Savant Sundays: Sonny Liston - Bad Left Hook In The Greatest, the 1977 film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali in which Ali played himself, Liston was portrayed by Roger E. Mosley. In the months ahead of the fight, Muhammad Ali went all sorts of routes to get into Sonny Liston's head. [84], Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. "Yes, it was good and honest". Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." Did Sonny Liston Take a Dive in His Second Muhammad Ali - Sportscasting Wepner, who also fought George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, said after his career was over that Liston was the hardest puncher he faced. Two more arrestsfor disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and another for impersonating a copled to Liston being suspended by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission on July 14, 1961. [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". RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color He rolled over, got to his right knee and then fell on his back again. When caught in January 1950, Liston gave his age as 20, while the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that he was 22. 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. said Liston's Philadelphia dentist, Dr. Nick Ragni. He was also seeking to prove himself after his two embarrassing and suspicious losses to Ali. Very rare interview of Sonny Liston talking about how he got started in boxing, his fights with Williams and Patterson and his training routine. [56] Sports Illustrated writer Tex Maule wrote that Liston's shoulder injury was legitimate. In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. Cleveland Williams was the last person to defeat Liston and made $100,000 for his efforts. ", It was later theorized that a substance used on Liston's cuts by Joe Pollino, his cut man, may have caused the irritation. In the 2020 film One Night in Miami, Liston is played by Aaron D. Alexander. After the second loss to Ali, Liston stayed out of the ring for more than a year. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. In a pre-fight poll, 43 of 46 sportswriters picked Liston to win by knockout. "Some songs just seem to reverberate with people.". Very Rare interview with Sonny Liston and Joe Louis. Support this Channel:https://www.patreon.com/LegendsofBoxing Merchandise:LegendsofBoxing.redbubble.com I restore \u0026 colorize your projects, PayPal Donations: LegendsofBoxingYT@gmail.comThank you!________________________________________________________________________________All My YouTube ChannelsMy Main Channel \"Legends of Boxing\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73ffQAknNEWJlRoFSWH_awMy Second Boxing Channel \"Legends of Boxing Strikes Back\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-QLrFyDnskqz5_z95mcOAMy History Channel \"Time Travel: Colorized Archive\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29VFkNvVVi6_OzwFV2oTqQMy Documentary Channel \"Tales From The Past\":https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpFIIYrCc1lOHbG-fUo5vwMein Dokumentation Channel \"Geschichten aus der Vergangenheit\" (Tales From The Past in Deutsch) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXBfWoE1KVXEzh9d2NrwBhASocial https://www.instagram.com/legends_of_boxing1/ [8] Convicted and sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary, Liston started his prison time on June 1, 1950. Liston was the subject of a 1995 HBO documentary titled Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. Although Clay often carried his gloves down at his waist, seemingly open to attack, he proved very difficult to hit. He would not close in until the accumulated inside damage and Liston's own frustration had sapped the challenger's strength and will." One memo, dated 24 May 1966, outlined an interview with Houston gambler Barnett Magids, who believed Liston would win. [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. I remember thinking as a child that this was a man who wanted to be left alone.". There are no official records of his birth [31] While Liston began working into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he also continued his criminal behavior. He had a whiplash, so they took him to the hospital," said boxing trainer Johnny Tocco. Sonny Liston | Boxing's Most Intimidating and Unwanted Champion Rainy Day Boxing 302K subscribers 5.6M views 1 year ago Join Rainy Day Boxing for an in depth career tribute to arguably the most. On April 21, 1955, he defeated Marshall in a rematch, dropping him four times en route to a sixth-round knockout. [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]. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. He won eight fights that year, six by knockout. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. [14], Tobe Liston inflicted whippings so severe on Sonny that the scars were still visible decades later. The second fight? Liston assaulted the officer, breaking his knee and gashing his face. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. His eyes swept the whole scene. "I was rooting around in my childhood, maybe the way you do when you get to a certain age," Knopfler said. ", 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. Joe Frazier vs Sonny Liston : r/Boxing - Reddit 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]. And the Muslims were coming up. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. It was more likely that Liston was out of shape according to a story in Esquire at the time, Liston trained as normal, running around five miles a day, eating hot dogs and drinking beer. He was also possibly much older than his listed 32 years than anything else Liston was the second-youngest of 25 children to parents who didnt exactly keep records of birthdates. Concert Preview/Interview: John Lodge of the Moody Blues on Reprising "Days of Future Passed . A couple weeks later, he was still complainin' about that needle mark. "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. [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]. Good lord, Sonny's mitts are massive. One of the reasons why sports stays alive in us is that there's part of us that wants to keep the child alive and recognizes that there is something important in doing that. Boston: Little, Brown. In these feckless clinches he only managed to tie up one of Liston's arms. "Better get me out of this ring," exclaimed Wilson, "he is going to kill me! For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." The Devil And Sonny Liston. At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative. Writer Jack McKinney said, "I watched Sonny. Thom Jones titled his 2000 collection of short stories Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine. While true he also sent women to the hospital, which his sparring partner confirms. Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. He was paroled after serving six months of a nine-month sentence, and was not prohibited from boxing during 1957. He also went with a new manager in 1958: Joseph "Pep" Barone, who was a front man for mobsters Frankie Carbo and Frank "Blinky" Palermo. [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. Before he left for his bout with Clay, Sonny's training in Denver took him to some strange places. Caputo, one of the investigating police officers, "The whole department knew about it." [67] Some felt the knockdown was real but the knockout was fake. 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. He also took his gun. Liston was allegedly present at dealer Earl Cage's residence during a raid by narcotics detectives. Suffolk County, where Boston is located, ultimately pulled the plug, leaving them without a venue with less than a month to go. Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. He also cited medical evidence: "A team of eight doctors inspected Liston's arm at St. Francis Hospital in Miami Beach and agreed that it was too badly damaged for Liston to continue fighting. It was a shocking result, not only because Liston was favored in the match, but because hardly anybody saw the punch that took him down. But by the sixth round his sight had cleared, and a clearly enraged Clay fought a blisteringly aggressive round landing numerous combination punches. Sonny Liston Interview 82,818 views Apr 2, 2014 1.3K Dislike Share Save haNZAgod 93.2K subscribers Subscribe A rare interview with former Heavyweight champion of the world, Sonny Liston.. 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. Geraldine called Liston's attorney and his doctor, but did not notify the police until two to three hours later. [94], On January 1, Liston's wife, Geraldine, called Johnny Tocco and said she had not heard from her husband in three days and was worried. [8], Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed muggings and armed robberies. "He was scared, he was scared of so many things," Knopfler said. One of the victories was over Amos Johnson, Liston's former sparring partner, who had recently defeated British champion Henry Cooper. I know it", Liston said afterward. Also, scar tissue, possibly from needle marks, was found in the bend of Liston's left elbow. 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. ", One of the most vivid verses creates a word-picture of Liston in his prime with photographic clarity: "Black Cadillac, alligator boots, money in the pockets of his sharkskin suits." 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. There were some, however, who believed the fight was legitimate. 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. "[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. Traduo Context Corretor Sinnimos Conjugao Conjugao Documents Dicionrio Dicionrio Colaborativo Gramtica Expressio Reverso Corporate "[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. Be respectful and come chat with us. 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. Ira Gay Sealy/The Denver Post via Getty Images According to the post, he returned back home later that morning and called his sparring partner Gary Bates to tell him he was leaving for Los Angeles but that they should get together when he returned in a couple of days. Sonny Liston shot a gun at Muhammad Ali. Numerous fans booed and started yelling, "Fix!" [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. You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. Never before seen Sonny Liston interview. Support this Channel: https://www.patreon.com/join/LegendsofBoxing Merchandise: https://www.redbubble.com/peo. Sonny Liston - Wikipedia 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. 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". It made a champion out of Clay, who declared that hed shook up the world.. Many in attendance did not see Ali deliver the punch. 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. Welcome to r/boxing, the official home of pro boxing on Reddit! He also wrote that Liston's win over Patterson proved that "in a fair fight between good and evil, evil must win." Patterson's fatal mistake was that he "did not punch enough and frequently tried to clinch with Liston. [8][9], There is no official record of Liston's birth. In the first fight, in Miami, a 22-year-old Cassius Clay danced around the ring, taunted Liston, promised reporters hed shock the world, and then delivered on that promise with a blistering late attack that prompted Liston to toss in the towel after the sixth round. [19], On June 23, 1953, a team consisting of ten recent St. Louis Golden Gloves champions of all weight classes, with Liston on top as the heavyweight, was gathered to represent the United States in an International Golden Gloves (USA vs. West Europe) competition at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. 10 Wild Stories From The Life Of Sonny Liston - Listverse This victory is regarded by some as Liston's most impressive performance. That got him killed. Roy Harris, who had gone 13 rounds with Floyd Patterson in a title match, was crushed in one round by Liston. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. [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. [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin wrote that "that final left hook crashed into Patterson's cheek like a diesel rig going downhill, no brakes." Knopfler, who now records as a soloist and performs with a backup band, has a wide-ranging curiosity that has produced an eclectic collection of songs. They fought for a third time on March 6, 1956, which Liston won by a ten-round unanimous decision. I dont have to be what you want me to be, Clay told agitated reporters. [93] Liston had been hospitalized in early December, complaining of chest pains. 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. Sonny Liston Interview - Rare - YouTube 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. Sonny was definitely a specimen. The opening round was fought an extra eight seconds, since both fighters and referee Barney Felix apparently did not hear the bell. 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. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. QUESTION 1 [105], Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows. . ", This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 06:36. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964).