daniel weiss sonny liston

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. You can listen to it at your leisure, or read about it now. 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. 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 went from being a big-shouldered street thief with no education to heavyweight champ of the world and household name. [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. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson 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 . This victory is regarded by some as Liston's most impressive performance. Once he went down, I got excited. He was a gentle man. Philadelphia wanted nothing to do with him. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. Emily Post would probably recommend a ticker-tape parade. Ali did neither. Sports Illustrated writer Mort Sharnik said his hands "looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists." Liston's last fight was a 10-round beating he delivered to Chuck Wepner in June 1970. The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas Pan publisher; 2017. (. [66], Former champions Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson and Gene Tunney, as well as contender George Chuvalo all declared they considered the fight to be a fake. Stevens organized a sparring session with a professional heavyweight named Thurman Wilson to showcase Liston's potential. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. Liston would keep Frazier out of range with that monster of a jab which was better than Foreman's! Boxing Record His eyes swept the whole scene. ", Still, some found it hard to believe that the punch could have floored a man like Liston. [84], Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. But former Las Vegas police Sgt. [34] Many African-Americans disdained Liston. 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. He was 6ft 1in (1.85m), and had an exceptionally powerful physique, with a disproportionately long reach at 84 inches (2.13m). A grateful Liston found there was no need to give chase. [33], Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. The bout was stopped after the ninth round due to cuts over both of Wepner's eyes. He would later employ McCarter as a sparring partner. His death is still a mystery, but Mike Tyson puts flowers on his grave every year at Paradise Memorial Gardensin Las Vegas. Dave Anderson of the New York Times said Liston "looked awful" in his last workout before the fight. The fight quickly descended into chaos. [50] "Get up and fight, sucker," is the famous quote. [100] A successful racehorse which won the Irish St Leger classic race in 2021 was named Sonnyboyliston. [85] Geraldine had a daughter from a previous marriage, and the Listons subsequently adopted a boy from Sweden. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma. ", 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. [59], Liston trained hard for the rematch, which was scheduled to take place November 13, 1964, in Boston. [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. "[35] 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. The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights. 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. "Sonnyboyliston | Race Record & Form | Racing Post", "Moonfire (1972), a film by Michael Parkhurst -Theiapolis", NYSAC World Heavyweight Champion - BoxRec, Lyrics to a song about Liston by Mark Knopfler, FBI Records: The Vault - Charles Sonny Liston, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Liston&oldid=1137950795, International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees, 20th-century African-American sportspeople, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016, Pages with login required references or sources, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Hackman, Timothy. [21], 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 found dead in his Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971 Six months after the Wepner fight. I know it", Liston said afterward. Death April 29, 2016 - Carrhubane Beg, Limerick, Ireland. Former champions Jim Braddock (Cinderella Man), Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano, and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. [92] He had been suffering from hardening of the heart muscle and lung disease before his death. His father was 30 years older than his mother. [39] Leading up to the fight, Liston was an 85 betting favorite, although many picked Patterson to win. [58] Despite Liston carrying an injury and being undertrained, Clay stated in 1975 that the first fight with Liston was the toughest of his career. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 8. toukokuuta 1932 Arkansas (syntymaika ja tarkka paikka kiistanalaisia) - 30. joulukuuta 1970 Las Vegas, Nevada) oli yhdysvaltalainen raskaansarjan nyrkkeilij ja painoluokkansa maailmanmestari. Furthermore, that count cannot be started until the fighter scoring the knockdown goes to and remains in a neutral corner. [14], Tobe Liston inflicted whippings so severe on Sonny that the scars were still visible decades later. JustinvR Brown Belt. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. Cassius Clay was just 22-years-old when he beat the world champion in a seven round TKO. (3) The mob promised Liston some money to throw the second Ali fight, but they never paid him. 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. He cited Liston's inability to lift his arm: "There is no doubt that Liston's arm was damaged. Ali is waiting to hit me, the ref can't control him. Patterson defended against Liston in Comiskey Park, Chicago, on September 25, 1962, and the rest is history. "But can he hit!" [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. After repeated overnight detention by the St. Louis police and a thinly veiled threat to his life, Liston left for Philadelphia. In 2013 the son of a deceased mafia hitman published a book claiming that his father confessed to murdering Liston via forced drug overdose. 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. This is just a glimpse into what was. Ali initially stood over his fallen opponent, gesturing and yelling at him, "Get up and fight, sucker!" Sonny was one of 25 children of a sharecropper in Arkansas. 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 February 1964, Ali - known then as Cassius Clay - shocked the sporting world by beating Liston for the world heavyweight title. [93] Liston had been hospitalized in early December, complaining of chest pains. He had the whole package. 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. 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. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. Caputo, one of the investigating police officers, "The whole department knew about it." He also wrote that Liston's win over Patterson proved that "in a fair fight between good and evil, evil must win." Father John (Sonny) 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. "[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. 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. 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. Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. BOXING legend Sonny Liston was murdered by the MAFIA in a death staged to look like an overdose, a new documentary has claimed. His father . This was Liston's second arrest by Fairmount Park police. That got him killed. Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. The toxicology report said his body was too decomposed for the tests to be conclusive. [43] 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. Sonny Liston. And Tex Maule 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. In remembrance of Muhammed Ali, NPR looks back at Robert Siegel's conversation with filmmaker Gary Robinov, director of Raising Ali, about the . There was something caustic in both eyes." Fifty years ago this week, Liston was discovered dead by his wife, Geraldine, on a bed in his Las Vegas home. Who needed that? 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 . "Better get me out of this ring," exclaimed Wilson, "he is going to kill me! Painting by Damien Burton. 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. [103], 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.[104]. His father Tobe loved to fuck. He won by a seventh-round technical knockout, and seemed on the verge of making a comeback to the big time. After demolishing these top-ranked fighters in the heavyweight division, Liston was regarded as the top-contender champion-in-waiting. World light-heavyweight champion Jos Torres said, "It was a perfect punch." [12], Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed three meals every day. Liston's wife also recalled that her husband would refuse basic medical care for common colds because of his dislike of needles. "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." "[18], After Liston was released from prison on October 31, 1952, he had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. His defense was described as "the gate-crossing of arms la Archie Moore. In his sixth bout, he faced ranked heavyweight Johnny Summerlin (18-1-2) on national television and won in an eight-round decision. 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. [29] Machen's taunting and his spoiling tactics of dodging and grapplingat one point almost heaving Liston over the ropesso alienated the audience that Liston received unaccustomed support from the crowd. [86] 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". Listons body was discovered by his wife who was returning home from a two-week trip. "He had a deadly fear of needles," said Davey Pearl, a boxing referee and friend of Liston's. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. Former champions James J. Braddock, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter." ", confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. Geraldine called Liston's attorney and his doctor, but did not notify the police until two to three hours later. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. (35.6 x 21.6 cm) Description Sonny Liston: The 'Worst Mess In History Of Sports'. Sonny knocked out Patterson at 2:06 of the first round, with that powerful left hook to the jaw 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. [73] The bout was stopped after the ninth round due to cuts over both of Wepner's eyes. Joe Louis commenting on TV at ringside said "It's looking good for Sonny Liston". 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