Sonny Liston, I think was possibly the greatest intimidator of all time. World light-heavyweight champion Jos Torres said, "It was a perfect punch." Larry Merchant, then a writer with the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote: "A celebration for Philadelphia's first heavyweight champ is now in order. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma. The second fight lasted only four seconds longer than Part I's first-round KO, but Liston's victory was still loudly booed. 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. 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. His father was 30 years older than his mother. "Johnny wasn't a braggart," Davi told Liston biographer Paul Gallender. However, Liston settled on May 8, 1932, as his official birth date. 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. Mother Bridget Sheehan. Sonny was probably born in 1929, but no one knows for sure. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c. 1930 - c. December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. [citation needed], Rogin wrote that Patterson backers expected him to "go inside on Liston, fire away and then run like a thief in the night. 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. and hit him with hooks and uppercuts when Frazier tried to get in. "[18], After Liston was released from prison on October 31, 1952, he had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. Father John (Sonny) Liston. In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. Tocco said that the living room furniture was in disarray, but the house did not yet smell of death. 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. Wepner needed 72 stitches and suffered a broken cheekbone and nose. View the profiles of people named Daniel 'Sonny' Liston. Muhammad Ali (at the time a rising contender named Cassius Clay), however, predicted a knockout by Liston in the first five rounds. [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. 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. [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. [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]. He would not close in until the accumulated inside damage and Liston's own frustration had sapped the challenger's strength and will." His father Tobe loved to fuck. [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 public is not with me. "From Bad Buck to White Hope: Journalism and Sonny Liston, 19581965. [10][11] It has been suggested Liston himself may not have known what year he was born, as he was not precise on the matter. After the second loss to Ali, Liston stayed out of the ring for more than a year. 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. 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. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative. Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders. "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. We had a return bout clause with Clay, but if you say your guy just quit, who is gonna get a return bout? However, when Clay returned to his corner, he started complaining that there was something burning in his eyes and he could not see. Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fightawarding Ali a first-round knockout victory. [105], Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows. [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. [85] Geraldine had a daughter from a previous marriage, and the Listons subsequently adopted a boy from Sweden. Dennis Caputo of the Clark County Sheriff's Department was one of the first officers on the scene. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston, fdd omkring 1930 i Sand Slough i St. Francis County, Arkansas, dd 30 december 1970 i Las Vegas, Nevada, var en amerikansk professionell boxare som var vrldsmstare i tungvikt 1962-1964.. Liston vann titeln i september 1962 genom att besegra Floyd Patterson p knockout i frsta ronden och frlorade den sedan i februari 1964 i en match mot Cassius Clay . There are a ton of other dubious deaths and (hopefully) little-known facts about Vegas in this week's episode. [35] Liston's victory was loudly booed. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964). ", Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. 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. 9 The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas Pan publisher; 2017. Even Sonny's mother, who was called Big Hela, didn't know, though she believed him to be born during the month of January. Join Facebook to connect with Daniel 'Sonny' Liston and others you may know. Also, scar tissue, possibly from needle marks, was found in the bend of Liston's left elbow. 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." [70] There have been a number of unproven theories as to the background to the purported dive including that Liston was threatened by the Muslims, or agreed to lose in return for a share in the more marketable Ali's future purses. After repeated overnight detention by the St. Louis police and a thinly veiled threat to his life, Liston left for Philadelphia. Patterson finally agreed to meet Liston for the world title on September 25, 1962, in Comiskey Park in Chicago And everyone had Patterson. [8] Convicted and sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary, Liston started his prison time on June 1, 1950. In the third round, Clay began to take control of the fight. In five months, Sonny Liston had gone from unknown ex-con to amateur champion. Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. Advertising InquiriesTerms of UsePrivacy PolicyContent PolicyMessaging Terms, AppAdvertising InquiriesTerms of UsePrivacy PolicyContent PolicyCookie PolicyBest Sports Betting SiteMessaging TermsSubscription Terms. It was probably Liston's best moment in the entire fight. But former Las Vegas police Sgt. . The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas. School of Education. SONNY LISTON FOUND DEAD IN 1971 Few tears are being shed for Charles (Sonny) Liston, heavyweight champion of the world, Sept. 25, 1962 to Feb. 25, 1964. (, Shaun Assael. He had a whiplash, so they took him to the hospital," said boxing trainer Johnny Tocco. I know it", Liston said afterward. Numerous fans booed and started yelling, "Fix!" Birth 1935 - County Limerick, Ireland. A lot of his life was mysterious and messy. I was down but not hurt, but I looked up and saw Ali standing over me. Liston also appears in the sequel, Blood's a Rover. The coroner said he died from natural causes. Childhood & Early Life. -- 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. (3) The mob promised Liston some money to throw the second Ali fight, but they never paid him. Liston was found dead by his wife in their Las Vegas home on Jan. 5, 1971. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." 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. Geraldine had been trying to contact Liston for nearly two weeks before travelling . The opening round was fought an extra eight seconds, since both fighters and referee Barney Felix apparently did not hear the bell. Boxer Sonny Liston ducks and covers up as Cassius Clay aims a right at him during their title fight. All rights reserved. Governor John H. Reed of Maine stepped forward, and within a few hours the promoters had a new site: Lewiston, Maine, a mill town with a population of about 41,000 located 140 miles (230km) north of Boston. "[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. 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." 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. I never realized how much of a freak of nature Sonny Liston was. Sonny's in a simple white robe, hood covering a white towel that's draped over his head. Boston: Little, Brown. Patterson's fatal mistake was that he "did not punch enough and frequently tried to clinch with Liston. [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. [39] Leading up to the fight, Liston was an 85 betting favorite, although many picked Patterson to win. In his own words in Thomas Hauser's 1991 biography: "The punch jarred him. 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. 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. It's a terrible matchup. You've probably seen it a thousand times, but you may not have known who the poor bastard on the ground was until now. That got him killed. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. Daniel Liston. 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. [62] The promoters needed a new location quickly, whatever the size, to rescue their closed-circuit television commitment around the country. Rogin wrote. He also wrote that Liston's win over Patterson proved that "in a fair fight between good and evil, evil must win." 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