There was something caustic in both eyes." Liston's criminal record, compounded by a personal association with a notorious labor racketeer, led to the police's stopping him on sight, and he began to avoid main streets. "He told me in the strictest confidence, but it was like he wanted to get it off his chest." Tocco said that the living room furniture was in disarray, but the house did not yet smell of death. 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. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. Liston made his professional boxing debut at the age of 21 on September 2, 1953. ", confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. Many did not see the punch land, and some who did questioned that it was powerful enough to knock Liston out. In 2013 the son of a deceased mafia hitman published a book claiming that his father confessed to murdering Liston via forced drug overdose. [99] (3) The mob promised Liston some money to throw the second Ali fight, but they never paid him. Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." [56] Sports Illustrated writer Tex Maule wrote that Liston's shoulder injury was legitimate. For those too young to remember, Sonny The Big Bear Liston was a legendary heavyweight boxer. In his 1965 rematch with Ali, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix. Others have said he may have been murdered in some sort of mob killing. [citation needed], The fight turned out to be a mismatch. Muhammad Ali Signed 16x20 Sonny Liston Photo Framed MINT Autograph Steiner COA. School of Education. Tosches' intended title was "Night Train" after one of Liston's favorite songs. Mother Bridget Sheehan. The torn tendon had bled down into the mass of the biceps, swelling and numbing the arm. CU Experts. In the main bedroom, Geraldine discovered the body of her husband, former heavyweight champion Charles "Sonny" Liston. 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. [59], Liston trained hard for the rematch, which was scheduled to take place November 13, 1964, in Boston. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. 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. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. He's like Foreman except stronger, more powerful, and slightly smaller. "But they'll have to swing along until somebody comes to beat me. But former Las Vegas police Sgt. "The only thing my old man ever gave me was a beating," Liston said. 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. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston canceled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. Although Clay often carried his gloves down at his waist, seemingly open to attack, he proved very difficult to hit. Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." Tocco called the police, and they broke into the house. Meaning Sonny was number 24 out of 25 kids. [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". said Liston's Philadelphia dentist, Dr. Nick Ragni. In the novel, Liston not only drinks but also pops pills and works as a sometime enforcer for a heroin ring in Las Vegas. He was a bit of a physical freak He was 6 ft 1 in with a disproportionately long reach at 84 inches. Patterson defended against Liston in Comiskey Park, Chicago, on September 25, 1962, and the rest is history. [92] He had been suffering from hardening of the heart muscle and lung disease before his death. He was paroled after serving six months of a nine-month sentence, and was not prohibited from boxing during 1957. Odds makers gave Liston 71 to win. Machen's mobility enabled him to go the distance but he was clearly outpointed despite Liston being penalised for a low blow in the 11th round. [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. When he moved to town here he Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. [11][12][10][13][14] One writer concluded that Liston's most plausible date of birth was July 22, 1930, citing census records and statements from his mother during her lifetime. Liston claimed he was born in 1932, yet his rap sheet for his 1950 arrest for armed robbery listed his age as 22, making him born in 1928. [47] Sitting on his stool between rounds, however, Liston was breathing heavily as his cornermen worked on his cut. Wepner needed 72 stitches and suffered a broken cheekbone and nose. During these same years Sonny Liston was on the comeback trail as well. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band He is seen in the far left of the first row, wearing a white and gold robe. On May 5, 1956, a policeman confronted Liston and a friend about a cab parked near Liston's home. John F. Kennedy also did not want Patterson to fight Liston. Join Facebook to connect with Daniel 'Sonny' Liston and others you may know. 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. 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 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. Shaun Assael. Father John (Sonny) Liston. He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter." His death was, too. Liston's wife also recalled that her husband would refuse basic medical care for common colds because of his dislike of needles. 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. ", Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. Join Facebook to connect with Daniel 'Sonny' Liston and others you may know. Liston was allegedly present at dealer Earl Cage's residence during a raid by narcotics detectives. The fight ranks as one of the shortest heavyweight title bouts in history. He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter.". In fact, Sonny Liston had not been right for a long time, and not only for the strangely dual life he had been leadingspells of choirboy abstinence squeezed between binges of drinking and. And, while Patterson was growing as a fighter, Sonny was taking on mostly journeyman and starting to age. Byrne sought an injunction blocking the fight in Boston because Inter-Continental Promotions was promoting the fight without a Massachusetts license. He served brief prison terms and on one occasion was introduced to boxing by a prison chaplain. Three days before the fight, Ali needed emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia. For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." Official date of death put as December 30. "[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. Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. 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. [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. Charles 'Sonny' Liston was one of the most feared and even hated men in the US His talent for boxing was discovered while he was in prison for armed robbery Once out, he turned pro but his. [21], Liston made his professional debut on September 2, 1953, knocking out Don Smith in the first round in St. Louis, where he fought his first five bouts. Liston went down on his back. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight . Muhammad Ali (at the time a rising contender named Cassius Clay), however, predicted a knockout by Liston in the first five rounds. ", This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 06:36. Because of that, the dealers may have thought Sonny ratted on them and they shot him with a hot dose as retribution. Walcott never did pick up the count. And in 1961 . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 2023 Barstool Sports. "[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. Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston, 1965 Source: AFP. 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." The NAACP had urged Patterson not to fight Liston, fearing that a Liston victory would hurt the civil rights movement. Gallender claimed, "A lot of officers knew Sonny was dead before Geraldine returned home on January 5, but they chose to let him rot. Sonny Liston. Larry Merchant, then a writer with the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote: "A celebration for Philadelphia's first heavyweight champ is now in order. Boulder, CO 80309-0249. Sonny Liston existed, and, Ali bouts or no Ali bouts, he was one of the greatest fighters to ever lace on a glove. Thom Jones titled his 2000 collection of short stories Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine. He cited Liston's inability to lift his arm: "There is no doubt that Liston's arm was damaged. There is no official record of his date of birth but a writer claimed that he was born on July 22, 1930. [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. "Nat Fleischer [editor of The Ring] was sitting beside McDonough and he was waving his hands, too, saying it was over." Ali's impressive start to his career earned him a shot at Sonny Liston for the Won WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles in his 20th career fight in February 1964. But some Vegas "bookies, mobsters, and cops" still wonder if he wasn't . [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. Ali initially stood over his fallen opponent, gesturing and yelling at him, "Get up and fight, sucker!" And for music fans, a wax model of Liston appears in the front row of the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. "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. Liston said he quit because of a shoulder injury. ", 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. "[42], Liston made his second title defense on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). "[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. On September 7, 1954, Liston suffered defeat for the first time in his eighth professional fight, losing to Marty Marshall, a journeyman with an awkward style. After some run-ins with the law near St Louis, Liston moved to Philly and picked up a new manager in 1958: another mafia guy named Joseph "Pep" Barone, who was a front man for mobsters Frankie Carbo and Frank "Blinky" Palermo. Stuttgarter Amtsblatt No. The coroner said he died from natural causes. [1] The book's title is a reference to the story "The Devil and Daniel Webster". Liston stacked up the wins and became the No. The commotion was not lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. In The Devil and Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches, published in 2000, when many of Liston's former acquaintances were still alive, Tosches posits that Liston's idol Joe Louis introduced him to heroin, and that he ultimately overdosed. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c. 1930 - c. December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. (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. Sonny's in a simple white robe, hood covering a white towel that's draped over his head. [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. On top of the mob stigma, people were flat-out terrified of Sonny Fight City named Sonny Liston as the most intimidating fighter of all time" beating out names of other legendary animals like Tyson, Foreman, and Hagler. I know!" [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. 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. So that means his reach was practically a . [55], There is ample evidence that Liston did carry an injury to his left shoulder into the fight. At age 12, after selling a bag of pecans for bus fare, he left for St. Louis, betting on a brighter future. Two of the three official scorers, or judges, awarded the round to Liston, and the other scored the round even. [38], Patterson finally signed to meet Liston for the world title on September 25, 1962, in Comiskey Park in Chicago. 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. Liston appears as a character in James Ellroy's novel The Cold Six Thousand. 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. "But can he hit!" Born to a large and impoverished sharecropping family, Charles 'Sonny' Liston probably came into the world four years before his official 1932 birthdate, and his struggle to fashion a real identity would remain with him his whole life. Liston was a heavy favorite. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. ", Still, some found it hard to believe that the punch could have floored a man like Liston. "He said, 'Cut the gloves off. 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. Sonny Liston Born to an Arkansas tenant farmer named Tobe Liston and his second wife, Helen, Charles L. Liston was one of twenty-five children. Tocco left the house before the police did. "[82] Johnny Tocco, a trainer who worked with George Foreman and Mike Tyson as well as Liston, said Liston was the hardest hitter of the three. 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. Death April 29, 2016 - Carrhubane Beg, Limerick, Ireland. A stoic Liston finished the fight, but lost in an eight-round split decision. After the second loss to Ali, Liston stayed out of the ring for more than a year. [62] The promoters needed a new location quickly, whatever the size, to rescue their closed-circuit television commitment around the country. 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]. [100] A successful racehorse which won the Irish St Leger classic race in 2021 was named Sonnyboyliston. "Johnny wasn't a braggart," Davi told Liston biographer Paul Gallender. 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. Painting by Damien Burton. [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. He also had a reputation for bullying people such as porters and waitresses. Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. [87], Liston was found dead by his wife, Geraldine, in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971. And the Muslims were coming up. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. Liston's last fight was a 10-round beating he delivered to Chuck Wepner in June 1970. And yet, outside of boxing, L You've seen him before but probably didn't realize it because the most famous photo ever taken of Sonny was not at his best angle More on that in a second. Heavyweight champion Charles "Sonny" Liston, winner of 35 of his 36 professional bouts and one of the most intimidating athletes in any sport, was facing a lightly regarded 22-year-old from. Mickey Mantle, who could hit a baseball as far as any man, had the forearms of a blacksmith but only average-sized hands. He would not close in until the accumulated inside damage and Liston's own frustration had sapped the challenger's strength and will." Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. Sonny Liston's story began with a lonely bus ride in 1944. (. He claimed the officer used racial slurs. Childhood & Early Life. The coroner said that there was not a lethal amount of heroin discovered in Listons system during the autopsy, but authorities still attributed his death to an accidental drug overdose even though police on the scene could not locate any drug paraphernalia that Liston presumably would have needed to inject the fatal dose Such as a spoon to cook the heroin, or a tourniquet to wrap around his arm, or maybe a needle that he was fucking terrified of. All of us encounter trouble from time to time in our lives. [107] The story speculates that Liston threw the Ali match for the good of society. Liston believed his date of birth to be May 8, 1932, and used this for official purposes[11] but by the time he won the world title an aged appearance added credence to rumors that he was actually several years older. [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. He had been dead several days. Daniel 'Sonny' Liston is on Facebook. Liston wins, 10 times out of 10. Several reports say Liston had fresh needle marks on his arms when he died. (3) The mob promised Liston some money to throw the second Ali fight, but they never paid him. [14], Tobe Liston inflicted whippings so severe on Sonny that the scars were still visible decades later. Born in Forrest City, Arkansas, sometime in the late 1920s and early. Listons body was discovered by his wife who was returning home from a two-week trip. "The public is not with me. Liston went from being a big-shouldered street thief with no education to heavyweight champ of the world and household name. [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]. 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. I wasn't hit. The interference of ringside reporters regarding interpretation of the rules, the fight stoppage and the controversy after the fight had not been seen since The Long Count Fight between champion Gene Tunney and challenger Jack Dempsey in 1927. 15 months earlier, they'd accused him of pulling over a woman around 3 a.m. and impersonating a police officer. Wepner, who also fought George Foreman and went 15 rounds with Ali before being knocked out (that fight was Stallones inspiration for Rocky), said after his career was over that Liston was by far the hardest puncher he faced. Mike DeJohn was the highest paid boxer at $15,000 while James Dickey received $20,000. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. Sports Illustrated writer Mort Sharnik said his hands "looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists." [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. and hit him with hooks and uppercuts when Frazier tried to get in. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative. [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated.
