There were some, however, who believed the fight was legitimate. (3) The mob promised Liston some money to throw the second Ali fight, but they never paid him. He also took his gun. Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. Painting by Damien Burton. For those too young to remember, Sonny The Big Bear Liston was a legendary heavyweight boxer. Liston made his professional boxing debut at the age of 21 on September 2, 1953. Although in the second fight, Liston appears to have taken a dive Again with the mob stuff. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. 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 was also seeking to prove himself after his two embarrassing and suspicious losses to Ali. Because of that, Cage may have thought Sonny was an informant and shot him with a hot dose as retribution. Pan, 2017. [32] Ironically, Patterson's manager, Cus D'Amato, associated with racketeers and had his manager's license revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission for alleged misconduct in connection with the Floyd PattersonIngemar Johansson title fight in June 1959. In remembrance of Muhammed Ali, NPR looks back at Robert Siegel's conversation with filmmaker Gary Robinov, director of Raising Ali, about the . Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 8. toukokuuta 1932 Arkansas (syntymaika ja tarkka paikka kiistanalaisia) - 30. joulukuuta 1970 Las Vegas, Nevada) oli yhdysvaltalainen raskaansarjan nyrkkeilij ja painoluokkansa maailmanmestari. [84], Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. [93] Liston had been hospitalized in early December, complaining of chest pains. The fight lasted four seconds longer than the first one. Liston knocked out Hermann Schreibauer of West Germany at 2:16 of the first round. Byrne sought an injunction blocking the fight in Boston because Inter-Continental Promotions was promoting the fight without a Massachusetts license. A couple weeks later, he was still complainin' about that needle mark. He was not the tear-shedding type.. In the novel, Liston not only drinks but also pops pills and works as a sometime enforcer for a heroin ring in Las Vegas. It was 55 years ago that the world's attention focused on Lewiston, Maine, for a world heavyweight boxing title fight. There are no official records of his birth His home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965, but people believe he was born sometime around 1930-1932. Sonny was one of 25 children of a sharecropper in Arkansas. Liston has been referenced in many songs by artists such as Curtis Eller, Sun Kil Moon, the Animals, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, Phil Ochs, Morrissey, Freddy Blohm, Chuck E. Weiss, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, the Roots, Wu-Tang Clan, Gone Jackals, Billy Joel, the Mountain Goats, Lil Wayne, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Killers. 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). [89], Following an investigation, Las Vegas police concluded there were no signs of foul play and declared Liston's death a heroin overdose. Shaun Assael. He walks to the ring with his gloves on the shoulders of his manager, Eddie Polino. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. The date of death listed on his death certificate is December 30, 1970,[90] which police estimated by judging the number of milk bottles and newspapers around the front door of the property. Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in first round. [20], Liston signed a contract in September 1953, proclaiming: "Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do. . Daniel 'Sonny' Liston is on Facebook. [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. All of us encounter trouble from time to time in our lives. He was a bit of a physical freak He was 6 ft 1 in with a disproportionately long reach at 84 inches. Roy Harris, who had gone 13 rounds with Floyd Patterson in a title match, was crushed in one round by Liston. Mike DeJohn was the highest paid boxer at $15,000 while James Dickey received $20,000. It was probably Liston's best moment in the entire fight. Liston wins, 10 times out of 10. "[98], Some claim Liston was murdered. [66], Former champions Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson and Gene Tunney, as well as contender George Chuvalo all declared they considered the fight to be a fake. [8], Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed muggings and armed robberies. (1) Liston had been deeply involved as a bill collector of a loansharking ring in Las Vegas. The ending of the fight remains one of the most controversial in boxing history. SO here are four theories behind who killed Sonny Liston at only the age of 40. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." Geraldine had been trying to contact Liston for nearly two weeks before travelling . "It was common knowledge that Sonny was a heroin addict," said Sgt. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c.1930 December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. Meaning Sonny was number 24 out of 25 kids. His eyes swept the whole scene. You've probably seen it a thousand times, but you may not have known who the poor bastard on the ground was until now. 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. Liston is a Hall of Famer. Liston said he quit because of a shoulder injury. It was a good punch, but I didn't think I hit him so hard that he couldn't have gotten up. Convention Center, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Municipal Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Midwest Gymnasium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Pittsburgh Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. New Masonic Temple, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Motor City Arena, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Sources vary on his reach, with some listing it as 80in, Reputations: Sonny Liston: The Champion Nobody Wanted (2001), 50 min, BBC Documentary, Mailer: A Biography By Mary V. Dearborn, page 186. Charles "Sonny" Liston was an enigma that, by way of testimonial, put fear in the hearts of men all throughout the 1960s. In the main bedroom, Geraldine discovered the body of her husband, former heavyweight champion Charles "Sonny" Liston. [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. Liston went down on his back. Banker said, "Sheriff [Ralph] Lamb told me, 'Tell your pal Sonny to stay away from the West Side because we're going to bust the drug dealers.'" Ali did neither. 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. The torn tendon had bled down into the mass of the biceps, swelling and numbing the arm. "[18] The only backers willing to put up the necessary money for him to turn professional were close to underworld figures, and Liston supplemented his income by working for racketeers as an intimidator-enforcer. A wax model of Liston appears in the front row of the iconic sleeve cover of the Beatles' Sgt. The following year, Sonnydetermined to reunite with his mother and siblingsthrashed the pecans from his brother-in-law's tree and sold them in Forrest City, Arkansas. and he was pointing at some little bandage over the needle mark in his arm. The film starred Ving Rhames as Liston and was produced by Rhames, Hassain Zaidi and Marek Posival. Wepner needed 72 stitches and suffered a broken cheekbone and nose. As Liston pursued his target Clay retreated, using his foot speed to slip away into open space in the ring, largely circling to the left and away from the threat of a Liston left hook. At age 12, after selling a bag of pecans for bus fare, he left for St. Louis, betting on a brighter future. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. There was something caustic in both eyes." Both fights were in Summerlin's hometown of Detroit.[23]. In all, 14 major contenders during his prime refused outright to fight him, the most for any boxer in history. It's a terrible matchup. "There was nothing Sonny feared more than a needle. [87], Liston was found dead by his wife, Geraldine, in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971. Ali is waiting to hit me, the ref can't control him. He would later employ McCarter as a sparring partner. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. In the 2020 film One Night in Miami, Liston is played by Aaron D. Alexander. "[35] Although largely illiterate through lack of schooling, Liston was a more complex and interesting individual than has often been acknowledged. [8][9], There is no official record of Liston's birth. ", confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. The heavyweight champion's mysterious death is covered in tonight's all-new episode of. Sports Illustrated predicted a Patterson victory in 15 rounds, stating: "Sonny has neither Floyd's speed nor the versatility of his attack. [100] A successful racehorse which won the Irish St Leger classic race in 2021 was named Sonnyboyliston. 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. Sonny was once told by local police to stay away from a drug house that was the target of a police raid. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. But by the sixth round his sight had cleared, and a clearly enraged Clay fought a blisteringly aggressive round landing numerous combination punches. 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. [45][46] A clearly angered Liston rallied at the end of the round when Clay seemed tired, delivering punishing body shots. During these same years Sonny Liston was on the comeback trail as well. Overall, Liston earned around $500,000 during his career. When he moved to town here he Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. (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. Rough N' Rowdy 20 LIVE From The Charleston Coliseum | Friday 8PM ET, Barstool Sportsbook has arrived in PA, MI, IL, IN, CO, VA, NJ, TN, AZ, IA, WV, LA, KS, MD, OH, Best Influencer Marketplace for Advertisers, Best Influencer Marketplace for Influencers & Creators, Best Influencer Marketplace for Agents & Agencies, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Naploetana - Chestnut Hill. McDonough, however, claimed Walcott was looking at the crowd and never at him. 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. [74], Writer Gilbert Rogin assessed Liston's style and physique after his win over Zora Folley. He threw 99. . According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. 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. [85] Geraldine had a daughter from a previous marriage, and the Listons subsequently adopted a boy from Sweden. In the third round, Clay began to take control of the fight. 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. Fifty years later, the mystery still remains. At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. The bout would need to be delayed by six months. [10] His family, but not one Charles (or Sonny) Liston, can be found in the 1930 census, and in the 1940 census he was listed as 10 years old. 1 contender by 1960, but the handlers of the heavyweight champ at the time, Floyd Patterson, refused to give him a shot at the title because of Liston's links to the mob. "He said: 'Look what they did!' Liston was a heavy favorite. He won by a seventh-round technical knockout, and seemed on the verge of making a comeback to the big time. Sonny Liston. Tobe and Helen had 12 children together; Sonny was the second youngest child. Mickey Mantle, who could hit a baseball as far as any man, had the forearms of a blacksmith but only average-sized hands. Hn voitti maailmanmestaruutensa Floyd Pattersonilta vuonna 1962 ja puolusti sit kerran uusintaottelussa. So I went down. In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. Banker said he was told by police that Liston had been seen at a house that would be the target of a drug raid. A stoic Liston finished the fight, but lost in an eight-round split decision. "That really broke Sonny's heart," said Simon George, who wrote and directed Showtime's "Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston." Liston was the subject of a 1995 HBO documentary titled Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. View the profiles of people named Daniel 'Sonny' Liston. Cassius Clay is embraced by his handlers after he won the world heavyweight championship on a TKO over Sonny Liston in the 7th round. [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]. 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. [62] The promoters needed a new location quickly, whatever the size, to rescue their closed-circuit television commitment around the country. We had a return bout clause with Clay, but if you say your guy just quit, who is gonna get a return bout? "[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? Overcoming the seemingly insurmountable odds that life threw his way, Liston became the heavyweight champion of the world when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in 1962. [105] The story speculates that Liston threw the Ali match for the good of society. That got him killed. He also wrote that Liston's win over Patterson proved that "in a fair fight between good and evil, evil must win." Thom Jones titled his 2000 collection of short stories Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine. In five months, Sonny Liston had gone from unknown ex-con to amateur champion. Boston: Little, Brown. Subsequently, Liston spent some months in Denver where a Catholic priest who acted as his spiritual adviser attempted to help bring his drinking under control. Even Sonny's mother, who was called Big Hela, didn't know, though she believed him to be born during the month of January. So I get him down, I get the sponge and I pour the water into his eyes trying to cleanse whatever's there, but before I did that I put my pinkie in his eye and I put it into my eye. "Yes, it was good and honest". For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." [39] Leading up to the fight, Liston was an 85 betting favorite, although many picked Patterson to win. Gary Beckwith said, "It wasn't uncommon for family members in these cases to go through and tidy up to save family embarrassment. [83] Herb Goldman stated that Liston, when in his prime between 1958 and 1963, was the most feared fighter in boxing history. There are a ton of other dubious deaths and (hopefully) little-known facts about Vegas in this week's episode. I knew that he had a long reach and a very powerful jab, but i never realized he had a 84 inch reach. 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. The coroner said he died from natural causes. Furthermore, that count cannot be started until the fighter scoring the knockdown goes to and remains in a neutral corner. He was a gentle man. Liston's life was marked with numerous arrests, before and after he entered boxing. 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. Alois Stevens, suggested to Liston that he try boxing, and his obvious aptitude, along with an endorsement from Stevens, who was also a priest, aided Liston in getting an early parole. From the opening bell Liston attempted to close with Clay, looking to land a hard punch to the head to end the fight quickly and decisively. [105], Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows. Time magazine said Liston had worked himself into the best shape of his career. "The public is not with me. There is no official record of his date of birth but a writer claimed that he was born on July 22, 1930. [48] The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run! He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter.". As the famous photo portrays, Ali taunted the fallen Liston, calling on him to get up. The opening round was fought an extra eight seconds, since both fighters and referee Barney Felix apparently did not hear the bell. Muhammad Ali Signed 16x20 Sonny Liston Photo Framed MINT Autograph Steiner COA. He said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. An Associated Press poll had 64 of 102 reporters picking Patterson. Childhood & Early Life. ", This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 06:36. [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights. 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