Any objective observer would have had to concede that Ali's counterpunch had landed, and landed with enough force to turn Liston's head, Rob Sneddon wrote in The Phantom Punch: The Story Behind Boxing's Most Controversial Bout. [33], Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. I was down but not hurt, but I looked up and saw Ali standing over me. 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. Carwin probably wasn't even that tall. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. 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". "He said: 'Look what they did!' I'm Sonny Liston, I'm Jack Dempsey, there's no one like I'm from their . Sonny Liston had a controversial boxing career, winning 54 of 58 bouts from 1953 to 1970. Although Clay often carried his gloves down at his waist, seemingly open to attack, he proved very difficult to hit. (2) Professional gambler Lem Banker insists that Liston was murdered by drug dealers with whom he'd become involved. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott, a former world heavyweight champion, had a hard time getting Ali to go to a neutral corner. When you can kill almost anybody in the world with your bare hands, you don't really have to go around proclaiming it to everyone. One mile up on a mountain 13 miles west of Denver is the Shrine of Mother Cabrini. One of the victories was over Amos Johnson, Liston's former sparring partner, who had recently defeated British champion Henry Cooper. The second fight? [31] While Liston began working into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he also continued his criminal behavior. But former Las Vegas police Sgt. 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. [84], Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders. Rogin called Liston's physique "awesomearms like fence posts, thighs like silos." That got him killed. Sonny Liston is considered by many as the most intimidating boxer of all time with a devastating jab which is widely regarded as one of the best in heavyweight history. Never before seen Sonny Liston interview. Support this Channel: https://www.patreon.com/join/LegendsofBoxing Merchandise: https://www.redbubble.com/peo. "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. Before he left for his bout with Clay, Sonny's training in Denver took him to some strange places. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fightawarding Ali a first-round knockout victory. Liston's story, Knopfler said, "is great for a writer for many reasons. "[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. You really never watched the first fight did you? At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. This interview is missing a "BOOOOOOOMZQUAD!!" A lot of his life was mysterious and messy. In the 2020 film One Night in Miami, Liston is played by Aaron D. Alexander. We cooked up that shoulder thing on the spot. #1 December 1963 extended Interview with Champion Sonny Liston - discusses Ali defense, his contenders, even the JFK Assassination 12-02-2022, 12:32 PM Pretty cool interview. . The suspension was honored in all states. (, Shaun Assael. Dave Anderson of the New York Times said Liston "looked awful" in his last workout before the fight. Hed shown up to the fight in the best shape of his life no hot dogs or beer in his diet this time and promised to take down Ali. While true he also sent women to the hospital, which his sparring partner confirms. After repeated overnight detention by the St. Louis police and a thinly veiled threat to his life, Liston left for Philadelphia. "The only thing my old man ever gave me was a beating," Liston said. He was poking the bear a bit there . In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. Maybe he was. Stuttgarter Amtsblatt No. [105], Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows. "It was common knowledge that Sonny was a heroin addict," said Sgt. 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. Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. 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 fight ranks as one of the shortest heavyweight title bouts in history. When Walcott got back to Liston and looked at the knockdown timekeeper, Francis McDonough, to pick up the count, Liston had fallen back on the canvas. Liston angrily responded by questioning whether Dempsey's failure to serve in World War I qualified him to moralize. Im free to be who I want.. Many did not see the punch land, and some who did questioned that it was powerful enough to knock Liston out. [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. In the 2001 film Ali, Liston was portrayed by former WBO Heavyweight Champion Michael Bentt. Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. In The Greatest, the 1977 film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali in which Ali played himself, Liston was portrayed by Roger E. Mosley. And I said, 'Whoa, whoa, back up, baby. Some found it suspicious that authorities 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. The fight quickly descended into chaos. [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. It was the first time in his career that Liston had been cut. . After Liston arose, Walcott wiped off his gloves. He had been deliberately snubbed. He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died in mysterious circumstances in 1970. Naturally, they decided that Ali would take on Liston. "There's no doubt that he was mean," Knopfler said of Liston. Larry Merchant, then a writer with the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote: "A celebration for Philadelphia's first heavyweight champ is now in order. [61] The new date was set for May 25, 1965. A grateful Liston found there was no need to give chase. 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. [20], Liston signed a contract in September 1953, proclaiming: "Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do. To the rest of the world, it would be known as "The Phantom Punch." That shot, which Ali dropped Sonny Liston with on May 25, 1965, was far from a phantom. With the proceeds, he traveled to St. Louis to live with his mother. Two of the three official scorers, or judges, awarded the round to Liston, and the other scored the round even. Boxings brightest young star was again squaring off against a renowned bruiser in a rematch of their thrilling and controversial heavyweight championship fight one year prior, a fight that was followed by 14 months of international intrigue and the combustible politics of the 1960s. What are you doing? Liston went down at 1:44, got up at 1:56, and Walcott stopped the fight at 2:12. Muhammad Ali stands over Sonny Liston after dropping Liston with a short hard right to the jaw on May 25, 1965, in Lewiston, Maine, Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston: The Controversial Fight Behind Their Iconic Boxing Photo, Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, an official member of the Nation of Islam, Senate subcommittee hearing turned up no evidence, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Ali brought his big personality to the small town, but Liston was still the favorite. that startles everyone in a 100 foot radius. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La. [29] Machen's taunting and his spoiling tactics of dodging and grapplingat one point almost heaving Liston over the ropesso alienated the audience that Liston received unaccustomed support from the crowd. [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. 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. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. I never saw. I'm the best ever. And the face, it was an unforgettable face. [89], Following an investigation, Las Vegas police concluded there were no signs of foul play and declared Liston's death a heroin overdose. 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. 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]. Because of that, Cage may have thought Sonny was an informant and shot him with a hot dose as retribution. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. And the Muslims were coming up. and he was pointing at some little bandage over the needle mark in his arm. [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. 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. "[75], Future world heavyweight champion George Foreman, who sparred with Liston after Foreman's amateur career, assessed Liston's jab as the most formidable he faced and Liston as the strongest man he encountered in the ring, describing Liston as having the most natural talent and skill. Sonny Liston had a very sad upbringing & had to learn to survive at a young age. On May 5, 1956, a policeman confronted Liston and a friend about a cab parked near Liston's home. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964). Numerous fans booed and started yelling, "Fix!" [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. The fight lasted less than one full round, with Ali knocking out Liston at the 1:44 mark. Remembering One Of Boxing's Storied Bouts Robert Siegel and Melissa Block recall the fight between Cassius Clay and and Sonny Liston, the fight at the heart of the off-Broadway play Fetch Clay, . To this day, I'm convinced that's what the coroner saw in his examthat hospital needle mark. During these same years Sonny Liston was on the comeback trail as well. He sunk to the canvas, and as he was down, Ali stood over him, taunting and demanding his stunned opponent get back up. McDonough, however, claimed Walcott was looking at the crowd and never at him. Shaun Assael. Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." These transcripts contain material that did not appear in the final program. In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. 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.