[8] Convicted and sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary, Liston started his prison time on June 1, 1950. The champion was stripped of the belt when he refused to be drafted into the armed services during the Vietnam War, and he didnt box again in a match that counted until 1970. One of the victories was over Amos Johnson, Liston's former sparring partner, who had recently defeated British champion Henry Cooper. Unfortunately for Martin, however, his career ended after that fight due to a detached retina he suffered during the bout. Even before the first punch was thrown, the May 25, 1965 bout between .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, during which the photo was snapped, was already shaping up to be the stuff of legends. There are no official records of his birth and he was pointing at some little bandage over the needle mark in his arm. A lot of his life was mysterious and messy. 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. Liston biographer Paul Gallender claims that Liston fathered several children, though none with his wife. "But they'll have to swing along until somebody comes to beat me. Boston: Little, Brown. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964). There are echoes of slavery in his upbringing." [70] There have been a number of unproven theories as to the background to the purported dive including that Liston was threatened by the Muslims, or agreed to lose in return for a share in the more marketable Ali's future purses. "He was scared, he was scared of so many things," Knopfler said. My man. Anyone can read what you share. The suspension was honored in all states. 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. Byrne sought an injunction blocking the fight in Boston because Inter-Continental Promotions was promoting the fight without a Massachusetts license. Liston didn't seem to mind though. 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 . [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. Geraldine called Liston's attorney and his doctor, but did not notify the police until two to three hours later. "The public is not with me. Two of the three official scorers, or judges, awarded the round to Liston, and the other scored the round even. Sonny Liston Interview 82,818 views Apr 2, 2014 1.3K Dislike Share Save haNZAgod 93.2K subscribers Subscribe A rare interview with former Heavyweight champion of the world, Sonny Liston.. Roy Harris, who had gone 13 rounds with Floyd Patterson in a title match, was crushed in one round by Liston. 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.'" [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. "He would do everything to avoid taking shots." [14], Tobe Liston inflicted whippings so severe on Sonny that the scars were still visible decades later. Never before seen Sonny Liston interview. 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", The Liston song appears on an album called "Shangri-La." He was poking the bear a bit there . All Rights Reserved. Genuinely kind mobster who had been convicted of armed robbery and assault. 589 Share 23K views 1 year ago Rare interview of Sonny Liston colorized. [33], Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. Elizabeth Bear wrote the short story "Sonny Liston Takes the Fall", published in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2008. [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. Ali's "Phantom Punch" Controversy Explained - PBS [97], "The month before he died, some guy ran into Sonny while he was making a left turn. Tobe and Helen had 12 children together; Sonny was the second youngest child. Half a mile above and beyond the shrine, looking down from the summit of the mountain, is a statue of the Sacred Heart. [87], Liston was found dead by his wife, Geraldine, in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971. "I was rooting around in my childhood, maybe the way you do when you get to a certain age," Knopfler said. 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. 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. 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. Walcott never did pick up the count. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma. Gallender claimed, "A lot of officers knew Sonny was dead before Geraldine returned home on January 5, but they chose to let him rot. 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. America's first look at Liston since the Ali rematch was when he fought fifthranked Henry Clark in a nationally broadcast bout in July 1968. 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. . [73] The bout was stopped after the ninth round due to cuts over both of Wepner's eyes. 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 grave's marker-plate bears the dedication: "A Man. On the Spot show with Max Goldberg featuring the heavyweight champion The fight lasted less than one full round, with Ali knocking out Liston at the 1:44 mark. Audiences at home were confused and outraged. [94], Liston was buried at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada. Muhammad Ali: FBI probed 1964 Sonny Liston fight for match-fixing The torn tendon had bled down into the mass of the biceps, swelling and numbing the arm. "[18], After Liston was released from prison on October 31, 1952, he had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. Carwin probably wasn't even that tall. Knopfler said the track "uses a lot of the country-blues style of playing that I started to absorb when I was young.". In the months ahead of the fight, Muhammad Ali went all sorts of routes to get into Sonny Liston's head. Maybe he was. Tale of the tape: Fight poster for Sonny Liston v Cassius Clay in 1964. . Sonny Liston vs Eddie Machen (1960) As usual, Liston wasted no time throwing his jab and keeping Machen at bay, who was trying to get his hands off with minimal success. Sonny Liston Interview - YouTube 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. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. 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. 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. Liston angrily responded by questioning whether Dempsey's failure to serve in World War I qualified him to moralize. Sonny Liston Interview in Color - YouTube "Now (after seeing video) I think Clay, seeing the opening, snapped the punch the last six inches. (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. Liston went down on his back. "[68], While Liston publicly denied taking a dive, Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram said that years later Liston told him, "That guy [Ali] was crazy. I know!" "[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. But a Senate subcommittee hearing turned up no evidence of any match-fixing, and doctors confirmed his explanation that hed taken such damage to his shoulder that he couldnt feel his arm. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. The NAACP had urged Patterson not to fight Liston, fearing that a Liston victory would hurt the civil rights movement. "There is power in both his left and his right, even though the fists move with the languor of motoring royalty or as if passing through a gaseous envelope more dense than air." The last of Sonny Liston Andscape Also, McDonough did not bang on the canvas or motion a number count with his fingers. ", This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 06:36. (2) Professional gambler Lem Banker insists that Liston was murdered by drug dealers with whom he'd become involved. Sonny Liston - BoxRec "Better get me out of this ring," exclaimed Wilson, "he is going to kill me! Welcome to r/boxing, the official home of pro boxing on Reddit! According to a New York Times report the day after the fight, Clay was indeed an official member of the Nation of Islam. Press J to jump to the feed. McDonough, however, claimed Walcott was looking at the crowd and never at him. He rounded out the year by stopping Nino Valdez and Willi Besmanoff. 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. You really never watched the first fight did you? 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. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. That saw him drive a big red bus to Liston's home that read, "Sonny Liston is a great but will fall in eight" along with the words "World's most colorful fighter Cassius Clay.". "He was scared of the police. "[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. Even before the first punch was thrown, the May 25, 1965 bout between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston . Muhammad Ali called it his "anchor punch," a quick right hand that the young heavyweight champion claimed he had learned from his friend, actor Stepin Fetchit. 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. Interview Date: March 13, 1989 Camera Rolls: 2104-2105 Sound Rolls: 248 Editorial Notes: Interview with , conducted by Blackside, Inc. on March 13, 1989, for . It is hardly the first recording by a rock musician about boxing. I didn't think it was a powerful punch when I saw the fight from ringside," he said. I forgot about the rules." He had the whole package. However, when Clay returned to his corner, he started complaining that there was something burning in his eyes and he could not see. Dude was only 6'2 and his hands dwarfed Lesnar's. "[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? Officially, Liston died of lung congestion and heart failure. 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. [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. In the 2001 film Ali, Liston was portrayed by former WBO Heavyweight Champion Michael Bentt. One Journalist's Attempt To Solve 'The Murder Of Sonny Liston' - WBUR Sonny was definitely a specimen. "[95], Sgt. 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. Rocky Marciano, the former heavyweight champion, said that he appreciated the punchs strength upon re-examination. [88] On returning home from a two-week trip, Geraldine had smelled a foul odor emanating from the main bedroom and on entering saw him slumped up against the bed, a broken foot bench on the floor. During the interim, officials in Boston also got cold feet. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Gary Robinov, director of Raising Ali, a film about the 50th anniversary of the heavyweight boxing match between Muhammed Ali and Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine.. [31] While Liston began working into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he also continued his criminal behavior. [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La. It made a champion out of Clay, who declared that hed shook up the world.. Joe Louis commenting on TV at ringside said "It's looking good for Sonny Liston". [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". [19], On June 23, 1953, a team consisting of ten recent St. Louis Golden Gloves champions of all weight classes, with Liston on top as the heavyweight, was gathered to represent the United States in an International Golden Gloves (USA vs. West Europe) competition at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. ", Chuck Wepner on Liston's intimidating appearance. "He said, 'Cut the gloves off. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. Very rare interview of Sonny Liston talking about how he got started in boxing, his fights with Williams and Patterson and his training routine. A few months after Alis fight, Liston was dead from lung congestion though even that was shrouded in mystery and controversy. 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".