Where do you rate Liston if Patterson never gave him a shot?

I invite the forum to consider what happens if Floyd and Ingo manage to keep swapping victories until about Floyd/Ingo V or VI, when Floyd comes out on top. (After he and Ingo spent the better part of a few years bouncing each other off the canvas like basketballs.)

Following his final victory over Ingo, Patterson gives a shot to a young Cassius Clay. It's a gamble; most people don't think Clay is ready yet. It wouldn't be too out of character for Floyd's management, considering the Rademacher fight.

Anyway, the gamble fails. Clay wins, changes his name to Ali, and then beats Floyd in the obligatory rematch. By now, Ali has matured enough that he beats an aging Liston. Liston never holds the title.

Where do you rate Liston?

 

My own guess is that Liston gets the Harry Wills treatment. He never got the chance to destroy Patterson, so he's just an "Oh, yeah...that guy" on the canon list. Sure, sure, he beat good early 60s contenders. But so did Ingo, sort of, and anyway, Ali wiped Liston out.

Maybe Liston would even be viewed as a throwback to the bad old days of the 50s when the Mob controlled everything. A relic of an earlier era who outlived his time. And can we really assume the guy's career was 100% on the level...? Etc.