He beat Patterson twice, that's his main achievement. He also beat Folley, Williams ×2, Manchen, Valdez. All good wins. Is it top 10 worthy? Maybe. I have him losing the 10th spot to Jack Dempsey.
I’d say just outside top ten, the talent was there but his productive peak was kinda short. Paterson is his best name, which is good but I wouldn’t say top ten worthy.
If you were following boxing when Liston was active you have to say he was definitely top 10 of all time. Not only did he KO Patterson twice in the opening stanza, he rolled over the entire HW division like an Army tank. He was arguably the most fearful, awe-inspiring heavy who ever lived. He froze opponents with his stare and had the ability to knock guys out with his jab. I have no doubt that prime Liston probably would have kayo'ed both Marciano and Dempsey and possibly Joe Louis. Even his nemesis Muhammad Ali admitted he was "scared to death" at the spectre of facing Liston.
He tore though the division like a hot knife through butter and knocked out the heavyweight champion in the first round which was unprecedented. In the rematch, he actually improved upon this performance. Patterson wasn't some run of the mill champion either. He was the first person in history to regain his title after losing it, as well as in my book, winning it a third time (disregarding a blatant robbery against Ellis), and stayed in the ratings from '56 until his retirement in '72, and beat more ranked contenders than many champions including Foreman.
He could sneak into top 10. My top 10 in no order..... Lewis Holmes Ali Louis Foreman Tyson Wladimir Marciano These for me are definitely top 10 material. Then you have the likes of.... Liston Frazier Johnson Dempsey Holyfield Who could be anywhere in the top 10 or just outside it depending on your preference.
Liston is located around ATG No.10 place. It's not wrong to put Liston in the TOP 10, it's not wrong to put him outside the TOP 10. It is wrong to put Liston in the ATG TOP 5, and not to put him in the TOP 15.
Head to head he is comfortably in my top ten. I think he stops Marciano and Frazier, and that's why he is in and they are not.