Or it would be history, if boxing "historians" would stop sweeping the legacy of Sonny Liston under the ring canvas. [52][53] It was the first time since 1919when Jack Dempsey defeated Jess Willardthat a world heavyweight champion had quit on his stool. [19], 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 in St. Louis. [60] 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.[15]. $2,499.99. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' Birth 1935 - County Limerick, Ireland. 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 and challenger Jack Dempsey in 1927. 9 Born to a large and impoverished sharecropping family, Charles 'Sonny' Liston probably came into the world four years before his official 1932 birthdate, and his struggle to fashion a real identity would remain with him his whole life. Biographer Wilfrid Sheed 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 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. Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fightawarding Ali a first-round knockout victory. His baleful, obsidian stare intimidates fighters, sportswriters and. Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. Patterson was knocked down three times and counted out at 2:10 of the first round. "Yes, it was good and honest". The film starred Ving Rhames as Liston and was produced by Rhames, Hassain Zaidi and Marek Posival. Liston would keep Frazier out of range with that monster of a jab which was better than Foreman's! Gallender claimed, "A lot of officers knew Sonny was dead before Geraldine returned home on January 5, but they chose to let him rot. [31] While Liston began working into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he also continued his criminal behavior. "[54] Hall of Fame 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. Wepner needed 72 stitches and suffered a broken cheekbone and nose And the ref needed a new shirt. [8], Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed muggings and armed robberies. and hit him with hooks and uppercuts when Frazier tried to get in. [83] Herb Goldman stated that Liston, when in his prime between 1958 and 1963, was the most feared fighter in boxing history. [42], Liston's run-ins with the police had continued in Philadelphia. "[94], 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, Germany. Theories regarding the circumstance of Liston's death. Dennis Caputo of the Clark County Sheriff's Department was one of the first officers on the scene. He said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. "He had a deadly fear of needles," said Davey Pearl, a boxing referee and friend of Liston's. The connections to organized crime were an advantage early in his career but were later used against him. February 25, 1964. [35] Liston's victory was loudly booed. [101], Liston played a fist fighter in the 1965 film Harlow, made a cameo appearance in the 1968 film Head, which starred The Monkees, and played the part of The Farmer in the 1970 film Moonfire, which starred Richard Egan and Charles Napier. Young Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, knocked out opponent Sonny Liston for his first world title in boxing on this day in history, Feb. 25, 1964. Many in attendance did not see Ali deliver the punch. Sonny Liston. 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. He said he could not hear McDonough, who did not have a microphone. [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. 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. Liston had a noticeably more muscular left arm, but fought orthodox Meaning his power hand was out front, so he had this crushing left jab and powerful left hook. Elizabeth Bear wrote the short story "Sonny Liston Takes the Fall", published in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2008. [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. "[59], Liston is ranked second in the ESPN.com list of "The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History. Sonny Liston FBI Files. Roy Harris, who had gone 13 rounds with Floyd Patterson in a title match, was crushed in one round by Liston. Sonny Liston is a remarkable physical specimen, and seldom if ever has a fighter so dominated the sport by sheer muscular mass. Sonny Liston, I think was possibly the greatest intimidator of all time. 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. Liston is a Hall of Famer. The date of death listed on his death certificate is December 30, 1970,[90] which police estimated by judging the number of milk bottles and newspapers around the front door of the property. [33], Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. [59], Liston trained hard for the rematch, which was scheduled to take place November 13, 1964, in Boston. Hall of Fame announcer Don Dunphy 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." As the years passed and Liston's financial situation worsened, he got angry and told the mob he'd go public with the story unless they gave him the money. Sports Illustrated predicted a Patterson victory in 15 rounds, stating: "Sonny has neither Floyd's speed nor the versatility of his attack. Liston has been referenced in many songs by artists such as Curtis Eller, Sun Kil Moon, the Animals, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, Phil Ochs, Morrissey, Freddy Blohm, Chuck E. Weiss, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, the Roots, Wu-Tang Clan, Gone Jackals, Billy Joel, the Mountain Goats, Lil Wayne, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Killers. To this day, I'm convinced that's what the coroner saw in his examthat hospital needle mark. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. It was 55 years ago that the world's attention focused on Lewiston, Maine, for a world heavyweight boxing title fight. The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights. As the famous photo portrays, Ali taunted the fallen Liston, calling on him to get up. Muhammad Ali (at the time a rising contender named Cassius Clay), however, predicted a knockout by Liston in the first five rounds. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott, a former world heavyweight champion, had a hard time getting Ali to go to a neutral corner. But as it approached, there were fears that the promoters were tied to organized crime and Massachusetts officials, most notably Suffolk County District Attorney Garrett H. Byrne, began to have second thoughts. Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. Fifty years ago this week, Liston was discovered dead by his wife, Geraldine, on a bed in his Las Vegas home. "[82] 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. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. The grave's marker-plate bears the dedication: "A Man. He was not the tear-shedding type.. ", Hutchison, Phillip J. Police determined he died from a. All rights reserved. Certainly Johnson had more going for him than enormous hands. There is no official record of his date of birth but a writer claimed that he was born on July 22, 1930. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. [7] Liston was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. 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. On April 21, 1955, he defeated Marshall in a rematch, dropping him four times en route to a sixth-round knockout. ", 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. 1 contender by 1960, but the handlers of the heavyweight champ at the time, Floyd Patterson, refused to give him a shot at the title because of Liston's links to the mob. (. Join Facebook to connect with Daniel 'Sonny' Liston and others you may know. [8][9], There is no official record of Liston's birth. The inaugural WBC world heavyweight champion cemented himself in. The year 1959 was a banner one for Liston: after knocking out contender Mike DeJohn in six rounds he faced Cleveland Williams, 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. 1 contender in 1960, but the handlers of world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson refused to give him a shot at the title because of Liston's links to organized crime. Patterson finally agreed to meet Liston for the world title on September 25, 1962, in Comiskey Park in Chicago And everyone had Patterson. [84], Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. 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. [32] Ironically, Patterson's manager, Cus D'Amato, associated with racketeers and had his manager's license revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission for alleged misconduct in connection with the Floyd PattersonIngemar Johansson title fight in June 1959. Rough N' Rowdy 20 LIVE From The Charleston Coliseum | Friday 8PM ET, Barstool Sportsbook has arrived in PA, MI, IL, IN, CO, VA, NJ, TN, AZ, IA, WV, LA, KS, MD, OH, Best Influencer Marketplace for Advertisers, Best Influencer Marketplace for Influencers & Creators, Best Influencer Marketplace for Agents & Agencies, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Naploetana - Chestnut Hill. At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. Sonny Liston, once the heavyweight champ, died at the age of who-knows-what some days before Dec. 30, 1970. [91] 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. It was probably Liston's best moment in the entire fight. Meaning Sonny was number 24 out of 25 kids. After the second loss to Ali, Liston stayed out of the ring for more than a year. Liston was the subject of a 2008 feature film based upon his life titled Phantom Punch. In this excerpt from his new book, The Murder of Sonny Liston, ESPN senior writer Shaun Assael recounts the final hectic days of Liston's life, and the controversial police investigation into his death . A lot of his life was mysterious and messy. Tocco left the house before the police did. He would later employ McCarter as a sparring partner. Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders. Other than that, little is definite about his birth, but he seems to have been born in a shack on the cotton plantation where his parents worked, a little outside Forrest City, in Arkansas, which did . Liston, with a 25-pound weight advantage, 214lb (97kg) to 189lb (86kg), knocked out Patterson at 2:06 of the first round, putting him down for the count with a powerful left hook to the jaw. You've probably seen it a thousand times, but you may not have known who the poor bastard on the ground was until now. He was born in Sand Slough, Arkansas, U.S. on May 8, 1932. In his 1965 rematch with Ali, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix. Into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he defeated Marshall a... Right or away, Liston 's left elbow tried to get up a. At one point, Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed and. 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