Prime Sonny Liston vs Prime wladimir klitschko

Liston punches hard but if you actually watch some of his fights instead of making statistics up, you will know he throw the right punches at the right time.

That's true ring intelligence.

 

Wlad's range, speed, and footwork would give Liston fits.

Liston's power could make it a short night.

If Wlad starts out hot, would Liston foul, or mentally fold?

I like Sonny early and Wlad late. The ring size and the ref could be huge x factors in this one.

 

Although much shorter in height, Sonny Liston had a freakish wingspan for a man of six foot. His arm length ( without checking ) was probably at least as long as Wlad's or let's just say close. And the precision of his left jab was likely as good as Wlad's or possibly better. I'm thinking he's actually someone who could match or beat Wlad in the jabbing department which may open up opportunities that other fighters couldn't create. If Sonny gets a chance to reel off some of his sunday punches on the inside Wlad's durability issues are going to become apparent fast. Of course Liston's durability was questionable too and Klitschko shouldn't be written off too easily.

 

his reach might give him a chance, and he might go all out and ko wlad in the first 2 rounds, hes slow, wlad is far more athlethic and he would hit liston all night long.

 

Liston only appears slow against a prime Ali.

Are you saying Wlad is as fast as Ali was in 1965?

I seriously wonder if people actually watch the fighters they talk rubbish about!

 

I think the version of Sonny Liston who fought at a good steady workrate against Eddie machen was a better fighter than wlad ever fought.

Wlad might hit hard but if he can't take Sonny out he won't live with that pace!

If Sonny had more experience against giant fighters I would actually pick Sonny. Wlad should start Favorite but Sonny has an excelent chance.

 

The fact that he wasn't stopped by Williams in either fight,[ though he took big shots in both fights, ]and that he continued boxing after sustaining a broken jaw against Marshall, means this opinion is too hackneyed and simplistic to be swallowed as the whole story.

 

Mcvey & Magoo are right on here.

Why is anyone comparing an old shot fighter-who may have thrown at least 1 fight or at least was unmotivated-when matching prime vs. prime? You do that, you need to take Wlad at his worst too, are you willing to do that? What is next, comparing Liston as a 6th grader against prime Wlad?

Prime Liston was not really slow, well motivated, good endurance, & never folded.

At 6'1 " he had an 84" reach, 3 inches LONGER than Wlad. It is exceedingly rare to find any human being with that + 11" "ape factor" (reach greater than height), most of us are squares, & even someone like Lewis with his same reach is only + 7", somewhat longer than Ali, Holmes, & most others. 2nd longest I ever saw in boxing: same 84" reach, but a 10" for Haseem Rahman. I have searched far & wide & only found one person longer anywhere at + 13".

[url]http://thehoopdoctors.com/online2/2012/04/beejay-anya-has-the-largest-wingspan-in-hoops-history[/url]

 

Or the fact that Liston was cut and marked up in short fights with Williams, and had his jaw broken by man of Marshall size and power means he's going to bust up quickly when Wlad hits him.

Ali visibly rocked and hurt Liston in their first fight. Sonny was a big man in his day, but would look rather small next to Wlad, and would be giving up a lot in speed.

 

Ali defeated Liston in 1964. The 1965 fight looks like a quit job or fix. Liston was visibly slower in mid to late 1960's. He looked to be at his best in terms of speed in the late 1950's.

Wlad in his prime had very fast hand speed, maybe not as fast as Ali's, but he had better power by a good margin.

 

This is how I see it.

Klitschko has built a legacy, which will force comparisons with other dominant champions IMHO.

Liston is a champion who did not have the attributes for a long title reign, but who probably has the stylistic attributes to beat Wlad.

 

Bingo.

Lets not be fooled by the Leapai fight. That guy was no good and did nothing but take baby steps in straight lines onto the trajectory of Wlads mitts.

 

who has the better resume?

 

Ali stated that Liston was one of the greatest technicians in the history of the
division: a heavy and rangy jab, great infighting with short hooks and uppercuts,
above average defense, and underrated ring iq. What we have is two of the heaviest
hitters ever and best jabbers ever. Wlad has incredible talent and athleticism, however
is he confident enough to put it all together against a killer like Liston? I don't think so,
Sonny wouldn't be a clueless punching bag. Sonny would be pumping that jab and
scoring with hooks on the inside, don't know about uppercuts though. Wlad will
not get away with his hands hanging low as always, Liston was aggressive, and Wlad
doesn't deal with pressure well. Plenty of fighters have ate many shots from Wlad before
getting koed, Liston was as tough as they came. And from what Ive read and heard
Wepner stated that Liston hit harder than Foreman, and he felt Liston in his
prime would have been too much for anyone. Mentally Wlad loses at the staredown.
Ring magazine had a cool article a couple years back "Wlad versus the legends"
they commented that strange things happened during Liston fights, the blinding agent
applied to his gloves and whatnot. Competitive from the outside perhaps, Wlad
doesn't have the nerve to trade once he feels Liston's power. Wlad likes to
demoralize people with his jab, here Wlad gets outjabbed, and rocked with
left hooks which would be the deciding factor. Liston KO 5.

 

Wlad by late round TKO. This is Prime vs. Prime, so we are not talking about the Wlad who fought Puritty, Sanders, or Brewster. I'm talking about the guy who's been kicking ass for the last 10 years.

20-0 (14) in these fights. 17-0 (13) in HW world title bouts over the last 8 years.

6'6" or 7" depending on the source, over 245 ripped Lbs., 81" reach. Quick hands, good jab, good power, good footwork, and uses his size advantage very well.

I'm not sure Liston would be able to hit him clean very often. If he did, it might lead to a stoppage win for Liston, but I doubt it would happen like that.

6' or 7" in height, about 30 lbs. in weight, reach... I'm supposed to believe Liston has an 84" reach... even if he did it wouldn't seem like it vs. Klitschko. When you have to punch in an upward angle, you have to be a lot closer to the target to hit it. Point? Liston does not have a reach advantage in this fight.

Liston was stopped twice by Ali and once by Leotis Martin. He had trouble with Ali's speed and quit out of frustration in my opinion. Ali did drop Liston in the rematch but the fight should have continued. I don't think their rematch was a fix, but they should have fought a 3rd time just to leave no doubt. Liston was well past prime vs. Martin, but he was KTFO.

Wlad was stopped by Puritty, Sanders, and Brewster. He did avenge the Brewster loss by KO. He let his big bro KO Puritty and Sanders. Wlad went 2-0 (1) vs. Chris Byrd, who had defeated his brother Vitali.

Wlad has improved a lot since his last loss more than 10 years ago.

WTD5 Williamson, W12 and KO10 Peter, W12 and KO6 Byrd, KO6 Brewster, W12 Ibragimov, KO11 and KO6 Thompson, KO9 Chagaev, W12 Haye, and W12 Povetkin. These are all solid wins that would look good on any HW resume.

Even KO7 Brock and KO2 Austin aren't bad wins. He dominated in all of these fights with the exception of the first Peter fight. Peter did give him problems but Wlad was still improving at this point. Williamson showed a lot of heart and maybe should have gotten a rematch, but he was never going to beat Wlad.