This old chestnut,eh...? It was a punch that genuinely knocked Liston off his feet,and he was simply intimidated by Ali. His mind had been messed up by Muhammad since their first fight. I have EXTREME doubts that any fix was involved.
Foreman > Liston in any objective rankings unless you're crazy. Having Liston in your top 4 is like almost like having Dempsey that high because of suspicions on how great he is in terms of H2H. It's mythology, or just factoring H2H way too much. Tyson and Foreman are thoroughly more accomplished, have better resumes/records, and are arguably just as good on some H2H level. But according to Liston fans, Liston's almost in his on realm.
I think Liston is a better fighter than Foreman. I think Foreman's record pisses all over Liston's. I don't think it would be absurd to rank Liston over Foreman (though having him at #3 is), because I think ability is paramount.
Does anybody here think that Sonny Liston really could have beaten Muhammad Ali that night? Nobody I personally knew at the time thought Sonny would win. Muhammad's skills and style were poison for Liston...in my opinion. I think there was some confusion there, along with some fear on Liston's part, mixed with a healthy dose of less than perfect refereeing. (But, actually, Walcott's refereeing wasn't the worst I have ever seen.) The result was Muhammad Ali KO1 over Sonny Liston. We just have to live with that. Simple as that. It was a great win for Muhammad, and an embarrassing loss for Sonny.
How does Foreman's record **** all over Liston's? Liston beat a much wider variety of styles than George Foreman. Liston beat better depth. I think quality is pretty close, with foreman having the edge due to the Frazier and Norton wins. Liston cleaned out his era from 1958-1960 just as effectively as George Foreman did in the 1970s. Difference is Foreman lost to Young, while Liston never lost to Machen or Folley. \
I'm not sure how many people think the KO was legitimate, but I think a lot of people thought that the kd was on the level. One thing's apparent from the replay of that fight...Ali was going to box rings around Liston, and even if Liston took the eay way out, it may well have been due to the fact that he realized that things weren't going to get much better for him regardless of how hard he fought.
Very easily.... He had the highest win/ko ratio of all time... He won the lineal championship on two occasions by beating two good fighters who were undefeated and in their primes... He was only stopped on one occasion in 81 fights and had the claim of being the oldest man to ever regain the title.... Liston only won two title fights and both came against the same man..... Oh sure, wayne Bethea and cleveland Williams, what a great resume.... Gee, do ya think? With the sole exception of beating Ingo and a frale patterson... But Foreman was never beaten by sub-200 lbs guys, wheras Liston was beaten by two of them... Not only that, but frankly I think that Young would have beaten Liston as well... Only difference, is that Young would not need the advantage of Liston suffering from heat stroke or jack-ass managment, but rather only the lousy talent that Liston had to offer, which was basically nothing...
Sorry Magoo, but Liston smashes the **** out of young. young really ony has minor advantages over Liston... height, speed, and maybe defense... none of these would make a different and ill tell you why: liston's reach would completely deminish young's height advantage, liston's jab and head movement would make young miss and therefore killing the small speed advantage, and his defense would certainly not matter. liston would hit eventually and when he does he won't let Jimmy off the hook. seeing as young us so very durable and crafty I don't think he'll get knocked out. also, young doesn't hit hard, so he won't get any respect of Liston when he does hit Liston with his flicking punches.... keep in mind magoo I am a young fan and I've seen a lot of his fights including his fights with Ali, Lyle, dokes, norton, and foreman. i just don't think he beats Liston. Sonny Liston UD Jimmy Young