[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]. [15] In 1946, Helen Baskin, along with some of her children, moved to St. Louis to seek factory work. Never before seen Sonny Liston interview. 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Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. 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. .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. "He said: 'Look what they did!' We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. One of the victories was over Amos Johnson, Liston's former sparring partner, who had recently defeated British champion Henry Cooper. . Liston was a heavy favorite. Liston said he quit because of a shoulder injury. "But they'll have to swing along until somebody comes to beat me. and "Nobody will believe this!"[63]. I never saw. And it was probably for the best ticket-buyers didnt exactly get their moneys worth. "Sonnyboyliston | Race Record & Form | Racing Post", "Moonfire (1972), a film by Michael Parkhurst -Theiapolis", NYSAC World Heavyweight Champion - BoxRec, Lyrics to a song about Liston by Mark Knopfler, FBI Records: The Vault - Charles Sonny Liston, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Liston&oldid=1137950795, International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees, 20th-century African-American sportspeople, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016, Pages with login required references or sources, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Hackman, Timothy. This is a place for friendly and civil debate about the greatest sport on earth. He said that Liston was not quick with his hand or footwork, that he relied too much on his ability to take a punch, and that he could be vulnerable to an opponent with more hand speed. In the 2020 film One Night in Miami, Liston is played by Aaron D. Alexander. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." I was about to say look at those mitts! A lot of his life was mysterious and messy. 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 there's a documentary somewhere on YouTube I'd recommend watching it MatterUpbeat8803 19 days ago Boston: Little, Brown. Pan, 2017. Very rare interview of Sonny Liston talking about how he got started in boxing, his fights with Williams and Patterson and his training routine. It was the first time in his career that Liston had been cut. However, there were again rumors of alcohol abuse in training. Sonny Liston Vs Floyd Patterson What If There Had Been A Third Fight He offered no comment on the matter, but his victory would soon turn it into an international story. Sad how they portrayed sonny in such a negative light he seems like a genuinely kind person. [59], Liston trained hard for the rematch, which was scheduled to take place November 13, 1964, in Boston. Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. A grateful Liston found there was no need to give chase. Ali is waiting to hit me, the ref can't control him. [12], Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed three meals every day. The Murder of Sonny Liston is an absorbing, albeit speculative, attempt at addressing the mystery that died with the man. Sports Illustrated writer Mort Sharnik said his hands "looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists." Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. 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 . 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. Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." But former Las Vegas police Sgt. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Sonny Liston shot a gun at Muhammad Ali. At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. [17] The athletic director at Missouri State Penitentiary, Rev. He had been deliberately snubbed. 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. Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread and all them sluggers went down like lead. Sonny Liston had a very sad upbringing & had to learn to survive at a young age. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative. After Ali's win against Sonny Liston, he wouldn't . [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. It made a champion out of Clay, who declared that hed shook up the world.. Many did not see the punch land, and some who did questioned that it was powerful enough to knock Liston out. [citation needed] At this time, the head coach of the St. Louis Golden Gloves team, Tony Anderson, stated that Liston was the strongest fighter he had seen. Once he went down, I got excited. Remembering One Of Boxing's Storied Bouts : NPR "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. 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.. [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. He was poking the bear a bit there . He could probably drive his thumb through your skull like Michael Myers, It's crazy to think about the fact that Sonny Liston was an actual gangster running with gangs.. and then he looks so soft spoken in the interview. "Johnny wasn't a braggart," Davi told Liston biographer Paul Gallender. "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. 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." ", One of the most vivid verses creates a word-picture of Liston in his prime with photographic clarity: "Black Cadillac, alligator boots, money in the pockets of his sharkskin suits." Thom Jones titled his 2000 collection of short stories Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine. [8][9], There is no official record of Liston's birth. Tocco left the house before the police did. Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. Larry Merchant, then a writer with the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote: "A celebration for Philadelphia's first heavyweight champ is now in order. Shaun Assael. "I didn't know what the heck was going on", Angelo Dundee, Clay's trainer, recalled on an NBC special 25 years later. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. and he was pointing at some little bandage over the needle mark in his arm. Dennis Caputo of the Clark County Sheriff's Department was one of the first officers on the scene. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La. One memo, dated 24 May 1966, outlined an interview with Houston gambler Barnett Magids, who believed Liston would win. 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. In an interview with The Associated Press shortly before his death in May 2009, Liston said he regretted . Because of that, Cage may have thought Sonny was an informant and shot him with a hot dose as retribution. The bout would need to be delayed by six months. Liston won 14 consecutive bouts, 13 by knockout, before fighting third-ranked Leotis Martin, previously beaten by Clark, in December 1969. The NAACP had urged Patterson not to fight Liston, fearing that a Liston victory would hurt the civil rights movement. The organization was seen as an extremist anti-white people hate group and opponents of desegregation and Martin Luther King Jr. Clays propensity for self-promotion and controversy seemed to fit in with the groups inflammatory rhetoric. The most iconic photo in boxing history documents the knockout that almost nobody saw happen. There are no official records of his birth Lennox is a conqueror? The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas. That would prove to be an understatement. "[54] Hall of Fame matchmaker Teddy Brenner also disputed the shoulder injury, claiming he saw Liston use the same arm to throw a chair in his dressing room after the match. 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. He claimed the officer used racial slurs. He was hardly leading a life of health and fitness. A few months after Alis fight, Liston was dead from lung congestion though even that was shrouded in mystery and controversy. 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. Sit down!' Sonny Liston had a controversial boxing career, winning 54 of 58 bouts from 1953 to 1970. [94], On January 1, Liston's wife, Geraldine, called Johnny Tocco and said she had not heard from her husband in three days and was worried. Ali would lose his title a year later, though it didnt happen in the ring. Liston had never been knocked out before, and most people didnt even see the punch happen. At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. "He was scared of the police. These transcripts contain material that did not appear in the final program. 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. 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. "[96], Many people who knew Liston insisted he was afraid of needles and never would have used heroin. But then again, he took a pretty good beating in the fight. No, I'm Alexanderhe's no Alexander. December 1963 extended Interview with Champion Sonny Liston - discusses Book Review: Was Sonny Liston Murdered? - The Arts Fuse "[94], A bronze copy of a marble statue of Liston sculpted by Alfred Hrdlicka in 1964 was erected in 2008 between Old Castle and Karlsplatz in Stuttgart, Germany. [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. This is a clip out of the \"The Other Side\" Documentary. Support this Channel:https://www.patreon.com/LegendsofBoxing Merchandise:LegendsofBoxing.redbubble.com I restore \u0026 colorize your projects, PayPal Donations: LegendsofBoxingYT@gmail.comThank you!________________________________________________________________________________ Credit Original B\u0026W Footage:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CLMlEpRb9wSonny Liston Interview uploaded by haNZAgodAll My YouTube ChannelsMy Main Channel \"Legends of Boxing\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73ffQAknNEWJlRoFSWH_awMy Second Boxing Channel \"Legends of Boxing\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-QLrFyDnskqz5_z95mcOAMy History Channel \"Time Travel: Colorized Archive\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29VFkNvVVi6_OzwFV2oTqQMy Documentary Channel \"Tales From The Past\":https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpFIIYrCc1lOHbG-fUo5vwMein Dokumentation Channel \"Geschichten aus der Vergangenheit\" (Tales From The Past in Deutsch) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXBfWoE1KVXEzh9d2NrwBhASocial https://www.instagram.com/legends_of_boxing1/ He was 6ft 1in (1.85m), and had an exceptionally powerful physique, with a disproportionately long reach at 84 inches (2.13m). In his 1965 rematch with Ali, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix. 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. He particularly resented a 1961 arrest by a black patrolman for loitering, claiming to have merely been signing autographs and chatting with fans outside a drugstore. Sonny Liston | Boxing's Most Intimidating and Unwanted Champion Odds makers gave Liston 71 to win. "[78] While much has been written about the effectiveness of his left jab, others have commented favorably on Liston's wide range of boxing skills. Never before seen Sonny Liston interview. Support this Channel: https://www.patreon.com/join/LegendsofBoxing Merchandise: https://www.redbubble.com/peo. 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 . #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. Liston was allegedly present at dealer Earl Cage's residence during a raid by narcotics detectives. 10 Wild Stories From The Life Of Sonny Liston - Listverse Sonny Liston was one of the hardest hitters the boxing world has ever seen. Clay brought Malcolm X along with him to Miami, and amid the controversy, the fight was almost canceled. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. 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. Carwin probably wasn't even that tall. Liston was overwhelmed by an abusive father, confrontations with the law, underworld managers and a change in African-American culture represented by Ali, Knopfler said. [105], Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows. In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. It burned like hell. "[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. [84], Liston married Geraldine Chambers in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 1957. He was also seeking to prove himself after his two embarrassing and suspicious losses to Ali. Very Rare interview with Sonny Liston and Joe Louis. Support this Channel:https://www.patreon.com/LegendsofBoxing Merchandise:LegendsofBoxing.redbubble.com I restore \u0026 colorize your projects, PayPal Donations: LegendsofBoxingYT@gmail.comThank you!________________________________________________________________________________All My YouTube ChannelsMy Main Channel \"Legends of Boxing\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73ffQAknNEWJlRoFSWH_awMy Second Boxing Channel \"Legends of Boxing Strikes Back\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-QLrFyDnskqz5_z95mcOAMy History Channel \"Time Travel: Colorized Archive\": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29VFkNvVVi6_OzwFV2oTqQMy Documentary Channel \"Tales From The Past\":https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpFIIYrCc1lOHbG-fUo5vwMein Dokumentation Channel \"Geschichten aus der Vergangenheit\" (Tales From The Past in Deutsch) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXBfWoE1KVXEzh9d2NrwBhASocial https://www.instagram.com/legends_of_boxing1/ I'm Sonny Liston, I'm Jack Dempsey, there's no one like I'm from their . 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. Knopfler, who was born in Scotland and grew up in northern England, said Liston's story was "exciting subject matter because it's so mysterious." 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. Sonny Liston Interview - YouTube One Journalist's Attempt To Solve 'The Murder Of Sonny Liston' - WBUR Who are the four people who knocked out Sonny Liston? [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. Beat me to it! And the Muslims were coming up. ", Liston appeared on the December 1963 cover of Esquire magazine (cover photograph by Carl Fischer) "the last man on earth America wanted to see coming down its chimney".[106]. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. [64] Strict interpretation of the knockdown/count rule states it is the referee's count and not the timekeeper's that is the official count. Numerous fans booed and started yelling, "Fix!" Gary Beckwith said, "It wasn't uncommon for family members in these cases to go through and tidy up to save family embarrassment. Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders. ", Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. 1 contender in 1960, but the handlers of world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson refused to give him a shot at the title because of Liston's links to organized crime. ", The Liston song appears on an album called "Shangri-La." kos k.o.s ko.s knockouts fight of the year joe louis lewis primo carnera buddy max baer tony galento lamon brewster monte barrett barret amir khan oleg maskaev nicolai valuev nikolai joe calzaghe sergej sergey liakhovich liakovich shannon briggs evander holyfield zultan ibragimov sultan meldrick taylor pauli ayala paul spadafora prince prinze naseem hamed naz johnny tapia john ruiz wilfredo gomez wilfried benitez george foreman big ron lyle earnie shavers joe frazier ken norton angelo dundee eddie futch riddick bowe Henry Akinwande Muhammad Ali Max Baer Michael Bentt Riddick Bowe James J. Braddock Shannon Briggs Tommy Burns Primo Carnera Ruslan Chagaev Ezzard Charles Gerrie Coetzee James J. Corbett Francesco Damiani Jack Dempsey Michael Dokes Jimmy Ellis Bob Fitzsimmons Joe Frazier Marvin Hart Herbie Hide Evander Holyfield James J. Jeffries Ingemar Johansson Jack Johnson Vitali Klitschko Sonny Liston Joe Louis Rocky Marciano Ray Mercer Tommy Morrison Greg Page Floyd Patterson John Ruiz Max Schmeling Bruce Seldon Jack Sharkey James Smith John L. Sullivan John Tate Ernie Terrell Tony Tubbs Nikolay Valuev Jersey Joe Walcott Mike Weaver Jess Willard Tim Witherspoon Muhammad Ali Lou Ambers Sammy Angott Fred Apostoli Ray Arcel Alexis Argello Baby Arizmendi Henry Armstrong Abe Attell Max Baer Caleb Baldwin Carmen Basilio Wilfred Bentez Nino Benvenuti Jack Kid Berg Jimmy Bivins Umberto Branchini Joe Brown Panama Al Brown Ken Buchanan Charley Burley Orlando Canizales Miguel Canto Tony Canzoneri Michael Carbajal Jem Carney Jimmy Carter Marcel Cerdan Antonio Cervantes Bobby Chacon Arthur Chambers Ezzard Charles Kid Chocolate Joe Choynski Stanley Christodoulou Billy Conn Eugne Criqui Jos Cuevas Jack Dempsey Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey Jack Dillon Professor Mike Donovan Paddy Duffy Don Dunphy Roberto Durn Lou Duva Billy Edwards Gabriel Elorde Jeff Fenech Bob Fitzsimmons George Foreman Bob Foster Joe Frazier Gene Fullmer Khaosai Galaxy Vctor Galndez Joe Gans Kid Gaviln Joey Giardello Mike Gibbons Wilfredo Gmez Humberto Mike Tyson In The Devil and Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches, published in 2000, when many of Liston's former acquaintances were still alive, Tosches posits that Liston's idol Joe Louis introduced him to heroin, and that he ultimately overdosed. Naturally, they decided that Ali would take on Liston. 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.