Sonny Liston: “The Strongest Heavyweight I Ever Dealt With” - George Foreman

Honestly, its a lot more likely than the only other theory that has a possibility of being founded in reality. That being Paul Gallenders theory about the mob. But I do remember hearing that Liston once assaulted his doctor for trying to vaccinate him because he was scared of the needle, may be wrong though.

 

My memory is that the "fear of needles" quotes pre-date his two victories over Patterson. I think I recall reading that in 1960-61. Maybe someone can confirm that. I would bet that he started having his arms checked by police in 1950, the year he was nabbed for armed robbery and sent to prison in Missouri.

 

That isn't a credible rumor that he assaulted a doctor. Let's try to be credible. And while we're trying to be credible, let's not give credence to much of what Gallender writes.

 

Lol, he is a bit of a wacko but I like him. Even if hes wrong som- a lot of the time,

 

Paul Gallender should refer to himself as a novelist -- a very bad one -- along with a lot of people who have written about Liston. Nick Tosches, author of "The Devil and Sonny Liston", was a gifted writer who used novelistic devices to tell the story of Sonny. His style was impressionistic but he was an excellent researcher and reporter. His factual account of the "Yellow shirt bandit" crime spree and Liston's subsequent arrest is a must-read for all of you Liston freaks, lol.Now he is dead, unfortunately. Before his Liston book he wrote a perceptive bio of Dean Martin, who unavoidably had mob connections.