On April 3, 1962. #1 Ranked heavyweight Sonny Liston Referee for; Ernie Terrell vs. Cleveland Williams I Houston, Texas Referee Liston stops the bout in the 7th round, as Williams batters a near defenseless and cut Ernie Terrell. On October 20, 1962 * World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston Referee for; Denny Moyer vs Joey Giambra For the vacant WBA Junior Middleweight Title Referee Sonny Liston is a non-scoring referee/judge.
fair play to him, ive heard of a quite a few dormer world champions working as referees back then :good
Yes, Ernie Terrell vs. Cleveland Williams when Sonny was the #1 Contender. And in October, 1962, one month after taking the tilte from Floyd Patterson. Also, was a referee in a couple of other fights,,,, I have to check.
seems odd to have a man who is fighting..and thus has a major stake in the heavyweight divison...acting as a ref between other top heavyweights.....i could see refring a middleweight fight and all...
interesting..i dont know.. just doesnt make sense to me to have a active fighter ref a fight between two other active fighters in the same divions.
...johnstown...you are absolutely right. i haven't checked to see if the williams/terrell fight was the one...it probably was...but anyway, in one williams fight that liston refereed he could clearly be heard by those at ringside saying, "come on, cleve...get this guy out of here. i ainutnt got all night."!! i'd say that would be the equivalent of a first baseman for a team acting as the umpire when he wasn't fielding and not during his time at bat. but...hey...that's one reason we have this crazy affection for boxing....it supplies so many daffy and wonderful stories...:nut
You got it right: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VQ8wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TREEAAAAIBAJ&dq=liston&pg=2434,1699285 Liston also referee'd the Williams-Dave Bailey fight. I've seen a pic of that one.
On the Williams -Terrell fight in Houston. Sonny Liston was flown in from Philadelphia, to referee that fight. He was a non-scoring referee/judge. This prevented a conflict of interest, against scoring. Liston was paid a fee for his service, plus expenses.
Imagine Wladimir Klitschko refereeing a fight between David Haye and Tomasz Adamek for example. Liston later said that it was senseless to make boxers referee fights.
Sonny Liston also was the referee for another Cleveland Willams fight in Hoston. 3-Days after the Moyer vs. Giambra bout in Oregon. Sonny Liston was flown into Houston, to referee the Cleveland Williams vs. Dave Bailey fight, on 10/23/62 And on May 30, 1963 Sonny Liston was the referee for the Curtis Cokes vs. Flory Alguin fight. Held in the Civic Auditorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 2 months later, he was flattening Floyd Patterson in Las Vegas. His first title defense.
Before Sonny Listons death, 12/30/70 Sonny was to fly to Shizuka, Japan, to referee the 1/3/71 WBC Junior Lightweight Bout between Yoshiaki Numata vs. Rene Barrientos, at the Sunpo Arena. While their, he was to work on a bout in Japan for early 1971, and a 1971 action-movie role in the Phillipines. Negotiations were also in the works for a George Chuvalo fight in Pittsburg, Pa. for 1971.