Savant Sundays: Sonny Liston and his best fight

Charles “Sonny” Liston was an enigma who instilled fear in men’s minds through testimony throughout the 1960s. The inaugural WBC World Heavyweight Champion has gone down in history as one of the hardest hitters and healthiest workmen of all time.

After losing just eight professional fights to Marty Marshall, Liston went on a 28-game winning streak, earning himself a title challenge and ‘Bogeyman’ appeal.

Liston was 6 feet 1 inch tall with a jaw dropping 7 feet wingspan. He appeared on the show “On the Spot” with host Max Goldberg in 1964, prior to his fight with Muhammad Ali. Goldberg did everything but respect Liston’s physical characteristics. emphasized.

Classic Fighting The Arkansas native was a master of the hook and cross. As you can see throughout this profile, Liston was formidable at punishing fighters to the body in clinches, toe-to-toe or at a distance. With a good reach, his ability to cover the ground was outstanding.

His jab was so active and precise that Liston was no one-trick pony either. His hands were quick, but he fell short of the likes of Joe Frazier and Roy Jones Jr.

“The Big Bear” was also defensively sound with model head movements, but with a tendency to dormant setbacks and blocks that left something to be desired. The cons spoke for themselves. Let’s dig into some of the most important fights in Liston’s career.

Sonny Liston vs Floyd Patterson 1 (1962)

Photo by Stanley Weston/Getty Images

Liston appeared graceful and stately. He didn’t stop with his jab and was countered by Patterson’s typical exaggerated body movements, bobbing and weaving from side to side. Soon after, the fighter was restrained after Patterson landed a jab, with Liston bringing thunder to Patterson’s ribcage. Two sweeping body shots nearly brought Patterson to his knees before a barrage sent him to the canvas. That’s all she wrote.

Sonny Liston vs Floyd Patterson 2 (1963)

Good champions often respond to losses and take revenge, but Liston did no such thing in rematches.

Liston got even more aggressive with his jab and Patterson barely threw in the round but tried to get very low like Arturo Godoy to fend off Liston’s ferocious blows. gave four vicious blows to the ribs and then knocked him over. As Patterson dropped his defenses, Liston met him where he was, impressively maintaining his power and connecting with Patterson’s jaws. When Patterson got to his feet, he landed a powerful right hand on Sonny’s face, which Liston ate well and came back with his own counter, sending Patterson home early again.

Sonny Liston vs Muhammad Ali 1 (1964)

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Liston’s brilliant head movements were met with otherworldly movements from Ali (then known as Cassius Clay, who only had a few weeks left). Liston’s ready jab was countered by Ali’s over-the-top jab, with Ali seen dancing for much of her first two rounds, Liston either shuffling forward to unpunch or Either you had to lunge or do both.

The third round was a beautiful spectacle as Ali landed and Liston used a lot of ring space to make Liston miss before catching Ali with a nice uppercut and a small right hand late in the round. As the fourth continued, Liston was ineffective with his jab and threw frequently but was unable to catch the retreating Ali. Both fighters threw numerous feints.

Something was bothering Ali at the top of round 5 and Liston could smell blood. He unleashed a storm of crosses on his body, many of which landed, and Ali again tried to get used to the action. Although Liston won the round, Ali was adept at staying mobile and using a variety of tactics to keep “The Big Bear” out of the way.

An under-eye injury caused Liston’s corner to stop the fight and Ali jumped out of his misfortune to have perhaps the greatest career in boxing history.

Sonny Liston vs Eddie Macken (1960)

As usual, Liston wasted no time throwing jabs, keeping Machen at bay who was about to let go with minimal success. When Macken clinched in the second, Liston focused on his body and punished with hooks to his ribcage.In all three of his first rounds, Macken left hooks despite being a orthodox fighter. liked Liston countered his opponent’s moves with an accurate shot at the beltline.

Things got sloppy in rounds 4 and 5, with Machen suffering from footwork failures and even wrapping his arms around Liston in an attempt to bring him down while he maintained impeccable form. Liston displayed admirable head movement in the mid-rounds, moving left, right and forward with ease.

McKen had moments when he tried to bully Liston in the eighth and ninth. At one point he put him on a rope and partially landed. Those were the closest rounds of the fight and were probably good enough for Machen to win narrowly. Liston also threw a couple of wild uppercuts that all missed.

In round ten, both fighters stood on the ground and exchanged crosses. After many tie-ups, Liston landed a short but devastating uppercut-type shot down the middle of Mattchen’s midsection, injuring his knee at the end of round 11. Luckily, he was saved by Bell. Liston unbalanced McKen again in the final round, holding the course and winning by unanimous decision.

Conclusion

Liston’s focus on his opponent’s torso was evident in every fight. He has no noticeable weaknesses in his offense, other than his light legs, and would stand a great chance against most heavyweight greats.

Liston is no stranger to the mob, and his lifestyle has come with trouble. According to ESPN’s Exposure, Liston was arrested 19 times, questioned by the public for his bizarre nature that both ended his fights with Ali, and succumbed to an alleged heroin overdose in his early 40s. .

Personal life aside, Liston has spoken in the ring. Despite a short-lived championship reign of just 17 months, he ended his career with his 15–1 draw and will forever be remembered as a legend. He lost to only three of his opponents in his entire career—one of whom he was elderly when he fought Leotis his Martin at the age of 39 in 1969—that of boxing. It brought skill and thrill to the sport.