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. "[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. It was a good punch, but I didn't think I hit him so hard that he couldn't have gotten up. Liston didn't seem to mind though. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. 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. At one point in this attack, Liston was rocked as he was driven to the ropes. He sunk to the canvas, and as he was down, Ali stood over him, taunting and demanding his stunned opponent get back up. [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. [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. "[57] 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. "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. 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. Press J to jump to the feed. Soon, he was known as Cassius X, eschewing the last name given to his enslaved family by their owners. In the months ahead of the fight, Muhammad Ali went all sorts of routes to get into Sonny Liston's head. He won eight fights that year, six by knockout. Mark Knopfler enjoyed widespread popularity in the 1980's as the leader of Dire Straits, lending his husky voice to hit songs like "Sultans of Swing" and "Money for Nothing." THE PREFIGHT MOODS OF SONNY LISTON. [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!
Muhammad Ali talking about Henry Cooper, Sonny Liston, and - YouTube "[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. He would not close in until the accumulated inside damage and Liston's own frustration had sapped the challenger's strength and will." [38], Patterson finally signed to meet Liston for the world title on September 25, 1962, in Comiskey Park in Chicago. [33], Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fightawarding Ali a first-round knockout victory. "[96], Many people who knew Liston insisted he was afraid of needles and never would have used heroin. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. Many in attendance did not see Ali deliver the punch. [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". Roy Harris, who had gone 13 rounds with Floyd Patterson in a title match, was crushed in one round by Liston. Interviewing and trash-talk have both gone through some tremendous evolutions, havent they? 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. Who needed that? [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. [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Gary Robinov, director of Raising Ali, a film about the 50th anniversary of the heavyweight boxing match between Muhammed Ali and Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine.. 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. Cleveland Williams was the last person to defeat Liston and made $100,000 for his efforts. In "Song for Sonny Liston," Knopfler's voice is backed by electric guitar, a bass and drums as he tells the story of a sharecropper's son who went from prison to the championship to an early death under mysterious circumstances. ", The Liston song appears on an album called "Shangri-La." RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color Legends of Boxing in Color 22K views 10 months ago On the Spot show with Max Goldberg featuring the heavyweight champion. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was "no phantom punch." Tradues em contexto de "with Sonny" en ingls-portugus da Reverso Context : I think you should stay here with Sonny. This interview is missing a "BOOOOOOOMZQUAD!!" You really never watched the first fight did you? Banker later learned that the police told Liston the same thing to his face. Larry Merchant, then a writer with the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote: "A celebration for Philadelphia's first heavyweight champ is now in order. The rumors swirling nearly canceled the fight the night prior, and when a reporter that morning broke tradition and asked if Clay was a member of the Black Muslims, as the group was often called, the boxer confirmed his new religion. He was scared of the black-power movement. Before he left for his bout with Clay, Sonny's training in Denver took him to some strange places. In a pre-fight poll, 43 of 46 sportswriters picked Liston to win by knockout. [citation needed], Liston competed in the 1953 United States National Championships at Boston Garden 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. Sonny Liston shot a gun at Muhammad Ali. At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. What are you doing? "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. The toxicology report said his body was too decomposed for the tests to be conclusive. His "Speedway at Nazareth" was about auto racing. [87], Liston was found dead by his wife, Geraldine, in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971. Sonny Liston is considered by many as the most intimidating boxer of all time with a devastating jab which is widely regarded as one of the best in heavyweight history. Ali brought his big personality to the small town, but Liston was still the favorite. The highly-anticipated May 1965 rematch between the heavyweight champions almost didn't happen. But audiences attending Knopfler's concerts around North America this summer are hearing and responding favorably to a song of a different genre, a bluesy narrative ballad called "Song for Sonny Liston," about the troubled fighter who preceded Muhammad Ali as heavyweight champion in the early 1960's. Good lord, Sonny's mitts are massive. [24], In 1958, Liston returned to boxing. On the album's lyric sheet, below the Liston song, Knopfler includes a famous quotation from Liston from 1962: "Some day, they're gonna write a blues for fighters. [97], "The month before he died, some guy ran into Sonny while he was making a left turn. Muhammad Ali called it his "anchor punch," a quick right hand that the young heavyweight champion claimed he had learned from his friend, actor Stepin Fetchit. [94], Liston was buried at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada. [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]. Please read the rules before posting/commenting. [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. The film starred Ving Rhames as Liston and was produced by Rhames, Hassain Zaidi and Marek Posival. I wasn't hit. [79][80][81] 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 Ive ever seen.
I didn't think it was a powerful punch when I saw the fight from ringside," he said. The fight ranks as one of the shortest heavyweight title bouts in history. 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). Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. America's first look at Liston since the Ali rematch was when he fought fifthranked Henry Clark in a nationally broadcast bout in July 1968. 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. Suddenly, the world had to come to grips with a new kind of heavyweight champion. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. 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. "[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. ", Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. Sonny Liston, I think was possibly the greatest intimidator of all time. [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. It was 1965, not 1955. In these feckless clinches he only managed to tie up one of Liston's arms. But then again, he took a pretty good beating in the fight. It is hardly the first recording by a rock musician about boxing.
Remembering One Of Boxing's Storied Bouts : NPR 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. 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. After Ali's win against Sonny Liston, he wouldn't . The match had more storylines than a soap opera. BOXING Correction: July 15, 2005, Friday A sports picture caption on Wednesday with an article about Mark Knopfler's ballad for the boxer Sonny Liston referred incorrectly in some copies to the year in which Muhammad Ali knocked out Liston in Lewiston, Me. Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. Liston had never been knocked out before, and most people didnt even see the punch happen. More on that in a second. After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia. Clay confessed later he had been hurt by the punch, but Liston was unable to press his advantage home. 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. He was a gentle man. Very rare interview of Sonny Liston talking about how he got started in boxing, his fights with Williams and Patterson and his training routine. . Traduo Context Corretor Sinnimos Conjugao Conjugao Documents Dicionrio Dicionrio Colaborativo Gramtica Expressio Reverso Corporate I know it", Liston said afterward. A couple weeks later, he was still complainin' about that needle mark. When you can kill almost anybody in the world with your bare hands, you don't really have to go around proclaiming it to everyone. Paul R Gallender, 2012. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. "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. 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. Liston knocked out Hermann Schreibauer of West Germany at 2:16 of the first round. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 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. ", confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. (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. [22], Early in his career, Liston faced capable opponents. Welcome to r/boxing, the official home of pro boxing on Reddit! [83] Herb Goldman stated that Liston, when in his prime between 1958 and 1963, was the most feared fighter in boxing history. The fight quickly descended into chaos. During the fourth round Liston appeared dominant as Clay coasted, keeping his distance. At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. Also, scar tissue, possibly from needle marks, was found in the bend of Liston's left elbow. "[98], Some claim Liston was murdered. Officially, Liston died of lung congestion and heart failure. The connections to organized crime were an advantage early in his career but were later used against him. He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died in mysterious circumstances in 1970. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. There were plenty of tough questions after the first fight for Liston, too, namely, why didnt he come out for another round? The Devil and Sonny Liston. Liston biographer Paul Gallender claims that Liston fathered several children, though none with his wife. ", 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]. "He was scared of the police. He used the platform to expound on the political theory that was so reviled in white America, defending Malcolm X and condemning racial oppression this was still months before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We had a return bout clause with Clay, but if you say your guy just quit, who is gonna get a return bout? In an Associated Press poll, 64 of 102 reporters picked Patterson. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c. 1930 - December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. Half a mile above and beyond the shrine, looking down from the summit of the mountain, is a statue of the Sacred Heart. The NAACP had urged Patterson not to fight Liston, fearing that a Liston victory would hurt the civil rights movement. The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights.
On This Day: Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston with - The Ring "There's no doubt that he was mean," Knopfler said of Liston. 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. ", Hutchison, Phillip J. 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, . There were some, however, who believed the fight was legitimate. [30] Before his bout with Liston, Muhammad Ali consulted Machen and was advised that the key to survival was to make Liston lose his temper.
Book Review: Was Sonny Liston Murdered? - The Arts Fuse Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders. 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. [71] 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. "Better get me out of this ring," exclaimed Wilson, "he is going to kill me! To the rest of the world, it would be known as "The Phantom Punch." That shot, which Ali dropped Sonny Liston with on May 25, 1965, was far from a phantom.
Joe Frazier vs Sonny Liston : r/Boxing - Reddit 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. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." 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. His wife said he was a kind & gentle hearted person who cared deeply for children & that no one ever saw that side of him except those closest to him, I believe theres a documentary somewhere on YouTube Id recommend watching it. However, David Remnick, 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: "[The shoulder] was all BS. He rolled over, got to his right knee and then fell on his back again. Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La. . But by the sixth round his sight had cleared, and a clearly enraged Clay fought a blisteringly aggressive round landing numerous combination punches.
Maybe he was. 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. Rare interview of Sonny Liston colorized. [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. [45][46] A clearly angered Liston rallied at the end of the round when Clay seemed tired, delivering punishing body shots. Muhammad Ali (at the time a rising contender named Cassius Clay), however, predicted a knockout by Liston in the first five rounds. Naturally, they decided that Ali would take on Liston. Sit down!' [52][53] It was the first time since 1919when Jack Dempsey defeated Jess Willardthat a world heavyweight champion had quit on his stool. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. However, there were again rumors of alcohol abuse in training. Convention Center, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Municipal Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Midwest Gymnasium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Pittsburgh Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. New Masonic Temple, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Motor City Arena, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Sources vary on his reach, with some listing it as 80in, Reputations: Sonny Liston: The Champion Nobody Wanted (2001), 50 min, BBC Documentary, Mailer: A Biography By Mary V. Dearborn, page 186. Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. Standing 185 centimeters (6'1) tall and packing over 90 kilograms (200 lb) of pure muscle, there's a reason he was nicknamed "The Big Bear," and it wasn't for the hugs he gave.. His career in heavyweight boxing spanned from 1953 to 1970, and he spent all 17 of those years going guts for glory against the . But he spoke to his friend Resnick on the day of the fight and was told not to bet on the champion. [55], There is ample evidence that Liston did carry an injury to his left shoulder into the fight. [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. Byrne sought an injunction blocking the fight in Boston because Inter-Continental Promotions was promoting the fight without a Massachusetts license. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform. Patterson, a 4-1 betting underdog, was knocked down three times and counted out at 2:10 of the first round. [14], Tobe Liston inflicted whippings so severe on Sonny that the scars were still visible decades later. [35] 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 ring in Las Vegas. Liston was overwhelmed by an abusive father, confrontations with the law, underworld managers and a change in African-American culture represented by Ali, Knopfler said. Only Massachusetts was willing to host the fight, though it was delayed from November 1964 to May 1965 so that Ali could recover from hernia surgery. He had been deliberately snubbed. Even before the first punch was thrown, the May 25, 1965 bout between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston . There's something really primal about the whole thing, obviously. 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. "He said, 'Cut the gloves off. "Johnny wasn't a braggart," Davi told Liston biographer Paul Gallender. "And I suppose Sonny Liston always stuck with me. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. Ali would lose his title a year later, though it didnt happen in the ring. Numerous fans booed and started yelling, "Fix!" "Nat Fleischer [editor of The Ring] was sitting beside McDonough and he was waving his hands, too, saying it was over." 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 paroled after serving six months of a nine-month sentence, and was not prohibited from boxing during 1957. We cooked up that shoulder thing on the spot. 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.[44]. "There was nothing Sonny feared more than a needle. [35] Liston's victory was loudly booed.
10 Wild Stories From The Life Of Sonny Liston - Listverse He had a whiplash, so they took him to the hospital," said boxing trainer Johnny Tocco. Sonny Liston in his prime . 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."
Sonny Liston - BoxRec #muhammadali #henrycooper #sonnyliston #dougjones #heavyweight #greatness #boxing #legend #larryholmes #ironmike #sonnyliston #intimidating #bad #big #greatb. 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. Knopfler, who was born in Scotland and grew up in northern England, said Liston's story was "exciting subject matter because it's so mysterious." Sports Illustrated writer Mort Sharnik said his hands "looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists." He could have remained typecast as a musician performing rock songs. On May 7, backers of the rematch ended the court battle by pulling the fight out of Boston. I don't think there was any way for him to beat Clay at that time, but if he entered the ring in a different mindset, to box and not try and get him like Patterson and others, he could of went the distance. Knopfler said the track "uses a lot of the country-blues style of playing that I started to absorb when I was young.".
One Journalist's Attempt To Solve 'The Murder Of Sonny Liston' - WBUR Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative. ", It was later theorized that a substance used on Liston's cuts by Joe Pollino, his cut man, may have caused the irritation. "Yes, it was good and honest". [34] Many African-Americans disdained Liston. During a ringside interview after the fight, Terrellwith his swollen eye and deflated egowould later say he respected all boxers.
Sonny Liston Interview in Color - YouTube Sonny Liston - Death, Muhammad Ali & Children - Biography We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.