could any heavyweight today beat this verison of Sonny Liston

No. There has been no good hw shorter then 6‘2 since the 90s.

 

Fury would humiliate midget liston

Liston would have to put a department stores worth of towels under his robe to make himself look bigger in the stared own with Fury hahs

 

Fury does, Usyk has the style to but is way too unproven to pick yet.

 

Usyk.

 

I think he'd do pretty well, but it's not a given he'd just plough through guys the way he did back in the 60s. Usyk is a nightmare for him, as is Fury. Joshua could knock him out, but I see that fight being quite competitive if Liston isn't overawed by Joshua's physicality.

Liston often gets a bad rap as a crude slugger but this fight alone shows he had a lot of quite subtle skills that many HWs today don't have or don't do as well. His head movement was excellent, just subtle enough to avoid Cleveland's shots without putting him off balance or unable to fire back, and his sense of distance was very good too. He knew exactly when he was in range and when he wasn't. Compare that to Wilder who reacts to everything and is constantly wasting energy leaping or swaying backwards and often puts himself way out of position to throw any sort of effective counter shots, or Whyte with his wild swings that constantly throw him off balance.

The only question mark for me is how well he copes with the juiced up power of these guys.

 

Usyk’s mobility would give him problems and especially Usyk being a southpaw. Chisora despite being past prime could catch Liston slipping as could Ruiz, since Liston would be coming at them.

I think he does very well against Joshua, Wilder, and Fury, since they’re such big targets.

 

I agree I dont think he'd plow through guys like he did then but he'd be a player in the division. Most of what you said is pretty spot on.

 

I would pick Fury, but it should be noted that Liston had an 85 inch reach, so the size difference is not as bad as all that, despite the height disparity.

Also, Sonny could HIT, as attested to by George Foreman himself.

I think it would be one hell of a fight, actually. Certainly better than Wilder II.

 

Stand an put your fist straight out so that it just makes contact with a wall.

Now without moving your feet raise your fist 8 inches

 

No they couldn't beat Sonny

 

Two 6'5" Sonny Liston KO victims= Chuck Wepner and Gerhard Zech

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Oddly enough, even though he's only 6'1 Sonny Liston had freakishly long arms. With an 84" reach, he'd only be giving up one inch to Tyson Fury and he'd have reach advantages over Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua.

 

Those cruisers from the 60's are far less skilled than the cruisers of today.

Usyk, Gassiev, Dorticos, Breidis, etc...

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Ali, Williams, Liston

 

Exactly this, look at the ring dynamics. You can see Liston fighting at a range, reaching with the jab. He won’t be able to do that with Fury or Joshua who is a bigger version of him.