If there had being no Muhammad Ali? So we know Sonny went to pieces against Ali and never looked as good again. But take Ali out of the picture and how long could Liston have ruled the division? Let's say Liston took his title seriously after Patterson 2, who is there to threaten him?
Ernie Terell, Jimmy Ellis, of course Leotis Martin, Joe Frazier, George Chuvalo, Oscar Bonavena against an ageing off guard Liston may have got him. And if Liston gave them any trouble in losing they’d sure make him wait until he got even older before the usual mandatory rematch. By this stage he was fighting once a year so it may of reached 66-67 before any of the aforementioned even got a shot. By this time he’d really be fighting rusty and literally uninspired due to the years of **** he’d be taking from the press. He’d probably not even want to be champ anymore with the crap that came with it.
It really does depend on what's going on with Liston in his life I suppose. Once he gets Floyd kod again then every fighters gonna be a massive under dog, and we know what can happen if a champ gets too over confident. But for at least a couple of years, providing Liston keeps fit and ready, I don't see anyone beating him. By 66 - onward, Liston's age is gonna start telling on him.
I rather doubt that Liston had the mind set to be dominant to be honest. He was not taking his training seriously, and even with no Ali, sooner or later he was going to meet his Buster Douglas.
Pretty much agree with the posts so far, which all make sense and are well thought out. It’s such a pleasure to read after having seen threads on Quora, at least one of which had Liston still being champion until George Foreman ascended in the early ‘70s. I felt decidedly out of place pointing out that he’d died by that point, and had lost to Leotis Martin, regardless of the Ali fights.
At the time it was thought that he'd dominate for a good while yet. I think I'll go with what was said by those there are the time. On the other hand most of them were very wrong concerning his fight with Ali...
Tricky question. The thing is would he have taken a different approach after the rematch with Patterson though? If he had not run into Ali at that point would he have a close call against someone else and been shocked into training properly? With age, the injuries beginning, relative inactivity prior to being defeated and the dominating nature of his wins against Patterson I think whomever he fought at that point we would not have seen Liston at his best. As was pointed out his drinking and drug use are factors to consider too. I guess it might depend upon what happened in 64, if had fought someone else and the nature of that fight. It could either motivate him to train or would he have a blow out victory against someone else and carry on as he was. I think a well trained and focused Liston who had a chance to recuperate fully could have had a period of a short few years of winning at the top level but obviously with gradually diminishing dominance. It all depends upon the Liston who gets in the ring. He apparently took the Ali rematch seriously, dedicated himself to training and by all accounts got back into great shape for the Ali rematch, then of course the hernia that delayed things. For me - that's one of those what if's.
