If Liston had lived, when does he retire?

I don't know how that woudl have played out, but the day when he lost to the Chuvalo's of the world was not far off.

The day when he lost to the Wepner's of the world was not far off.

 

That probably had more to do with Ali's schedule, than Wepner being a badass.

Every metric of your record falls off when you fight the top ten.

 

Had more to do with Wepner stepping on Ali’s foot.

 

Would of probably carry on into the mid 70 . His name and image would of meant a Euro and British tour would of been a good earner. Imagine a fight with Richard Dunn or some other Euro level opposition. Liston would still be dangerous in that pond.

 

Martin had retired and Liston had beaten Wepner.

The Martin loss wasn't bad at all and Martin was gone making the new NABF vacant. Whats preventing Liston from getting matched up with Foreman for the NABF instead of Peralta? Your all acting like the Martin fight was this humilating loss and not a fight Liston would have won if it had went the distance.

Getting a shot at Frazier was obviously more likely than Ali. I'm just bringing up the 2 champs at the time.

 

In retrospective the Liston who fought Ali in real life was already on his way out. His mind and body was not in the game anymore. His time was over.

Assuming he keeps fighting I think he barely makes him to 1973 - 1975 at best, getting some second rate bouts but never again being considered a serious contender.

No way he is still active after 1975, that would be truly tragic.

 

I agree, but that would have still been a second rate pond.
After Ali, Liston was already out of the big game.

 

By the end of 1970 he probably couldn't earn the $13,000 he was paid to fight Wepner unless he took on a contender, such as Ellis or Quarry or maybe even someone like Gregorio Peralta who gave George Foreman trouble. Maybe he'd have to fight Foreman, himself.

I don't think any of them would be scared of Sonny. Not anymore.

Possibly he could get bodyguard work in Vegas -- he did have friends there including Sammy Davis Jr. But staying out at night and partying costs a lot of money, and Sonny was nearly broke. He was dabbling in crime. He wasn't heading anywhere good.

 

it would be sad to see a fighter who peaked in the late 1950s to fight in the 1970s while being way past his prime and old as a mummy.

 

If Sonny Liston was still fighting into 1980 this sport we love is a bigger cesspool than I imagined.

I figure people would have gotten tired of paying money to see him, and commissions would have gotten tired of licensing him, by 1973, 1975 at the latest.

Honestly, I think post-Wepner it would have been very ugly for him against really good contenders, Ali, Frazier and Foreman would have annihilated him, just beat him down.

The fight I would have liked to seen was him and Patterson one more time, because Floyd was a hell of a lot better fighter in his late 30s, a much better fighter than he was as champion at age 27, than Liston was in his dotage. If Floyd could’ve gotten past not just the physical but the mental block of the first round, I really think he had a chance for redemption.

 

He'd still be fighting