Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c. 1930 - December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. You really never watched the first fight did you? In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. That saw him drive a big red bus to Liston's home that read, "Sonny Liston is a great but will fall in eight" along with the words "World's most colorful fighter Cassius Clay.". I was down but not hurt, but I looked up and saw Ali standing over me. [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. Suffolk County, where Boston is located, ultimately pulled the plug, leaving them without a venue with less than a month to go. "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. Three days before the fight, Ali needed emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964). Liston won 14 consecutive bouts, 13 by knockout, before fighting third-ranked Leotis Martin, previously beaten by Clark, in December 1969. Rare interview of Sonny Liston colorized. Liston was depicted as a bad guy by the media, a handbreaker for the mafia. Liston went down at 1:44, got up at 1:56, and Walcott stopped the fight at 2:12. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. 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.'" Muhammad Ali biographer Jonathan Eig shared a new theory as to why Sonny Liston may have taken a dive in the boxers' second bout. He would not close in until the accumulated inside damage and Liston's own frustration had sapped the challenger's strength and will." After two rounds, Wilson had taken enough. Ali brought his big personality to the small town, but Liston was still the favorite. [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. It became known as the phantom punch and has been the subject of controversy and speculation for the last 55 years. His "Speedway at Nazareth" was about auto racing. 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. The Devil And Sonny Liston. He was more angry about that shot than he was about the car wreck. He allegedly later told an assistant that he took a dive because he was afraid of the consequences of beating Ali he thought it would put a target on his own back. The toxicology report said his body was too decomposed for the tests to be conclusive. "[75], Future world heavyweight champion George Foreman, who sparred with Liston after Foreman's amateur career, assessed Liston's jab 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. [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. December 1963 extended Interview with Champion Sonny Liston - discusses I didn't want anything to do with him. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The grave's marker-plate bears the dedication: "A Man. and "Nobody will believe this!"[63]. ", Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. 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. knockout kimbo slice evander holyfield nogueira wladimir vitali klitschko haye mma brutal bareknuckle headbutt lowblow foul dirty boxer funny bob sapp david cesar chavez joe frazier rocky marciano larry holmes felix trinidad jackson new tribute video highlight dirtiest best brock lesnar julio cesar ricky hatton randy couture israel vasquez juan manuel marquez antonio margarito felix tito trinidad antonio rodrigo minotauro marco antonio barrera john ruiz freddie roach hector camacho pernell whitaker willie pep sugar ray robinson shane mosley antonio tarver roy jones joe cortez lennox lewis david haye haymaker wladimir vitali vladimir klitschko klitchko prediction prefight postfight press conferencetex cobb gerry cooney jerry pierre coetzer floyd roger mayweather arturo gatti rocky graziano graciano tony zale dariusz michalczewski rocky rocchigiani henry maske james toney vassily jirov vasily unbelievable knockout ko k.o. with Sonny - Traduo em portugus - Reverso Context Before he left for his bout with Clay, Sonny's training in Denver took him to some strange places. At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. Knopfler said he enjoys boxing and other sports but reflected on a conversation he had with a friend about the fights. While true he also sent women to the hospital, which his sparring partner confirms. [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. Who needed that? "And I suppose Sonny Liston always stuck with me. Sonny Liston Once Shot a Gun at Muhammad Ali - Sportscasting 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. [94], Liston was buried at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada. Please read the rules before posting/commenting. Liston did eventually rise from the mat, but soon after, the referee broke up the two boxers once again the former champion had been down for more than 10 seconds, ending the fight. Also in 1970, Liston appeared on an episode of the TV series Love, American Style and in a television commercial for Braniff Airlines with Andy Warhol.[12][102]. Liston knocked out Hermann Schreibauer of West Germany at 2:16 of the first round. "From Bad Buck to White Hope: Journalism and Sonny Liston, 19581965. 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. Ali is waiting to hit me, the ref can't control him. [25][26], In 1960 Liston won five more fights, including a rematch with Williams, who lasted only two rounds. Top contender Zora Folley was stopped in three rounds. Tosches, Nick (2000). His death was, too. 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. The fight lasted four seconds longer than the first one. Remembering One Of Boxing's Storied Bouts Robert Siegel and Melissa Block recall the fight between Cassius Clay and and Sonny Liston, the fight at the heart of the off-Broadway play Fetch Clay, . Maybe he was. A grateful Liston found there was no need to give chase. RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color Tocco said that the living room furniture was in disarray, but the house did not yet smell of death. Emily Post would probably recommend a ticker-tape parade. Im free to be who I want.. What are you doing? They fought for a third time on March 6, 1956, which Liston won by a ten-round unanimous decision. "Nat Fleischer [editor of The Ring] was sitting beside McDonough and he was waving his hands, too, saying it was over." Any objective observer would have had to concede that Ali's counterpunch had landed, and landed with enough force to turn Liston's head, Rob Sneddon wrote in The Phantom Punch: The Story Behind Boxing's Most Controversial Bout. [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]. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. Muhammad Ali talking about Henry Cooper, Sonny Liston, and - YouTube [107] The story speculates that Liston threw the Ali match for the good of society. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Remembering One Of Boxing's Storied Bouts : NPR [47] Sitting on his stool between rounds, however, Liston was breathing heavily as his cornermen worked on his cut. "I remember him telling me one day that he found himself watching boxing but he didn't like the way it made him feel," Knopfler said. Arthur Daley of the New York Times wrote that Liston's handlers knew he "didn't have it anymore,"[65] and allegedly they had secretly paid sparring partner Amos Lincoln an extra $100 to take it easy on him -[citation needed] - the same man, incidentally, that Liston dismissed in less than two rounds a full three years later. Book Review: Was Sonny Liston Murdered? - The Arts Fuse Muhammad Ali: FBI probed 1964 Sonny Liston fight for match-fixing He then outpointed Julius Griffin, winner of the New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, to capture the Intercity Golden Gloves Championship on March 26 (representing Chicago). The FBI was on the hunt for evidence for match-fixing, given Listons mob ties mobsters still owned much of his fight promotion contract and the sports shady business model. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. He also took his gun. You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. Liston returned to the United States and won seven fights, all by knockout, in 1968, increasing his string to eleven. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. [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. Shaun Assael. After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia. According to a New York Times report the day after the fight, Clay was indeed an official member of the Nation of Islam. Naturally, they decided that Ali would take on Liston. THE PREFIGHT MOODS OF SONNY LISTON - Sports Illustrated He was paroled after serving six months of a nine-month sentence, and was not prohibited from boxing during 1957. One mile up on a mountain 13 miles west of Denver is the Shrine of Mother Cabrini. "The public is not with me. Liston's story, Knopfler said, "is great for a writer for many reasons. He could have remained typecast as a musician performing rock songs. [citation needed] 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. I wasn't hit. "I'm doing a portrait of a life, really, in a way, so you are trying to get the whole thing into just a few verses. Ali's "Phantom Punch" Controversy Explained - PBS Sonny Liston, I think was possibly the greatest intimidator of all time. Tocco left the house before the police did. In these feckless clinches he only managed to tie up one of Liston's arms. [61] The new date was set for May 25, 1965. [93] Liston had been hospitalized in early December, complaining of chest pains. Sonny Liston fought for only $10,000 during his career.