Incredible, Liston's speed seems to be superior to his 1960 efforts. He should have been champ that year imo. Neither Johnannson nor Patterson would have had a chance.
"The UPI stated that Wayne Bethea lost 7 teeth during the one round fight." https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Sonny_Liston_vs._Wayne_Bethea
What impressed me so much about Liston in this one was his accuracy. Before the first knockdown I believe Liston connected with seven straight to the head and then he did just about the same a bit before the ref stopped it. While Bethea wasn't a great fighter he was a tough guy. He lost to Folley twice, Valdes, Machen, Williams, Mildenberger twice and Cooper but Liston was the only man to stop him.
I also believe it was the first and only time Bethea was ever dropped. As impressive a first round KO as you will ever see. I'm always a bit dubious as to claims of loss of teeth (if any and/or number claimed) - through boxing history there has been many such claims, some flatly debunked - example, true or not, Willard denied losing teeth vs Dempsey. However, this one is possibly the most believable and likely true claim. Note how very carefully the ref takes out Bethea's gum shield, gives it a very slight shake and looks into it - then appears to be holding it with care, as if some of Bethea's teeth were left inside perhaps. Nasty.
Angelo Dundee was scouting Liston as Ali's trainer/matchmaker. Angelo said that Sonny knocked out a guys teeth with a jab. Some of his teeth landed right in front of Dundee. I doubt he put that detail into his report when it was time to tell Ali was he was up against.
