sonny liston interview sonny liston interview

[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. A few months after Alis fight, Liston was dead from lung congestion though even that was shrouded in mystery and controversy. [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. interview with Alex Haley in Muhammad Ali by Thomas Hauser. ", 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." The Murder of Sonny Liston is an absorbing, albeit speculative, attempt at addressing the mystery that died with the man. That got him killed. You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. Either way, nat fleisher as the KD timekeeper had NO right telling Walcott the fight was over. He claimed the officer used racial slurs. In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. Tosches, Nick (2000). [85] Geraldine had a daughter from a previous marriage, and the Listons subsequently adopted a boy from Sweden. There's never been anybody as ruthless. Watch the interview you be the judge. Cleveland Williams was the last person to defeat Liston and made $100,000 for his efforts. But others contend he just was not the same Liston. These transcripts contain material that did not appear in the final program. This victory is regarded by some as Liston's most impressive performance. #muhammadali #henrycooper #sonnyliston #dougjones #heavyweight #greatness #boxing #legend #larryholmes #ironmike #sonnyliston #intimidating #bad #big #greatb. The fight lasted less than one full round, with Ali knocking out Liston at the 1:44 mark. [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. Odds makers gave Liston 71 to win. 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. Stevens organized a sparring session with a professional heavyweight named Thurman Wilson to showcase Liston's potential. At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. But audiences attending Knopfler's concerts around North America this summer are hearing and responding favorably to a song of a different genre, a bluesy narrative ballad called "Song for Sonny Liston," about the troubled fighter who preceded Muhammad Ali as heavyweight champion in the early 1960's. After demolishing these top-ranked fighters in the heavyweight division, Liston was regarded as the top-contender champion-in-waiting. [49], Clay later said that in round five he could only see a faint shadow of Liston during most of the round, but by circling and moving frantically he managed to avoid Liston and somehow survive. "When he first got to the big city, he was hanging out with a bunch of people who were just looking for trouble.". Be respectful and come chat with us. Walcott never did pick up the count. 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. Pan, 2017. Unlike Dylan or Carter, however, Knopfler does not present Liston as innocent of a crime for which he was imprisoned. His father, Tobe Liston, was in his mid 40s when he and his wife, Helen Baskin, who was almost 30 years younger than Tobe, moved to Arkansas from Mississippi in 1916. Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. 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. "He was scared of the police. 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. [71] Credence to the latter theory is provided by the fact that Liston, immediately after his fight with Chuck Wepner, seemed more concerned about supporting the proposed Ali-Frazier bout and Ali's claims to be champion than promoting his own career. [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. One of the reasons why sports stays alive in us is that there's part of us that wants to keep the child alive and recognizes that there is something important in doing that. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma. Sonny Liston shot a gun at Muhammad Ali. There are echoes of slavery in his upbringing." [89], Following an investigation, Las Vegas police concluded there were no signs of foul play and declared Liston's death a heroin overdose. Tale of the tape: Fight poster for Sonny Liston v Cassius Clay in 1964. . There was something caustic in both eyes." 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. The commotion was not lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. "[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. "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. Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative. And the Muslims were coming up. [34] Many African-Americans disdained Liston. 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.. Frank Mir was around that height and was noticeably taller than Carwin. [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. Press J to jump to the feed. 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. [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. "[35] However, in 1963 in the aftermath of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Liston broke off a European boxing exhibition tour to return home and was quoted as saying he was "ashamed to be in America. Rare interview of Sonny Liston colorized. RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color Legends of Boxing in Color 2.47K subscribers Subscribe 16K views 8 months ago Very Rare interview with Sonny Liston and. "[59], Liston is ranked second in the ESPN.com list of "The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History. Machen's mobility enabled him to go the distance but he was clearly outpointed despite Liston being penalised for a low blow in the 11th round. 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. [56] Sports Illustrated writer Tex Maule wrote that Liston's shoulder injury was legitimate. "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. Governor John H. Reed of Maine stepped forward, and within a few hours the promoters had a new site: Lewiston, Maine, a mill town with a population of about 41,000 located 140 miles (230km) north of Boston. For those too young to remember, Sonny "The Big Bear" Liston was a legendary heavyweight boxer. It is hardly the first recording by a rock musician about boxing. The rumors swirling nearly canceled the fight the night prior, and when a reporter that morning broke tradition and asked if Clay was a member of the Black Muslims, as the group was often called, the boxer confirmed his new religion. Liston was a heavy favorite. To this day, I'm convinced that's what the coroner saw in his examthat hospital needle mark. Maule, Tex (March 9, 1964). We cooked up that shoulder thing on the spot. The story goes that Liston was born somewhere . [30] Before his bout with Liston, Muhammad Ali consulted Machen and was advised that the key to survival was to make Liston lose his temper. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. During these same years Sonny Liston was on the comeback trail as well. Rogin wrote. The toxicology report said his body was too decomposed for the tests to be conclusive. He died circa December 30,. He had been deliberately snubbed. 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. "[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. "There's no doubt that he was mean," Knopfler said of Liston. [33], Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. Night Train is like $11 on Amazon, peep that if you want to get more of the story, i don't like how max was squeezing sonny's bicep. Both fights were in Summerlin's hometown of Detroit.[23]. . I was about to say look at those mitts! 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. In the novel, Liston not only drinks but also pops pills and works as a sometime enforcer for a heroin ring in Las Vegas. Authorities theorized that he was undressing for bed when he fell over backward with such force that he broke the rail of the bench. Who needed that? Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. He rolled over, got to his right knee and then fell on his back again. [87], Liston was found dead by his wife, Geraldine, in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971. Unfortunately for Martin, however, his career ended after that fight due to a detached retina he suffered during the bout. I never saw. ", Chuck Wepner on Liston's intimidating appearance. At one point in this attack, Liston was rocked as he was driven to the ropes. 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. In the third round, Marshall nailed Listonreportedly while he was laughingand broke his jaw. Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. A wax model of Liston appears in the front row of the iconic sleeve cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Carwin probably wasn't even that tall. Ira Gay Sealy/The Denver Post via Getty Images According to the post, he returned back home later that morning and called his sparring partner Gary Bates to tell him he was leaving for Los Angeles but that they should get together when he returned in a couple of days. 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". Sonny Liston, once the heavyweight champ, died at the age of who-knows-what some days before Dec. 30, 1970. In an unearthed, unaired TV interview, Sonny Liston's wife once said that the fighter needed to get out of the ring as fast as possible because he had diarrhea. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. [8] Convicted and sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary, Liston started his prison time on June 1, 1950. Sonny Liston in Denver, Colorado. [73] The bout was stopped after the ninth round due to cuts over both of Wepner's eyes. 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. .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. 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. In the 2001 film Ali, Liston was portrayed by former WBO Heavyweight Champion Michael Bentt. [97], "The month before he died, some guy ran into Sonny while he was making a left turn. "[42], Liston made his second title defense on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). One memo, dated 24 May 1966, outlined an interview with Houston gambler Barnett Magids, who believed Liston would win. Former champions James J. Braddock, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. [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. One mile up on a mountain 13 miles west of Denver is the Shrine of Mother Cabrini. After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia. Charles "Sonny" Liston was born c.1930 into a sharecropping family that farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St.Francis County, Arkansas. [45][46] A clearly angered Liston rallied at the end of the round when Clay seemed tired, delivering punishing body shots. [8], Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed muggings and armed robberies. [citation needed], Rogin wrote that Patterson backers expected him to "go inside on Liston, fire away and then run like a thief in the night. According to a report in the Miami Herald a few weeks before the 1964 fight, Clay was consorting with members of the Nation of Islam, who Clays father claimed had brainwashed his son. [14], Tobe Liston inflicted whippings so severe on Sonny that the scars were still visible decades later. [31] While Liston began working into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he also continued his criminal behavior. Liston said he quit because of a shoulder injury. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' [42], Liston's run-ins with the police had continued in Philadelphia. He offered no comment on the matter, but his victory would soon turn it into an international story.