Sonny Listons height and reach

Sonny was not a normal built man. He obviously had the upperbody of a bodybuilder, but on top of that he had massive fists (15.5") and his arms were huge all around.

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I do belive that Sonny had very long arms, but I think his very broad shoulders added to his reach measurments and made it a bit deceiving. Cleveland Williams, for instance, has a listed shorter reach, yet his arms seemed to be at least as long as Liston's when they fought.

Note how broad Sonny is:

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He still clearly has very long arms, but not quite as long as the 84" reach would have one thinking.

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Not that it matters much, but I don't think Liston was a full 6'1". He was listed as 6'0" is some very early boxing matches (even in his prison profile I believe as well).

 

..at the time sonny's reach was measured it was by wingspan...from tip of one hand across the chest to the other. more recently the measurements are by each arm, from armpit to fingertips; a more accurate measurement. the stats of the older fighters may be deceptive.

as an example of the difference...butterbean's reach would appear to be considerably different if measured each way.

 

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Love this pic because it gives an idea of Liston's reach and overall dimensions. His shoulders are just about at the same height as Foreman's, yet his arms go beyond the picture (whereas you can see GF's hand). Though GF is craning his neck a bit forward, it's still obvious that he wasn't much taller than Sonny. 6'1 seems about right for Liston.

 

maybe he grew and inch, old foreman was taller than young foreman.

 

he was shorter , but d stats during his comeback were more exagger8ed .

Liston's height was 6' max and his reach was like 77" max , and this is still being generous .

Heidi Klum's listed height is 5'9" and standing next 2 Holyfield she does not appear that much shorter . Holyfield 4 example is 6' max . Go do your calculations

 

You've got to love Liston. He was one of those rare super heavyweights that got so large he started to get small again. I've never had a great grasp of physics or biology, but the evidence spoke for itself on both counts.

 

Wide shoulders, abnormally long arms and large hands contribute to the statistic. Measurements aren't always reliable but I do think his reach was anywhere between 80 to 84 inches.

Ali had a 79-80 inch reach and Liston's reach appeared longer despite being the shorter of the two.

 

He had long arms.
I don't know if his wingspan was really 84 inches though.

A lot of the listed measurements for fighters are incorrect or inconsistent.

 

Agree. I once saw an early Tyson fight that had his reach listed as 79"

 

His height and reach are comparable to wlad. But liston has a better inside game than frazier and a better chin than ali. H2H he beats every boxer to ever live.

Disregard the ali fights cos he was 44 in each of them. He was at his prime as a boxer in ten late 40's, louis, charles, walcott, rocky they all ducked him.

 

Were his fists really 15" as well?

I have fairly big fists but if they were 15", they would be noticeably bigger. Mine are around 12" and fairly large. If Liston's really were 15", you're talking about a ham sized fist.

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Liston was actually older than 44 when he faced Ali. I've heard he was born in 1830.