Sonny Liston... Your Views?

Question

What's your views and opinions on Sonny Liston?...

Answer 1

A truly underrated fighter (historically) due largely to the man that succeeded him.  Liston was an intimidator.  Many of his opponents were psychologically defeated before they stepped into the ring.  If you want to see what I mean by this, checkout footage of the Mike Tyson vs. Alex Stewart.  Stewart came into the ring with a trail of p**s behind him.  Many of Liston's opponents were in that same mode; capable, but frozen by fear.

Answer 2

Sonny Liston

W 50

L 4

D 0

KO  39

Sonny beat such fighters as Floyd Patterson twice both by first round knockouts, Cleveland Williams by 3rd round kayo, and Zora Folley by decision.  He was a big, mean and intimidating fighter well known for his menacing staredown in ring center during the ref's instructions.  He had a good jab probably one of the most powerful of all time, and enormous power.  He was 6'1 and about 220 lbs with a 84 inch reach with 15" fists.  Unfortunately Sonnys' two fights with Muhammad Ali is what stands out as in the first fight, he gave up in his corner and in the second fight he went down from the famous phantom punch as confusion went on between referee and former champ Jersey Joe Walcott and the timekeeper.  Sonny like Tyson was somewhat of a bully but he was also a very good and gifted fighter. In my opinion he was one of the top 10 fighters in boxing history.

Answer 3

A very misunderstood fighter.  Never had it easy so by the time he was in the public eye, he wasn't very chatty to the press, had a naturally hard exterior, but was a good champion, very tough, could KO you with jabs.  He may have been controlled by Organized Crime, We probably never know how he died, he was afraid of needles, so ????.  But he was a worthy Heavyweight champ boxing people appreciate his skills.  I give him respect despite the tale end of his career.

Answer 4

The fix was in on both of his fights against Ali; especially the phantom punch that knocked him down in the second fight.

No offense to the legacy of Ali, but if you watched Liston in earlier fights, then against Ali, it appears that Liston doesn't fight his usual fight against Ali.

Answer 5

He would have ran over these guys today. He would have been too strong with punches thrown with bad intentions. Guys today suck rock lollipops. After Tyson, Lewis, and Holyfield I ignored the heavyweights. None of these guys can crack like the nineties guys.

Answer 6

Destructive puncher, and one of the most intimidating heavyweights since Tyson.  I consider Sonny a top ten heavyweight, but in the lower 6-10 of the top ten.

Answer 7

An underrated fighter, a big man only 6' 1'' and over 220 lbs but with a huge 7' 1" inch wing span.  A very good boxer, puncher with stamina and very fast even Muhammad Ali expressed surprise at his hand and foot speed.  Just misunderstood and treated with utter shock.  In today's world well look at the people who have no respect for anything using drugs and are not taking responsibility for there actions.

Answer 8

when i think of sonny liston , i think of the knockout punch that didnt exist. (love those fixed fights)

Answer 9

Sonny Liston is probably one of the most underrated fighters of the last century.  He was one of the hardest punchers in the history of heavyweight boxing and this was evidenced when he scarily knocked out Floyd Patterson to win the championship, and then he did the same thing a few months later.  I think that if he had started boxing a little earlier and if he got his shot when he deserved it, he would have been champ for much longer.  He was listed as being 31 (old for back then) when he fought Patterson for the title, but many historians say that he was older than that because his official birth date is unknown.  There are many questionable things about Liston besides his birthdate: he was involved with the mob, which is why a lot of people think he took a dive in his second fight with Ali, and his death is still a mystery to this day- it was ruled as an accidental overdose of heroin but Liston was terribly afraid of needles, which is why many believe that he was murdered by the mob and the police covered it up.  We will most likely never know for sure, but what IS for sure is that he was a h**l of a puncher and he will not be forgotten by boxing fans any time soon.

Edit: to Ron b- I mentioned the things about his life outside of boxing because the question said "views and opinions" on him and you are viewed for what happens inside and outside the ring, which is why I said he is an underrated fighter and one of the hardest punchers of all time BEFORE I mentioned the stuff about the mob and his death. (I included that because its interesting for people to know that it is still a mystery to this day and because he is viewed that way).

Answer 10

Liston was probably the first modern heavyweight champion.  

Clearly he had excellent natural ability and skill with his jab and devastating power in both hands, but the one of the more interesting things we can see is the difference between the old heavyweight mold and the modern - Liston was considered a monster, too big and strong for anyone, he dwarfed and overwhelmed Floyd Patterson along with fighters of that generation - but then we can so clearly see the advancement in size and strength between eras, probably like no time before.  People at ringside were shocked at how much bigger Ali was than Liston when they squared off, and how a fighter that big could still move with speed.

Liston produces that link - and for all intents and purposes should end any literal question about matchups between Marciano, Louis, and Dempsey, against the likes of Foreman, Ali, Lewis, etc.

Answer 11

had arguablly the best jab in the business, one of the hardest punchers in history, highly under-rated, twice kayo'd the durable floyd patterson in the 1st round......