Sonny Liston vs. Jack Johnson, London Prize Ring Rules

Both champions are matched under 1830s London Prize Ring Rules. Bare knuckles. Trips and throws above the waist are legal. Holding and hitting is legal. Rounds end when a fighter goes down, and you get 30 seconds to recover and come up to scratch. The fight takes place on rope-enclosed turf, with spiked shoes.

Referees will strictly enforce the DQ rule against falling without getting punched. (Which did exist under LPR).



I'm obviously picking Johnson by murderous, one-sided beatdown here, but I'm curious about what the rest of the forum thinks. So I'll (mostly) just sit to the side and watch for now.

 

Are crowbars legal?

 

No.

Basically standing throws, trips, holding & hitting, and bareknuckle punching. Standard 1830s fare.

 

Sonny was a street thug, arm breaker and ex-con London Prize rules would have been comfortable for him he beats three shades of poop out of Johnson before he knocks him out with his 15" hamhocks for fists

 

Did Johnson have experience with bare knuckle boxing? If so I would pick him.

I'd also pick him under Queensberry rules.

 

Not much. He wrestled pretty regularly and fought with really tiny gloves in a quasi-bareknuckle style, though.

 

Liston beats the snot out of overrated Johnson under any kind of rules.

 

I remember reading in Unforgiveable Blackness where Jim Jeffries challenged Johnson to a fight in a basement to see who was the better fighter and Johnson backed down. If it were Liston that Jeffries challenged I think the greatest streetfight of all time would've ensued. Liston was a leg breaker who was chased out of town by the police for leaving a patrolman unconcious in a trash barrel. I'll pick Sonny.

 

Johnson was fighting in battle royals when he was a teenager .The fact that he declined to fight Jeffries in a cellar because he wanted to get him in the ring with his title on the line does not make him cowardly, just sensible, imo.

 

^ A sensible post!

 

Liston was a bad ass but let's not underestimate Johnson's abilities in this department. He went through hell in his life to get where he got. And it wasn't by being a shrinking violet.

I would like to think both these guys would be enjoying some strong waters together at some point.

Let's praise more than detract from these two.

 

With Liston's strength and overall toughness he would probably make for a very good bare-knuckle fighter, though against Johnson, someone who is better paced and adjusted for the rule-set, you'd have to favour him to wear Sonny down in a slow-burning, ugly encounter.

If Liston could hoist Johnson up and drop him on his head he may win however.

 

I think London Prize rules would heavily favor Jack Johnson. Holding his opponents to neutralize their attacks was something that he was well accustomed to doing, as was fighting for many rounds beyond the sanctioned fifteen limit in Liston's time. Furthermore, unless I'm mistaken, London prize rules also permits a fighter to drop to the ground and stop the action momentarily until he's recovered, and even involves longer time breaks between rounds. Of course these things could also help Liston as well, given that he wasn't exactly Ali in the stamina department. Getting tagged by sonny without gloves wouldn't have felt terrific either.. Strange fight to say the least, but I can see certain aspects that would assist both fighters under those conditions.

 

Something tells me that Liston would break his fists to pieces fighting bare-knuckled, given that gloves were designed to protect the hands, not the face. But getting hit by a liston punch without gloves wouldn't feel to good for the recipient either.

 

better question would be....who would the crowd be rooting for in this scenario?