There are no official records of his birth His home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965, but people believe he was born sometime around 1930-1932. "That really broke Sonny's heart," said Simon George, who wrote and directed Showtime's "Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston." He's like Foreman except stronger, more powerful, and slightly smaller. "[35], U.S. President John F. Kennedy also did not want Patterson to fight Liston. He was a heavyweight world champion. In the third round, Clay began to take control of the fight. When he moved to town here he Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. Tosches, Nick (2000). Father John (Sonny) Liston. (35.6 x 21.6 cm) Description He was a bit of a physical freak He was 6 ft 1 in with a disproportionately long reach at 84 inches. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964). After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia. Only a rising contender at the time named Cassius Clay predicted a knockout by Liston in the first five rounds. 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. Charles "Sonny" Liston was an enigma that, by way of testimonial, put fear in the hearts of men all throughout the 1960s. He also had a reputation for bullying people such as porters and waitresses. Authorities theorized that he was undressing for bed when he fell over backward with such force that he broke the rail of the bench. Liston made his professional boxing debut at the age of 21 on September 2, 1953. Sonny Liston ( The Big Bear) was an American professional boxer. Sonny Liston, once the heavyweight champ, died at the age of who-knows-what some days before Dec. 30, 1970. and hit him with hooks and uppercuts when Frazier tried to get in. Daniel 'Sonny' Liston is on Facebook. Cassius Clay is embraced by his handlers after he won the world heavyweight championship on a TKO over Sonny Liston in the 7th round. Once he went down, I got excited. Stevens organized a sparring session with a professional heavyweight named Thurman Wilson to showcase Liston's potential. Although Clay often carried his gloves down at his waist, seemingly open to attack, he proved very difficult to hit. But according to Sonny's trainer, Johnny Tocco, once there, his path led to prison: Advertising InquiriesTerms of UsePrivacy PolicyContent PolicyMessaging Terms, AppAdvertising InquiriesTerms of UsePrivacy PolicyContent PolicyCookie PolicyBest Sports Betting SiteMessaging TermsSubscription Terms. Tobe and Helen had 12 children together; Sonny was the second youngest child. His fists measured 15 inches around, which was the largest of any heavyweight champion. Liston. [100] A successful racehorse which won the Irish St Leger classic race in 2021 was named Sonnyboyliston. In 1950, Liston was arrested at his apartment at 1006 O'Fallon Street for robbing the Unique Cafe on 1502 Market Street in St. Louis for 37 dollars. He would not close in until the accumulated inside damage and Liston's own frustration had sapped the challenger's strength and will." [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. His defense was described as "the gate-crossing of arms la Archie Moore. Sonny was probably born in 1929, but no one knows for sure. [88] 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. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. Pan, 2017. And in 1961 . Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." Subsequently, Liston spent some months in Denver where a Catholic priest who acted as his spiritual adviser attempted to help bring his drinking under control. [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. [64] Strict interpretation of the knockdown/count rule states it is the referee's count and not the timekeeper's that is the official count. 249 UCB. And yet, outside of boxing, L Ali called it "the anchor punch." In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. University of Colorado Boulder. Sit down!' Sonny Liston is a remarkable physical specimen, and seldom if ever has a fighter so dominated the sport by sheer muscular mass. Because of that, the dealers may have thought Sonny ratted on them and they shot him with a hot dose as retribution. Helen had one child before she married Tobe, and Tobe had 13 children with his first wife. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. McDonough, however, claimed Walcott was looking at the crowd and never at him. The grave's headstone reads Sonny Liston: A Man. 15 months earlier, they'd accused him of pulling over a woman around 3 a.m. and impersonating a police officer. During the fourth round Liston appeared dominant as Clay coasted, keeping his distance. "From Bad Buck to White Hope: Journalism and Sonny Liston, 19581965. Mother Bridget Sheehan. Charles "Sonny" Liston was born c.1930 into a sharecropping family that farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St.Francis County, Arkansas. Odds makers gave Liston 71 to win. His father was 30 years older than his mother. Was Pariah boxing legend Sonny Listons OD really a mob murder? The bout would need to be delayed by six months. In The Devil and Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches, 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. The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights. 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. Top contender Zora Folley was stopped in three rounds. [48] 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! You've seen him before but probably didn't realize it because the most famous photo ever taken of Sonny was not at his best angle More on that in a second. SO here are four theories behind who killed Sonny Liston at only the age of 40. He would later employ McCarter as a sparring partner. At age 12, after selling a bag of pecans for bus fare, he left for St. Louis, betting on a brighter future. The ending of the fight remains one of the most controversial in boxing history. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. [45][46] A clearly angered Liston rallied at the end of the round when Clay seemed tired, delivering punishing body shots. Emily Post would probably recommend a ticker-tape parade. 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. However, Liston settled on May 8, 1932, as his official birth date. BOXING legend Sonny Liston was murdered by the MAFIA in a death staged to look like an overdose, a new documentary has claimed. Shaun Assael. [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. January 5, 2017. 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. Geraldine called Liston's attorney and his doctor, but did not notify the police until two to three hours later. Joe Louis commenting on TV at ringside said "It's looking good for Sonny Liston". "I didn't know what the heck was going on", Angelo Dundee, Clay's trainer, recalled on an NBC special 25 years later. [27][28], Liston's streak of nine straight knockout victories ended when he won a unanimous twelve-round decision against Eddie Machen on September 7, 1960. The suspension was honored in all states. Cleveland Williams was the last person to defeat Liston and made $100,000 for his efforts. Sonny was once told by local police to stay away from a drug house that was the target of a police raid. -- CHARLES (SONNY) LISTON It was already dark when she stepped from the car in front of her house on Ottawa Drive, but she could see her pink Cadillac convertible and Sonny's new black. Boston: Little, Brown. Sonny is an old-school guy; not much fanfare. In 1950, Sonny Liston was arrested six times for muggings, one . Liston assaulted the officer, breaking his knee and gashing his face. Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fightawarding Ali a first-round knockout victory. Wepner, who also fought George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, said after his career was over that Liston was the hardest puncher he faced. In these feckless clinches he only managed to tie up one of Liston's arms. He got out of prison in 52, won the Golden Gloves in Chicago, and went pro after less than a year Unfortunately, the only financial backers willing to put up the necessary money for him to turn professional were local mobsters, and Liston supplemented his income by working for the local mob as an intimidator-enforcer. Banker said, "Sheriff [Ralph] Lamb told me, 'Tell your pal Sonny to stay away from the West Side because we're going to bust the drug dealers.'" Wepner needed 72 stitches and suffered a broken cheekbone and nose. [97], "The month before he died, some guy ran into Sonny while he was making a left turn. [107] The story speculates that Liston threw the Ali match for the good of society. 780 46K views 8 years ago Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston's son visits his gravesite. In an Associated Press poll, 64 of 102 reporters picked Patterson. ", confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. [34] Many African-Americans disdained Liston. I forgot about the rules." Boulder, CO 80309-0249. "It was common knowledge that Sonny was a heroin addict," said Sgt. Liston went down at 1:44, got up at 1:56, and Walcott stopped the fight at 2:12. Although in the second fight, Liston appears to have taken a dive Again with the mob stuff. He returned with four consecutive knockout victories in Sweden between July 1966 and April 1967, all four co-promoted by former world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson. 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'd go public with the story unless they gave him the money. 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. Liston would keep Frazier out of range with that monster of a jab which was better than Foreman's! "But they'll have to swing along until somebody comes to beat me. The Devil and Sonny Liston. Former champions James J. Braddock, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. Liston was the subject of a 2008 feature film based upon his life titled Phantom Punch. "He said: 'Look what they did!' I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' We had a return bout clause with Clay, but if you say your guy just quit, who is gonna get a return bout? This was his first visit. Officially, Liston died of lung congestion and heart failure. Liston, one of 25 children by his father, is reputed to have been born in May 1932, yet prison records show various birth dates, among them 1928. Name: Sonny Liston Birth Year: 1932 Birth date: May 8, 1932 Birth State: Arkansas Birth City: St Francis County Birth Country: United States Gender: Male Best Known For: Sonny Liston was. [59], Liston trained hard for the rematch, which was scheduled to take place November 13, 1964, in Boston. Several reports say Liston had fresh needle marks on his arms when he died. Sonny Liston existed, and, Ali bouts or no Ali bouts, he was one of the greatest fighters to ever lace on a glove. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston was born in St. Francis County, Arkansas, to Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. 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. "[78] While much has been written about the effectiveness of his left jab, others have commented favorably on Liston's wide range of boxing skills. "Nat Fleischer [editor of The Ring] was sitting beside McDonough and he was waving his hands, too, saying it was over." When Patterson met with the president in January 1962, Kennedy suggested that Patterson avoid Liston, citing Justice Department concerns over Liston's ties to organized crime. Sonny Liston was a ferocious fighter, the heavyweight champion of the world and the man Cassius Clay beat to win the title for the first time, igniting his own legend. In the 2015 British crime film Legend, Liston is played by Mark Theodore in a scene where gangster Reggie Kray poses for a picture with the boxer. That got him killed. Professor Liston's research interests . Liston went down on his back. [92] He had been suffering from hardening of the heart muscle and lung disease before his death. 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. [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. Birth 1935 - County Limerick, Ireland. On May 7, backers of the rematch ended the court battle by pulling the fight out of Boston. 9, 1 March 2018, p. 8, New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, "Photographic image of 'Tale of the Tape', "Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson (Tale of the tape)", "From THE RING: The greatest heavyweight of all time", "25 Greatest Fighters of All Time (Heavyweight)", "ESPN Classic - Liston was trouble in and out of ring", "Jacob's Beach by Kevin Mitchell: review", "Hard Times, Good Times: Charles "Sonny" Liston - Boxing.com", "Dismayed D'Amato Is Expecting To Get Back Manager's License", "Esquire covers commemorate boxing's prime", "Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston I: 50 Years Later", "Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay (1st meeting) - BoxRec", "1964 Clay vs. Liston Judges' Scorecards from Miami Beach Bout. | Lot #80073 | Heritage Auctions", "Muhammad Ali's Toughest Fight Wasn't Against Joe Frazier", "Fifty Years Later: The Mystery of Muhammad Ali's 'Phantom Punch', "I WAS THERE: George Chuvalo Watches Sonny Liston Take a Dive - YouTube", "Fifty Years Later: The Mystery of Muhammad Ali's 'Phantom Punch' | Boxing News", "Daytona Beach Morning Journal - Google News Archive Search", "Sonny Liston the most talented Heavyweight in history", "George Foreman Discusses Friendship With Sonny Liston", "Sonny Liston: Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy Boxing News", "LOTIERZO'S LOWDOWN Sonny Liston: The Most Underrated Heavyweight Champ In History", "The Most Feared Fighter in Boxing History: Charles 'Sonny' Liston remembered", "Liston KO'd Popular Patterson for Title", "O Unlucky Man: Fortune never smiled on Sonny Liston", "Sonny Liston Meets the Press - Boxing.com", "Like Fights Against Ali, Liston Death a Mystery", "December 30, 1970: Mysterious Death of Sonny Liston", "19 YEARS LATER: Liston Death Remains Mystery to His Friends". $2,499.99. Tosches' intended title was "Night Train" after one of Liston's favorite songs. In five months, Sonny Liston had gone from unknown ex-con to amateur champion. Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in first round. Writer Jack McKinney said, "I watched Sonny. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. 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. "[42], Liston made his second title defense on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). 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. Liston won his final fight, a tough but one-sided match against future world title challenger Chuck Wepner in June 1970. [37] 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. What the . 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 . . He also wrote that Liston's win over Patterson proved that "in a fair fight between good and evil, evil must win." As the famous photo portrays, Ali taunted the fallen Liston, calling on him to get up. Listons body was discovered by his wife who was returning home from a two-week trip. "[18], After Liston was released from prison on October 31, 1952, he had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. 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." Born in Forrest City, Arkansas, sometime in the late 1920s and early. CU Experts. Banker said he was told by police that Liston had been seen at a house that would be the target of a drug raid. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. He had the whole package. Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), who entered as a 71 underdog. He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter.". ", 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. And that guy did come along and beat him Twice And it was Muhammad Ali. He said he could not hear McDonough, who did not have a microphone. 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. "There was nothing Sonny feared more than a needle. "The only thing my old man ever gave me was a beating," Liston said. Sonny Liston was born in Sand Slough, Arkansas to a sharecropper, Tobey Liston, who fathered 25 children, the second youngest of whom was Charles, Sonny's real name, born from Tobey's marriage to Helen Baskin, a woman nearly three decades younger than he. Roy Harris, who had gone 13 rounds with Floyd Patterson in a title match, was crushed in one round by Liston. It was the first time in his career that Liston had been cut. His eyes swept the whole scene. [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]. [105], Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows. (. [citation needed], The fight turned out to be a mismatch. 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. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. Meaning Sonny was number 24 out of 25 kids. Official date of death put as December 30. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. But some Vegas "bookies, mobsters, and cops" still wonder if he wasn't . The Ring magazine ranks Liston as the tenth greatest heavyweight of all time,[4] while boxing writer Herb Goldman ranked him second and Richard O'Brien, Senior Editor of Sports Illustrated, placed him third. Caputo, one of the investigating police officers, "The whole department knew about it." Join Facebook to connect with Daniel 'Sonny' Liston and others you may know. He won by a seventh-round technical knockout, and seemed on the verge of making a comeback to the big time. [73] The bout was stopped after the ninth round due to cuts over both of Wepner's eyes. In all, 14 major contenders during his prime refused outright to fight him, the most for any boxer in history. Liston was a heavy favorite. Sports Illustrated once wrote his hands"looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists. O n January 5, 1971, Sonny Liston, the former heavyweight champion of the world, was found dead in his home in Las Vegas. ", Hutchison, Phillip J. He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter." In the first fight, in Miami, a 22-year-old Cassius Clay danced around the ring, taunted Liston, promised reporters he'd shock the world, and then delivered on that promise with a blistering late. interview with Alex Haley in Muhammad Ali by Thomas Hauser. The rematch between . [10] 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. 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 also took his gun. The inaugural WBC world heavyweight champion cemented himself in. He claimed the officer used racial slurs. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. 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. 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. and "Nobody will believe this!"[63]. Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. 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. There was something caustic in both eyes." An Associated Press poll had 64 of 102 reporters picking Patterson. Now you know who he is Heres how he died. After two rounds, Wilson had taken enough. Also, McDonough did not bang on the canvas or motion a number count with his fingers. based on 17 ratings | 6,556 views This sermon from The Exchanged Life perspective attempts to assist the believer in coming to a point of trust in Christ as Savior, Lord and Life through suffering thus ultimately being set free from Self. Eight years later, he died but his friends questioned the cause of his death. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. [49], 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. Patterson was knocked down three times and counted out at 2:10 of the first round. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." After a rough upbringing, with little formal education, Liston found himself in trouble with the law. The coroner said he died from natural causes. Tosches, Nick (2000). Sports Illustrated writer Mort Sharnik said his hands "looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists." ", ("You know what they say about big fists, sweetheart?"). Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. 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 said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. He was not the tear-shedding type.. ", Chuck Wepner on Liston's intimidating appearance. Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." 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. He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died in mysterious circumstances in 1970. Former champions Jim Braddock (Cinderella Man), Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano, and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma. 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. "He told me in the strictest confidence, but it was like he wanted to get it off his chest." Floyd Patterson was Ben Mintz's "Minty Lock Of The Week" and Megan Makin' Moneyloved Patterson in a decision. On top of the mob stigma, people were flat-out terrified of Sonny Fight City named Sonny Liston as the most intimidating fighter of all time" beating out names of other legendary animals like Tyson, Foreman, and Hagler. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston canceled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. He was a gentle man. However, there were again rumors of alcohol abuse in training. "He had a deadly fear of needles," said Davey Pearl, a boxing referee and friend of Liston's. A stoic Liston finished the fight, but lost in an eight-round split decision. Ali initially stood over his fallen opponent, gesturing and yelling at him, "Get up and fight, sucker!" 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. The Devil and Sonny Liston is a biography of world heavyweight champion boxer Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches. Clearly, it was time to turn pro. [84], Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. And, while Patterson was growing as a fighter, Sonny was taking on mostly journeyman and starting to age. ", 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".[106]. [5][6] Alfie Potts Harmer in The Sportster also ranked him the third greatest heavyweight and the sixth greatest boxer at any weight. "Get up and fight, sucker," is the famous quote. Liston was found dead by his wife in their Las Vegas home on Jan. 5, 1971. Fifty years later, the mystery still remains. "The public is not with me. [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. 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 and challenger Jack Dempsey in 1927. [50] Patterson finally agreed to meet Liston for the world title on September 25, 1962, in Comiskey Park in Chicago And everyone had Patterson. ", Still, some found it hard to believe that the punch could have floored a man like Liston. daniel weiss sonny liston by | posted on 10 septiembre, 2021 | 0 Comments Three days before the fight, Ali needed emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia. "[40][41], 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. Sonny Liston became world heavyweight champion in 1962 and fought Muhammad Ali twice In January 1971, former heavyweight champion of the world Sonny Liston was found dead at his Las Vegas. Liston said he quit because of a shoulder injury. Patterson's fatal mistake was that he "did not punch enough and frequently tried to clinch with Liston. He served brief prison terms and on one occasion was introduced to boxing by a prison chaplain. Because of that, Cage may have thought Sonny was an informant and shot him with a hot dose as retribution. "[95], Sgt. Sonny Liston fought for only $10,000 during his career. [8] Convicted and sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary, Liston started his prison time on June 1, 1950. 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