All Rights Reserved. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), who entered as a 71 underdog. [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. In the months ahead of the fight, Muhammad Ali went all sorts of routes to get into Sonny Liston's head. Welcome to r/boxing, the official home of pro boxing on Reddit! He sunk to the canvas, and as he was down, Ali stood over him, taunting and demanding his stunned opponent get back up. The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights. Rocky Marciano, the former heavyweight champion, said that he appreciated the punchs strength upon re-examination. Liston was depicted as a bad guy by the media, a handbreaker for the mafia. [85] Geraldine had a daughter from a previous marriage, and the Listons subsequently adopted a boy from Sweden. Liston went down on his back. And it was probably for the best ticket-buyers didnt exactly get their moneys worth. The Ring magazine ranks Liston as the tenth greatest heavyweight of all time,[4] while boxing writer Herb Goldman ranked him second and Richard O'Brien, Senior Editor of Sports Illustrated, placed him third. The FBI was on the hunt for evidence for match-fixing, given Listons mob ties mobsters still owned much of his fight promotion contract and the sports shady business model. Asked by a young white reporter why he was not fighting for freedom in the South, Liston deadpanned, "I ain't got no dog-proof ass. Rogin wrote. and he was pointing at some little bandage over the needle mark in his arm. Liston kept running into trouble with the law and Ali had a target on his back after the assassination of Malcolm X, whom he had disavowed after Elijah Muhammad forced him out of the Nation of Islam. Ali did neither. ", confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. I was down but not hurt, but I looked up and saw Ali standing over me. [20], Liston signed a contract in September 1953, proclaiming: "Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do. He won by a seventh-round technical knockout, and seemed on the verge of making a comeback to the big time. 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. Because of that, Cage may have thought Sonny was an informant and shot him with a hot dose as retribution. 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. Liston's noticeably more muscular left arm, crushing left jab and powerful left hook lent credence to the widely held belief that he was left-handed, although he fought in an orthodox stance. 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. In the third round, Clay began to take control of the fight. "[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. He died circa December 30,. 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. We cooked up that shoulder thing on the spot. "[98], Some claim Liston was murdered. The connections to organized crime were an advantage early in his career but were later used against him. In an Associated Press poll, 64 of 102 reporters picked Patterson. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Paul R Gallender, 2012. I dont have to be what you want me to be, Clay told agitated reporters. Was Pariah boxing legend Sonny Listons OD really a mob murder? 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 death under mysterious circumstances. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. He returned with four consecutive knockout victories in Sweden between July 1966 and April 1967, all four co-promoted by former world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson. Although the opening round saw Clay largely on the defensive, it was soon established that Clay could reverse roles quickly and take to the offensive with a remarkably fast series of combinations delivered to Liston's head. [55], There is ample evidence that Liston did carry an injury to his left shoulder into the fight. The photo depicted Ali standing over his opponent, Sonny Liston, after delivering a final blow that knocked Liston to the ground. "Johnny wasn't a braggart," Davi told Liston biographer Paul Gallender. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." Referee Jersey Joe Walcott, a former world heavyweight champion, had a hard time getting Ali to go to a neutral corner. "He was scared of the police. 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. BOXING Correction: July 15, 2005, Friday A sports picture caption on Wednesday with an article about Mark Knopfler's ballad for the boxer Sonny Liston referred incorrectly in some copies to the year in which Muhammad Ali knocked out Liston in Lewiston, Me. A widely publicized account of Liston resisting arresteven after nightsticks were allegedly broken over his skulladded to the public perception of him as a nightmarish "monster" impervious to physical punishment. It became known as the phantom punch and has been the subject of controversy and speculation for the last 55 years. Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread and all them sluggers went down like lead. "And I suppose Sonny Liston always stuck with me. "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. He then outpointed Julius Griffin, winner of the New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, to capture the Intercity Golden Gloves Championship on March 26 (representing Chicago). Liston was the subject of a 1995 HBO documentary titled Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. I'm the best ever. Furthermore, that count cannot be started until the fighter scoring the knockdown goes to and remains in a neutral corner. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. One Journalist's Attempt To Solve 'The Murder Of Sonny Liston' - WBUR For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." His wife said he was a kind & gentle hearted person who cared deeply for children & that no one ever saw that side of him except those closest to him, I believe theres a documentary somewhere on YouTube Id recommend watching it. Also, McDonough did not bang on the canvas or motion a number count with his fingers. "You're putting things on and you're taking this out and molding it," Knopfler said. (, Shaun Assael. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. But then again, he took a pretty good beating in the fight. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c.1930 December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. 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". [62] The promoters needed a new location quickly, whatever the size, to rescue their closed-circuit television commitment around the country. In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. [93] Liston had been hospitalized in early December, complaining of chest pains. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma. [101], Liston played a fist fighter in the 1965 film Harlow, made a cameo appearance in the 1968 film Head, which starred The Monkees, and played the part of The Farmer in the 1970 film Moonfire, which starred Richard Egan and Charles Napier. [67] Some felt the knockdown was real but the knockout was fake. The Devil and Sonny Liston. You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. In his own words in Thomas Hauser's 1991 biography: "The punch jarred him. During a ringside interview after the fight, Terrellwith his swollen eye and deflated egowould later say he respected all boxers. Liston assaulted the officer, breaking his knee and gashing his face. There are no official records of his birth He then left the fighters to go over to McDonough. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. Banker said he was told by police that Liston had been seen at a house that would be the target of a drug raid. Wepner needed 72 stitches and suffered a broken cheekbone and nose. 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. "I remember him telling me one day that he found himself watching boxing but he didn't like the way it made him feel," Knopfler said. Sonny Liston | Boxing's Most Intimidating and Unwanted Champion 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. The previous month, Schreibauer had won a bronze medal in the European Championships. Emily Post would probably recommend a ticker-tape parade. Liston's story, Knopfler said, "is great for a writer for many reasons. "[69] The fact that Liston did not complain about the clear breach of boxing rules (being declared knocked out without a count) and Ali's obvious state of bewilderment, shouting at Liston "Nobody will believe this" and asking his handlers "Did I hit him? Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fightawarding Ali a first-round knockout victory. Sonny Liston was a bad, bad guy who was also a victim, and I dont know that anyone can point to when a victim becomes a perpetrator and how much sympathy he deserves, but I also think any holistic take is fair this far in history. For Sonny Liston, a Ballad to a Heavyweight - The New York Times Tosches, Nick (2000). Don't confuse shyness with dullness, Sonny was. [72], "I was an 'intimidator' until I fought Sonny Liston. The victim sought out the executioner." The rumors swirling nearly canceled the fight the night prior, and when a reporter that morning broke tradition and asked if Clay was a member of the Black Muslims, as the group was often called, the boxer confirmed his new religion.