Im talking about his physical strength here. Many people claim that Liston was very strong and was comparable to Foreman (im not talking about the punching power). I saw the Machen fight and noticed how the 196lbs Machen literally pushed him around, tied his arms up, and smothered Liston in the clinches. On top of that, Machen isnt really known to be very strong. What do you guys make of that? How strong was Liston?
No quantifiable way to answer a question like this, but I just remember what I read an older Foreman saying the only guy that could ever make him back up was Liston. Backing up a mountain like Foreman is no easy thing.
I can’t make any accurate observations about exactly “ how strong “ Liston or any fighter I’ve never met was. I CAN say that George Foreman who sparred regularly with Liston in his youth has declared that Sonny was quite strong and hit very hard. My only conclusion is that he certainly shouldn’t be seen as weak.
Sonny was extremely strong in a boxing specific sense. And that’s all that really matters. So far as boxing specific goes, Sonny was about as strong as it gets. if you like body builders, watch them fight. They have relatively weak boxing specific strength even though they might be incredibly physically strong. Put the gloves on and they won’t be as effective at punching as Sonny Liston or George Foreman were. As for being pushed around in a clinch, well that really is not boxing. In a boxing specific sense some strong fighters hold their distance and positioning in the ring centre very well. Again in this regard, Sonny and Foreman were terrific.
Liston was very strong. However, Machen was a master of the trade, so he was always in the right position to neutralize Liston’s strength advantage. Machen is almost never directly in front of Liston where he would get manhandled by Liston, but instead applies all his weight to Liston’s shoulder or side.
I think Liston's physical strength could be a bit overrated due to his punching power. I've never seen him utilizing his strength inside the ring like Foreman, Lewis, Johnson or Wladimir did. Hell, I'm not sure he was stronger than Joe Louis who was very strong man himself. It doesn't make him any lesser fighter, he was fantastic.
If we are talking physical strength a guy like Jameel McCline is probably stronger than most World Champions, but as we know physical strength isn't the main factor in boxing matches. Hasim Rahman was said to be very strong too