Thousand'' is a 2001 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the first sequel to ''American Tabloid'' in the Underworld USA Trilogy and continues many of the earlier novel's characters and plotlines. Specifically, it follows thr ...
''. In the novel, Liston not only drinks but also pops pills and works as a sometime enforcer for a heroin ring in Las Vegas. Liston also appears in the sequel, ''Blood's a Rover
''Blood's a Rover'' is a 2009 crime fiction novel by American author James Ellroy. It follows ''American Tabloid'' and '' The Cold Six Thousand'' as the final volume of Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy. A 10,000-word excerpt was published in the D ...
''.
Thom Jones
The surname Thom is of Scotland, Scottish origin, from the city of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire and Angus, Scotland, Angus, and is a sept of the Clan MacThomas.
Thom is also a first name variant of the abbreviation "Tom (given ...
titled his 2000 collection of short stories ''Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine''.
Sonny Liston was featured in a novel "Girl Fighter" with a brief reference to his early life, his rise to WBC heavyweight champion and his eventual losses to Clay/Ali.
Music
Liston has been referenced in many songs by artists such as Curtis Eller, Sun Kil Moon, the Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
, Tom Petty
Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...
, Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
, Phil Ochs, Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
, Freddy Blohm, Chuck E. Weiss, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb
This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb were a folk punk band from Pensacola, Florida, United States. Their first recording was released in 1997 on Ghostmeat Records. Their later releases have been on Plan It X Records and No Idea Records, but now appear on ...
, the Roots, Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...
, Gone Jackals, Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
, the Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the ...
, Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...
, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Killers
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
. Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album ''Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ...
''.
A wax model of Liston appears in the front row of the iconic sleeve cover of the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. He is seen in the far left part of the row, wearing a white and gold robe, standing beside the original-look Beatle wax figures.
Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows."
Print
Liston appeared on the December 1963 cover of ''Esquire'' magazine (cover photograph by Carl Fischer) "the last man on earth America wanted to see coming down its chimney".
Elizabeth Bear
Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo ...
wrote the short story "Sonny Liston Takes the Fall", published in ''The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy'' in 2008. The story speculates that Liston threw the Ali match for the good of society.
Shaun Assael
Shaun Assael (born February 4, 1962) is an American author and award-winning investigative journalist. He is the author of four books that deal with sports, crime and culture.
Journalist
After graduating from New York University with a degree i ...
wrote "The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights", published in 2016. The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. In The Devil and Sonny Liston
''The Devil and Sonny Liston'' is a biography of List of heavyweight boxing champions, world heavyweight champion boxing, boxer Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches. The book's title is a reference to the story "The Devil and Daniel Webster". Tosches' int ...
by Nick Tosches
Nicholas P. Tosches (; October 23, 1949 – October 20, 2019) was an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet. His 1982 biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, '' Hellfire'', was praised by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as "the best rock and roll ...
, published in 2000, when many of Liston's former acquaintances were still alive, Tosches posits that Liston's idol Joe Louis introduced him to heroin, and that he ultimately overdosed.
Activism
On July 28, 1963, Liston joined a group of 500 African Americans in Denver who marched to a post office to mail letters urging the Colorado congressional delegation to pass the Kennedy administration's civil rights package.
Professional boxing record
See also
* List of heavyweight boxing champions
* List of undisputed boxing champions
This is a list of undisputed champions in professional boxing. Eras that are not listed do not have any undisputed champions.
Championship recognition
Titles have been awarded by:
*New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), founded in 1920
...
* List of WBA world champions
* List of WBC world champions
* List of The Ring world champions
Boxing magazine '' The Ring'' has awarded world championships in professional boxing within each weight class from its foundation in 1922. The first ''Ring'' world title belt was awarded to heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, and the second was aw ...
* Irving Resnick - Liston's manager
Notes
References
Further reading
* Gallender, Paul R. ''Sonny Liston: The Real Story behind the Ali–Liston Fights'' (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012
online review
* Hackman, Timothy. "A blues song just for fighters: The legend of Sonny Liston." ''AETHLON: The Journal of Sporty Literature'' 27#2(2010)
online
* Hutchison, Phillip J. "From Bad Buck to White Hope: Journalism and Sonny Liston, 1958–1965." ''Journal of Sports Media'' 10.1 (2015): 119–137
online
* Steen, Robert. ''Sonny Liston-His Life, Strife and the Phantom Punch'' (JR Books, 2008).
* Tosches, Nick. ''The Devil and Sonny Liston'' (2000
excerpt
External links
*
NYSAC World Heavyweight Champion - BoxRec
at Cyber Boxing Zone
''Red Arrow: The Mysterious Death of Sonny Liston'' by Carlos Acevedo
Lyrics to a song about Liston by Mark Knopfler
*
FBI Records: The Vault - Charles Sonny Liston
at fbi.gov
The Mysterious Birth of Sonny Liston
at tss.ib.tv
}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liston, Sonny
Year of birth uncertain
Age controversies
1970 deaths
African-American boxers
American people convicted of robbery
Boxers from Missouri
Drug-related deaths in Nevada
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
People from St. Francis County, Arkansas
World Boxing Association champions
World heavyweight boxing champions
American male boxers
The Ring (magazine) champions
National Golden Gloves champions
1930s births
20th-century African-American sportspeople