A hungry Liston thirsting for redemption

Until Ellis or Frazier came along? probably nobody. In fact, Liston looked pretty good in his comeback between 1966-1969. He was definately still capable of beating very good fighters. By 1968 though, a peaking Ellis or young Frazier would have likely been too much for an eclipsing Sonny.

 

He would last untill he became sloppy in his training habits again.

 

Clay beats him in a rubber match. Once a frightening fighter like Liston is beaten, he's never the same.... hard training or not. Just ask Foreman or Tyson.

And if not for that, Frazier knocks him the **** out like Martin did. (sorry mcvey).

 

at the time of listons death,he was signed to fight george chuvalo.

 

How do you see that one going, Bigjake?

 

One thing that bugs me about liston,is how many slag of dempsey for not fighting black fighters,yet not a word is said about his shameful acting in the 2nd ali fight,he took a dive no two ways about it,can you imagine what would have been said had that been dempsey or marciano???

 

both were past their primes,chuvalo would of had a good chance i think.george fought jimmy ellis instead,and lost by decision.still it would have been a very interesting matchup,chuvalo had wanted to fight sonny for sometime.my thoughts on the fight if leotis martin could stop liston, chuvalo would to at that stage,he had more gas left in the tank then liston did.besides that he was still 1 of the toughest heavys fighting
give me your thoughts chrispontius.

 

Like you said, i think Chuvalo was still a live contender at that point, perhaps more so than Liston. If Martin could beat Liston, surely Chuvalo has a live chance. Chuvalo still had that iron chin and determination, and of course he could punch. Ellis was a whole different type of opponent, using speed and youth to win. Determination is an important thing in boxing and i think Liston lost it in '70.

 

chuvalo started boxing pro in 1956,entered the top 10 heavylist in 1958.i watched george's career from 1958 to 1978 when he quit.

 

Frankly, I find it astonishing that the paths of those two fighters never crossed, given the time frames that they were both rated.