A Lightheavy That Could Defeat Foreman or Liston??

In their primes that person doesn't exist.

 

Not.
Ezzard Charles would have passed as well as Floyd Patterson; maybe not quite KO 1.
Rehydrated Marciano or Dempsey have no chance.
We can look at Michael Spinks through the prism of Jimmy Young, but then again would he make 213 lbs for a fight; not.
RJJ, Dmitrii Bivol, Artur Beterbiev...no.
No one.
Foreman is not John Ruiz, and Liston is not John Ruiz.

 

You’re right, Sonny is maybe a harder hitter. I’m also sure that adaptability is what made him great, almost fouling out against Machen was genius. Did you see the Ali fights too? Liston pulled off the high IQ move Foreman should have instead of fighting till the bitter end and proving his heart time and time again.

The reason @cross_trainer thinks Foreman is a different beast has nothing to do with the fact he’s several yards and miles ahead of Liston with his competition and how proven he is, stylistically he also wouldn’t also be a terror for smaller boxers at all, crowding them, throwing with abandon, bridging the gaps in boxing ability with dirty moves like shoving, holding and hitting etc.

Foreman’s biggest asset of which I’m reminded of every thread to cut the ring also wouldn’t come in handy against the much slicker fighters- I’m sure Archie Moore would be trembling at the thought of Liston coming at him in slow straight lines jabbing like he’s under water and totally not be thinking about dropping a right hand over said jab Martin style.

 

So you would back Archie Moore to defeat Sonny Liston.The same Archie Moore who lost badly to Floyd Patterson.
The same Floyd Patterson who was twice massacred by Sonny Liston.Hmmm....can you see the problem here ?
Sonny Liston was cautioned once ( or maybe twice according to some sources ) for low blows in the Machen fight.
This does frequently happen in world-class boxing,it's a rough business.
Liston despite his very tough persona was generally regarded as clean fighter.Perhaps Sonny uncharacteristically lost his cool because of Eddie's impersonation of Usain Bolt.
The factors and nuances of the Ali fights have been debated time and time again.Sonny had proved he had plenty of heart in his fights with Marty Marshall and Cleveland Williams.

 

The best Archie Moore at HW would to me, Beat Liston yes. A B C logic doesn’t really work in boxing and it’s been proven time and time again… Yes he almost fouled out because he was unable to catch Machen, I’ve said this. He also proved his heart by sitting on his stool against the best opponent he fought- this is a fact.

 

Nope

 

Liston, highly unlikely.
Foreman, hell yes. Usyk will **** him up.

 

I am well aware that A,B,C logic doesn't always apply.Every boxing fan is familiar with the ''paper,scissors,stone'' saga of Joe Frazier,Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
However there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Archie Moore ,a great light-heavyweight, would defeat Sonny Liston,a great heavyweight.Ok,if you want to dismiss Moore's defeat by Patterson how about his loss to Marciano ?
So you are only too willing too disregard the empirical evidence of Liston's courage,for instance fighting several rounds in only his eighth fight with a broken jaw but condemn him for his
retirement in the Ali fight.You do know about Liston's injury ?
Sonny had been in considerable pain from bursitis in his shoulders for almost a year leading up to
that fight,and needed cortisone injections to deal with the problem.
He re-injured his left shoulder and used heavy icing and ultrasound therapy after every training session.In fact Liston showed plenty of heart in just going through with the fight.
Your nit-picking of Liston's supposed faults in the Machen fight is laughable.To say Liston '' couldn't catch Machen'' is a case in point.Big deal !
For crying out loud Sonny won the fight and won it comfortably.

 

No chance is any light heavyweight in the history of boxing beating a prime George Foreman, it just ain't happening.

However, Liston is a different story. He's known to struggle against quick and elusive boxers, and I think someone like Billy Conn can potentially beat him over a 15 round distance. If Conn can give Joe a lickin' for most of 13 rounds, then I don't think it's unfeasible for him to beat Sonny.

 

If that Lt.heavy is going into the ring on the night of the fight as a Lt.heavy, or no more than 175 lbs? No, and hell no in my opinion.
Maybe a better question is would any Lt.heavy get past 8-9 rds.
The physicality,skills,size and styles of Liston and Foreman , their abilities to turn a boxing ring into a phone booth alone would lead to the destruction of most natural HEAVYWEIGHT greats.
Now imagine what would happen to a Lt.heavy?
Both Foreman and Liston may literally get charged with manslaughter.

 

Excellent summary Sir.

 

I'd give Conn no chance against Liston. 1st Liston cut the ring off better, though Louis had faster hands.
Conn wouldn't be able to hurt Liston the way he hurt Louis. Liston said " If he fights I'll kill him, and if he runs, I'll catch him and kill him".
That's what would happen to Conn, Liston would catch him and kill him......
Much earlier with far worse intentions than Louis did.

 

As Don King once said "Slim and none, and slim just left town."

 

Possibly Spinks, but he would have to fight the fight of his life, be defensive, counter punch, give away some early rounds, but his chances would be slim.

 

Look what Liston did to Patterson .. no way is a light hvy turning the trick , they all get bombed out imo

Spinks would **** his pants faster against Liston than he did against Tyson