The World Boxing Association one of several boxing organizations was not too pleased, moving to strip Ali of his title and advising states not to agree to host the rematch. "At about noon on the day of the fight, (Magids) reached Resnick again by phone," the memo read. They fought for a third time on March 6, 1956, which Liston won by a ten-round unanimous decision. Geraldine remembered her husband as "Great with me, great with the kids. Liston returned to the United States and won seven fights, all by knockout, in 1968, increasing his string to eleven. "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. 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. Tradues em contexto de "with Sonny" en ingls-portugus da Reverso Context : I think you should stay here with Sonny. 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. 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. "[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? Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Elizabeth Bear wrote the short story "Sonny Liston Takes the Fall", published in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2008. 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. "Now (after seeing video) I think Clay, seeing the opening, snapped the punch the last six inches. And, while Patterson was growing as a fighter, Sonny was taking on mostly journeyman and starting to age. [27][28], Liston's streak of nine straight knockout victories ended when he won a unanimous twelve-round decision against Eddie Machen on September 7, 1960. He pulled the same stuff Walcott did against Marciano. It was more likely that Liston was out of shape according to a story in Esquire at the time, Liston trained as normal, running around five miles a day, eating hot dogs and drinking beer. He was also possibly much older than his listed 32 years than anything else Liston was the second-youngest of 25 children to parents who didnt exactly keep records of birthdates. RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color Legends of Boxing in Color 22K views 10 months ago On the Spot show with Max Goldberg featuring the heavyweight champion. [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. All Rights Reserved. His "Speedway at Nazareth" was about auto racing. [97], "The month before he died, some guy ran into Sonny while he was making a left turn. I forgot about the rules." Odds makers gave Liston 71 to win. In the third round, Clay began to take control of the fight. After the second loss to Ali, Liston stayed out of the ring for more than a year. Tosches, Nick (2000). "[96], Many people who knew Liston insisted he was afraid of needles and never would have used heroin. I never saw. When caught in January 1950, Liston gave his age as 20, while the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that he was 22. Boston: Little, Brown. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." "He said: 'Look what they did!' "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. 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. [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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." (, Shaun Assael. 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. [67] Some felt the knockdown was real but the knockout was fake. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. The most iconic photo in boxing history documents the knockout that almost nobody saw happen. Wepner, who also fought George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, said after his career was over that Liston was the hardest puncher he faced. "[95], Sgt. [87], Liston was found dead by his wife, Geraldine, in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971. 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. Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread and all them sluggers went down like lead. However, when Clay returned to his corner, he started complaining that there was something burning in his eyes and he could not see. 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. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. [79][80][81] These include Muhammad Ali, who stated in a 1975 interview that he was a great admirer of Liston's talents: "Liston had a tremendous jab, could punch with either hand, was smart in the ring and as strong as any heavyweight Ive ever seen. Anyone can read what you share. Concert Preview/Interview: John Lodge of the Moody Blues on Reprising "Days of Future Passed . [citation needed], The fight turned out to be a mismatch. 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. Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. 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.. Sit down!' 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. "[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. In this case, Intercontinental Promotions Inc., which had the rights to Listons fight, also got to choose the first opponent for the new champion, should Liston lose. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. [83] Herb Goldman stated that Liston, when in his prime between 1958 and 1963, was the most feared fighter in boxing history. and "Nobody will believe this!"[63]. 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.. [8][9], There is no official record of Liston's birth. That got him killed. Then again, you can also have guys like Ali or Mike Tyson. Maybe he was. Lennox is a conqueror? [24], In 1958, Liston returned to boxing. When he tried to muscle in for a bigger share, Conrad thinks his employers got him very drunk, took him home and stuck him with a needle. Liston's story, Knopfler said, "is great for a writer for many reasons. "He told me in the strictest confidence, but it was like he wanted to get it off his chest." On May 5, 1956, a policeman confronted Liston and a friend about a cab parked near Liston's home. ", Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. The interference of ringside reporters regarding interpretation of the rules, the fight stoppage and the controversy after the fight had not been seen since The Long Count Fight between champion Gene Tunney and challenger Jack Dempsey in 1927. ", Knopfler compared writing a song about Liston to the work a sculptor performs on a statue. What are you doing? Genuinely kind mobster who had been convicted of armed robbery and assault. interview with Alex Haley in Muhammad Ali by Thomas Hauser. I didn't want anything to do with him. [99] (3) The mob promised Liston some money to throw the second Ali fight, but they never paid him. 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. Officially, Liston died of lung congestion and heart failure. At one point, Clay was wiping his eyes with his right hand while extending his left arm"like a drunk leaning on a lamppost" Bert Sugar wroteto keep Liston at bay. "I didn't know what the heck was going on", Angelo Dundee, Clay's trainer, recalled on an NBC special 25 years later. ", 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]. Three days before the fight, Ali needed emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia. Press J to jump to the feed. 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. Numerous fans booed and started yelling, "Fix!" 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. In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. Former champions James J. Braddock, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. "He was scared, he was scared of so many things," Knopfler said. His death was, too. He found a quarter-ounce of heroin in a balloon in the kitchen, and a half-ounce of marijuana in Liston's pants pocket, but no syringes or needles. And I said, 'Whoa, whoa, back up, baby. 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. A grateful Liston found there was no need to give chase. But others contend he just was not the same Liston. [74], Writer Gilbert Rogin assessed Liston's style and physique after his win over Zora Folley. Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. In the 2001 film Ali, Liston was portrayed by former WBO Heavyweight Champion Michael Bentt. In the 2020 film One Night in Miami, Liston is played by Aaron D. Alexander. 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. But former Las Vegas police Sgt. Patterson wanted a chance to redeem himself, so they met again on July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas. To this day, I'm convinced that's what the coroner saw in his examthat hospital needle mark. There are no official records of his birth said Liston's Philadelphia dentist, Dr. Nick Ragni. 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, . [72], "I was an 'intimidator' until I fought Sonny Liston. But he spoke to his friend Resnick on the day of the fight and was told not to bet on the champion. (2) Professional gambler Lem Banker insists that Liston was murdered by drug dealers with whom he'd become involved. Suddenly, the world had to come to grips with a new kind of heavyweight champion. After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia. Once he went down, I got excited. He had been deliberately snubbed. After Ali's win against Sonny Liston, he wouldn't . [43] A month later, Liston was accused of impersonating a police officer by using a flashlight to wave down a female motorist in Fairmount Park, although all charges were later dropped.