New Liston interview, never seen before

A lot of thugs in boxing history .... from drug addicts , alcohol abuse, jail time , broken homes, nothing to eat , dont have **** . whatever ... that's basically half of the the boxing world...... and none of it excuses his actions ,,, BUT he did have a **** life from the get go ...
when discussing boxing skill, imo, its really simple ... need to seperate in the ring from out of the ring .. and thats that
Liston was a technically sound overall great boxer ... especially picking it up EXTREMELY late ,, people forget that ,, what was he 19 yrs old ? thats ****ing insane TBH... In fact, I think it was a condition for an early release from prison, that he continued it
anyway a Prime 59 60 Liston is a H2H nightmare ... people want to start picking him apart at what age 34 ?? that should tell you everything right there ... For the most part , a Boxer , or an athlete in general in any sport .. his wheelhouse is basically 23-30 years old ..... and you want to start talking about a bad performance at age 34??.... well figure it the **** out

 

The problem with this argument is you dont get have to have it both ways. You dont get to lean on the excuse that he started late while ignoring performances that took place later than the average fighter. As Hopkins used to say, he sat on the shelf like grandmas peaches. He wasnt taking all of that ring wear so of course his prime years run later than the average fighter.

 

I get that argument .... BUT the statement still runs true with an athletes body .. a man's body in general ... 34 is not Prime years at all ... and thats just a fact .. exceptions to the rule yes ...
I wasnt at all suggesting that him starting late had anything to do with him being 34 ... it was a point of him starting late and being as successful as he was .. that just dosent happen really

 

What happened to the link? Doesn’t work anymore

 

Here’s the link:-

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Max Goldberg, a local broadcaster in Denver, had an interesting background in his own right - worth a read.

Loved the IV. A relatively “open” Liston. Funny how Sonny would abruptly stop on some answers as if to say “That’s all I’ve got!” - certainly not one to mince his words or talk excessively.

The interviewer walks a fine line on potentially upholding Sonny as a freak re the requests to demonstrate his hands, reach etc. - but ultimately it was what we all wanted to see and Mr Goldberg handled it pretty well.

Interesting that Liston states that Ali has the same reach - AND only when pushed, Sonny says his reach might be a bit longer.

There’s all possible explanations for this. One might be that Liston’s own reach was listed as 82” odd on occasion.

Ali was listed as about 78”/79” but uplifted to 82” for the Liston fight. A guess - but this might’ve been the invention of Dundee who also claimed, during Ali’s reign and just prior to the Terrell fight, that Muhammad was 6’4” and still “growing” - lol.

Anyway, Liston might’ve seen Ali’s reach reported as 82” and therefore believed Ali was equal to Liston’s own possibly legit 82” (and odd) listings or near enough to Liston’s possibly legit 84” listing.

Here’s a good SI VAULT article in its own right discussing Liston’s right or lack thereof to fight Patterson. Liston’s stats are also supplied - notably his reach is given as 82” and fist size 14”.

[url] https://vault.si.com/vault/1962/02/12/42197#&gid=ci0258bf461016278a&pid=42197---014---image[/url]

And, just for fun, here’s a supplied photo of the fist castings for Carnera, Dempsey and Johnson - but notably Primo’s cast is closer to camera therefore some illusory advantage there.

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As to revisionism, aren’t there some contemporaneous articles during Liston’s career that expressed a measure of sympathy toward Liston, his less ideal start in life and the steps taken to rehabilitate himself and make good?

Certainly there is another IV online during which they speak very well of Sonny.

Comparing Liston to Ronnie Kray, one of the Piranha brothers? The computer says a big NO to that. Lol.

 

Liston ate whips for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course he'll sound different than we've expected. The shyness isn't a routine but like some stated he's trying to tip toe around the press so they don't crucify him for being human. But he was a tremendous thug who took the left hand path in life.

Like they say in the mafia, "We only kill our own!"

Great post OP. Need more of this on this forum!

 

Here it be...

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Never understood why he got a pass for creeping on a girl while impersonating a cop.

 

He’s back!!!

 

I know, right? There should've been some form of trigger warning beforehand. A dancing banana always helps . Ask @JohnThomas1, he's a certified banana bender and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

 

Duuuuuuuuude!!!!!

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Cheers! Great tune, haven’t heard that one for a long time. Sweat hogs rule!

 

He is OVER 40 I think in this interview. Hes looks soooo old to say what they were saying his age was on paper.

 

Don't they just!

I am a sucker for this era of music.

Now hopefully we will have you back with us for good this time!

 

I'll do my best.

I'm pretty good on music but I couldn't have told you who sang the Welcome Back tune. Now I know. Good for future pub trivia nights.

I'll indulge myself, one of my old favorites, resurfaced for the movie Boogie Nights. Crikey, that film is already 25 years old in itself! Dirk Diggler is now married with 6 kids. Good to see he got out of the game unscathed. The song is Magnet and Steel, by Walter Egan. A bit of a creepy looking dude, facially, not unlike Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. That it sounds so good (at least to me) is due in no small part to Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwod Mac singing back-up vocals. RIP to Christine McVie. Sadly, we're beginning to lose quite a few known identifies from our era.

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