If the public had embraced Liston...

Have you seen his fighting diet? He must've drank enough to compensate because he ate like a bird from memory.

 

Unfortunately, adulation abroad could never substitute for the lack of same in his country of birth and true home.

Like Johnson in exile, Liston was treated far better in countries that were less prejudiced and not hypocritically hung up on historical priors -

Liston was apparently a different person altogether toward those who showed genuine care and gave him cause to trust them.

So yeah, I think if he was a more beloved Champ like Joe Louis, Liston would’ve prized that and acted as if he had a lot more to lose than what was actually at stake - which wasn’t a whole lot - he was generally presumed guilty until proven innocent.

The total lack of fanfare upon his arrival at the airport and it’s apparent impact on Liston is really quite sad.

 

I don’t know, people who come from where Sonny came from, or anywhere else, how are they going to process the magnitude of being a world champion? The media put a slant on something that isn’t favourable. What chance has anyone got?

You could try as hard as you like to be accepted. It won’t matter.

The whole journey to come as far as he came. That would be enough for for anyone to deal with who wasn’t prepared for it anymore than he was.

 

There are some signs that the press were softening towards Liston latterly.

 

Such as?

 

You do see the odd article after the second Patterson fight, presenting him in a more sympathetic light, and highlighting his gentler qualities.

Others more conversant with the era, might be better able to comment on whether this was part of a general trend.

 

Could you link that diet please? I am curious.

Found this:
Sonny Liston Pre-Patterson Routine

Two Meals a Day-
Breakfast: five strips of bacon, 3 soft-boiled eggs, 2 glasses of fruit juice (I'm guessing, OJ), two cups of tea.

Dinner: two pounds of steak.

Daily Routine-
WALKs seven miles in seven pound shoes, shadow boxes for four rounds, skip rope for nine minutes (to Night Train, obviously).
[also says he rode a "red bike" around sometimes]

 

That's it lad.

 

Excellent find! He also ran five miles a day (which turned into one when he faced Ali).

 

This is so cool! Thanks.

 

It’s easy to take two facts — he wasn’t accepted/embraced by the American public and he drank heavily — and suppose if one changed the other would, but that’s not necessarily how it works.

Alcoholics have a predisposition. They develop a craving and once they start they don’t stop — at times, for periods, they can control it but in the end it controls them. And of course he seems to have graduated to harder things.

There is of course a psychological component, but I’d have to think somewhere along the way Sonny started drinking (probably not after winning the title) and at that point it was going to escalate regardless. So I don’t think much changes.

 

Suffice to say, the press often frames and shapes public opinion rather than reflect it.

Sympathetic pieces might’ve just as easily been written to flip the public over into Sonny’s favour. There was also the likes of D’Amato and Ali trying to defame and paint the darkest pictures of Liston to suit their own agendas.

IMO, if anything. the more defining and negative feature for boxing from the mid 50s to early 60s was Patterson’s blatantly and heavily protected reign.

I actually think I would’ve really liked Liston back in the day - even though it’s a bit difficult to gage having not been born into his era or influenced by the social mores of the day - although those mores were hypocritically applied from one high profile person to another.

 

It is worth adding that when you see an interview with Liston, he comes across as being a lot more articulate and well spoken than you might expect.

He was probably capable of giving a positive impression, if given the right platform.