Sonny Liston vs Mike Tyson

Rock Paper Scissors. Sonny should win.

 

Da Truff! Which you can't handle!

 

Agreed. In that case Williams would pulverize Liston had they ever met.

Oh wait.

 

Williams? Which William's and what's he got to do with this Liston-Tyson thread?

 

Yeah you’re just trolling at this point.

 

Liston was only 'scared' of Ali because he presented as a 'crazy man', and that was the one thing that would unnerve a dude like Liston. Liston's attributes would be all wrong for Tyson and Mike's trump card, the intimidation factor would be negated. I'd go as far as suggest Liston's 'rep' would intimidate Tyson. A lacklustre Tyson gets stopped sometime after the 7th round for me.

Now, what about peak for peak, both fighters 'parachuted' in, no prior knowledge of each other...different fight, Tyson would look better early but Liston's boxing ability and thudding power woukd deter him, same result but a better fight!!

 

Tyson literally looked up to Liston. When he spoke of being a conqueror, he said- "I'm Sonny Liston, I'm Jack Dempsey, I'm from their cloth". Mike would be scared shitless if he had to fight Sonny, and he probably would've told you that himself.

 

Remember the Holyfield Tyson staredown where Mike actually looked scared? Liston would scare Tyson even more.

 

I've gone back and forth on this one...

For a short answer, I believe it would simply come down to who’s the physically stronger man.

A common rough comparison is the Floyd and Sonny fights. Floyd had a similar style to Mike for obvious reasons, and did reasonably well avoiding Sonny's straight jab for most of those fights. Sonny was great at fighting close range and had sharp hooks/uppercuts however, so Floyd just had no chance when Sonny quickly switched gears.

Unlike Floyd, Mike has both the weight, chin, and perhaps even speed to take this fight a bit further. If Mike has the strength to push off Sonny, maintain the mid range, and tee off like his style favours -- I can eventually see him taking it in the early-mid rounds. I think Sonny's jab alone is just too slow to be accurate enough to keep Mike off of him and play it safe from the distance (at least early on).

If Sonny proves to be stronger he's tying up Mike and battering him close range like Floyd.

If I had to choose, I want to say Sonny has a few more tools to take this more often than not – and this would become particularly pronounced the longer the fight goes on. If they somehow make it past the mid rounds, that trusty jab of Sonny’s could seal the deal as Mike’s stamina and speed wilters.

 

Pretty good analysis.Although if it did come down to physical strength I would definitely pick Liston.
Sonny is generally reckoned to be George Foreman's closest rival for raw,natural physical strength.
Tyson,despite his tank-like physique, seemed to be frequently bullied in the clinches.
Still,prime vs prime this would be a fantastic fight.

 

Peak Tyson was a tremendous fighter--but Liston was bigger, tougher, stronger, and a better boxer. Combine all of that with a 13" reach advantage and a left jab that could bust concrete walls and Tyson would eventually crumble. KO or stoppage for Liston in 8-9 rounds.

 

Tyson was faster, better trained, had a stronger chin, but Sonny had the reach, was physically stronger, punched harder and perhaps had more endurance over the long distance. The style favors Sonny, but I think Tyson would hit him hard enough to break him.
Tyson wins before Douglas,
Tyson loses after Douglas - Psyche

 

Mike would wet the bed gazing across the ring at Charles Sonny Liston. This is one of the horrid style matchups for Tyson, Foreman being the other.
Liston by 8th round KO

 

I'm on the opinion that Tyson would be intimidated by Liston, not sure if he lose though.

 

I think all the guys you mentioned have a better chance than Tyson.