A very impressive performance by Liston. Harris was a pretty good fighter off his record. Liston just caught him.
Now, if we are going to comment that Dempsey scored many 1st round kos against poor opposition, this fight should be treated equally.
Harris was 29-1 going into the fight and ranked in the Ring top ten. His only loss was a title challenge against Floyd Patterson. While Harris may not have been the best fighter in the world he was not a bum.
There was nothing impressive about that fight. Harris was considerably smaller and visibly ...I don't want to say afraid because I have respect for all fighters, but he clearly got into that ring with not plan, no thought of winning that fight. He was throwing flailing punches and falling in-Liston caught him with a stiff jab early then a hookish type of punch high on the head for the first knockdown. There were no signs of finishing skills from Liston; Harris just went down the second time, there was no punch. The third time he went down the referee didn't count, because there was no punch. The last time Liston caught him with a right hand and I reckon that he was almost as suprised as Harris. That was no stellar, sharp. OMG type of performance. Honestly, I have never seen anything from Liston that made me think that he was some force of nature. @Pat M get in on this with me.
Not at all. Had some decent wins too. I read somewhere that he became a lawyer after he retired from boxing.
I think it’s funny (ironic) that people bring up how few rounds Sonny had in however long before losing to Ali. That’s because he knocked a lot of people out quickly. When you knock out Floyd Patterson twice in a row in the first round — heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson — you don’t get as many rounds in. Yet going into the first Patterson match, Sonny had fought less than four full rounds (11 minutes, 51 seconds if my math is right) in two years before facing Floyd. Yet that didn’t seem to bother him then. (This KO isn’t in that timeframe, just pointing it out.)
I agree with what you wrote. Liston was fighting a guy who was no threat and the result was predictable. Like you as I watched video of SL I never saw anything particularly impressive about his boxing, just a guy who usually had physical advantages over his competition. The fight with Harris is another example of SL having huge physical advantages in size and strength. If Harris was 29-1, I'm more impressed with his manager and his ability to match him than with Harris.
Yes. The greatest strength of many a fighter is his matchmaker. I was working with a guy on the verge of a top 10 ranking. My friend- he had his last pro fight in 1970- said that he would make a comeback if that fighter's manager would manage him and pick his opponents. I have never been impressed by Liston.
have you seen his 2 fight with Patterson & 2 with Big Cat Williams? he was huge force. formidable extreme
Don't even bother with this idiot. He claims to be a boxing coach and expert but laughably thought Ali stayed in shape throughout his entire exile (though their are numerous well known photos of him with a belly during that time period), and having a three year lay off had no effect on him whatsoever against Frazier, and less than an hour of ring time made up for those lost years.....
Then watch both Liston-Williams fights. If you're still not impressed, then you're trying to not be impressed with Sonny. And if you've ever been impressed by Ali-Williams, then just admit that Sonny deserved the accolades even more than Ali because he defeated ....twice....the superior version of Big Cat Williams.