Liston was just as dominant over a tougher division long before he was ever given a title shot, had a longer reach and punched harder than either Klitschko with better footwork and superior handspeed. I'd take him over either brother, and I like the K brothers. I think they're fine, high quality champs but imho a prime Sonny Liston is a top 3 ATG hw champ. Just imo. Vitali would give him a good solid battle, Wlad would get abused and stopped. All that said... this particular matchup must have been posted up at least a couple dozen times.
Liston was a hair over 6 feet tall, and 210lbs in his Prime. Anyone that thinks he could punch harder than Wladimir or Vitali is a: :nut :nut with a brain full of nostalgia.
Liston is not a Top 3 ATG Heavyweight, that's ridiculous. So I guess you have him in right after Louis & Ali right?
Louis is extremely overrated and would get his ass beat by half a dozen HW's I can think of off the top of my head, including several that never wore a belt. He was propped up with the bum of the month club for propaganda reasons during WWII. If Schmeling fought Ibeabuchi 500 times, how many times do you think Max would win?? I think zero. I have Sonny up there just behind Ali, in the mix with Tyson and Foreman. As far as Sonny's punching power goes, Foreman said that Sonny hit harder than George himself, and that's good enough for me.
I thought you were joking earlier. Patterson's level? Guy was not considered good champ, to put it nicely. His manager ducked every top contender he could.
Louis would beat Ali, and probably anyone else ever, maybe 3 guys have chance. Ali is one who needed gift decisions to keep title, and is overrated for his political leanings.
Real Answer:Well Wlad has that concussive power to hurt anyone but he would be scared against Liston and very cautious. Haye is no Liston and Wlad was holding on to him for dear life. Liston TKO4 Wlad Vitali might make an OK fight with Liston but he would be on his back foot and not landing anything special to trouble him. Liston UD12 Vitali Troll Answer:Liston KO1 Wladimir Bitchko (Wlad tries to clinch once and gets smashed in the chin with a weak jab and drops for the 10 count) Liston TKO6 Quitali Roidko (Vitali takes roids,gets cut up and quits)