sonny liston today?

No question ... :good

 

Liston would have scared Haye to death...he no doubt would have run for his life for a few rounds before being caught.

 

Liston would beat Haye, Wlad and Vitali, but Vitali would be tough in my opinion......

 

Yes Vic..I would agree to that...Vitali impresses me sometimes even more than his bro..his chin and unorthodox style..the leaning back from punches, and above all his attitude..he's a badass. Liston vs Vitali would be very interesting..I'm sure Liston would have cut VK, but as for decking him, I think not.

 

He didn't even have Machen's technical skills. Machen was very crafty. I honestly think that Haye does not go the distance or even survives close to the last round with Liston.

 

He'd fold like a lawn chair with the Bear.

 

he would knock out everyone,wlad would be the toughest,because of his power

 

Wlad and Vitali would beat Liston. Even with his great reach, Liston looked short against Ali and would be completely dwarfed against two fighters who use size better than any other tall HW. To beat the Klitschkos, a short HW would need blinding speed which Liston never had. He was great against anyone he could bully around but he wouldn't outbox either Klitschko or be successful with a sudden attack toKo them.

 

Yes, he did. Sure, he had some great attributes, but was never really fast and would have to jab upwards against Wlad, not something he needed to do in his prime. He is not like Tyson who developed a style to break through the range of taller fighters.

And because Vitali lost one fight to cuts caused by a thumb, Liston would curt and stop him? THAT is absurd, you could likewise say Liston wouldgo down from a phantom punch against either Klitschko or quit on his chair.

 

i think haye could give it a go for a few rounds but his open trading style would lead to a long right cross down the pipe.

wlad i think might outbox him but get dropped hard. possibly stopped late rounds or outpoint liston..looking very shabby along the way.

vitali.....i don't know. that's a tough hustle to me. liston i think could try to out tank him, just land right hands when vitali jabs but i'm not sure. vitali has a good chin has huge size and reach advantages i dont think it's controversial that liston wins a couple with his left hook right cross combo catching the bigger robotic guy but i think cant catch up or land enough continuous attacks to put him down or hurt him enough.

the closest thing of modern time we have seen of a sonny liston physique I.E. long arms, thick body, heavy planted, punch reliant, stand up style. is probably rahman (ducks fruit) who started late and only on a dare i believe, wasn't particularly athletically talented and sideligned the technical aspect of the sport, was slightly chinny and loose defence. yet was a world champion and in the top 10 or top 20 for a decent part of a decade. so it's clear that liston can compete. and could move big men as well. liston is big in his own right.

i'm gonna duck another load of fruit and say that Byrd gives Liston trouble, lennox outpoints him or stops him, valuev is going to be boring as fuahuck and possibly go o a draw or something like that. tua might drop him but gets bullied and outmuscled and liston-brewster would be the best heavyweight match of the time.

 

he isnt short and he isn't small. 81' reach, 6'1 nearing 6'2...what about byrd/jones/tua/toney/ruiz/maskaev/chagaev/ibragimov/brewster/fugloadofothercontenders

and even though liston is a slickster he isnt easy to hit. had a good shuffle and slip.

but speed. the guys punch speed. form getting A to B is very quick.

 

Wlad and Vit would make good fights and I think one of them might beat him. Otherwise, he takes and beats all comers... but in what era would this not be the case? A 1960 Liston destroys the hype that was the 1970's heavies. Hell, Frazier' management wanted no part of an ancient Liston in the late 60's, supposedly Joe's prime.

 

i'd have trouble picking a 68-69 liston over frazier but either way i don't think anyone of today takes the liston of the williams fights up to the 2nd patterson fight. couple of guys would last the distance, a few may even steal rounds of frustrate him but no one wins

 

No Vitali would be the toughest because of his chin...VK is the tougher of the two brothers in that regard.