Yes the more recent consensus says Liston is more popular than he was in 1978. Your 2005 panel includes the internet generation and the “Tyson chic” boom for Muscular type fighters that came years and years afterwards. Years after more fans who witnessed both Charles and Liston died off. What more did Sonny Liston achieve after 1978? The legitimate readers poll for big book of boxing magazine was totally independent. Nothing new about Sonny Liston or Ezzard Charles came to light after 1978 did it? Enough dust had settled for people to think clearly and rationally and weigh things up. The beauty of it then was the opinions of more people who were actually around were available then than now or 2005.
But the list you posted earlier had Dempsey at 4 and Tunney at 6. In this day and age you'd get ridiculed for that, well atleast on this forum anyway.
Style's make fight s a lot of the time .Liston is the better fighter ,he should win here, but he could struggle against Klitschko purely because of K s method of fighting. But I believe Sonny finds a way.Tyson v Bowe ,I'd give it slightly to Tyson but no shock if Big Daddy wins. Liston beats Bowe In a brutal war .Sonny v Tyson is short ,action packed but Liston wins when Tyson is hammered late in the fight.
Well since 1978 we have had Larry Holmes, Tyson, Holyfeild, Lewis and Klitschko to include which is why Charles, Dempsey and Tunney and other fighters have moved lower with most peoples lists. This is plausible. It dosnt explain why Sonny should move Higher after 1978! For many years after the death of Sonny Liston it was entirely plausible to rate him lower than Tunney, Dempsey (and has been proven) Ezzard Charles. What I want to know is what extra was it that Sonny did (from the gave) that moved him ahead of Charles? Big Book of Boxing Reader Poll, 1978 1 Joe Louis 2 Muhammad Ali 3 Rocky Marciano 4 Jack Dempsey 5 Jack Johnson 6 Gene Tunney 7 Joe Frazier 8 Jim Jeffries 9 Ezzard Charles 10 Sonny Liston
I think the problem with these lists is that some base on achievements and others base on hypothetical fantasy matches between 2 fighters. Ezzard Charles was Heavyweight champion for just under 2 years and made 8 defences including names such as Louis, Maxim, Walcott and Lesnevich: names which to the men who created the list in the 70s were revered or incredibly respected. By contrast, Liston's heavyweight title legacy is 9 rounds and 2 defeats within those. He only beat one man in Heavyweight title fights, Floyd Patterson, and as revered or respected that opponent was it is just one name. Do I think Liston would beat Charles in a hypothetical match-up? Definitely but maybe a lot of those who ranked Charles above him thought so too. The point is, however, Liston didn't leave a great legacy as heavyweight champion and regardless of what anyone thinks he could have achieved as champion in different circumstances it is always pure conjecture.
Guess you're right. I forgot the last time, someone who was Liston's height and similar weight fought Wladimir Klitschko in Lamon Brewster. Poor Lamon was dominated, horribly outsized, didn't even land a single punch. Oh wait,
Still not Wladimir Klitschko at his peak though. When they met when Wladimir was at his peak the story was very different. The Wladimir who fought Brewster in 2004 would have nightmares against Liston at his peak. He hadn't developed the style that would lead him to phenomenal success as the Heavyweight Champion of the World and was defensively poor and had no confidence. However, this hypothetical competition asks that each man must be at his peak.
I'm picking Tyson. I don't have enough faith that Wlad could slow him down. Bowe had poor defense. I think Liston would be competitive.
He wasn't at his peak? Rubbish he was 28 years old. Also when did Liston ever show a weakness when fighting bigger men? That's when he did his best! As stated By CoxsCorner "Certainly the type of fighter that gives Sonny the most trouble is the quick and clever boxer who can move and stay away as much as possible. This would not be the case with today’s lumbering giants. Today’s big men would be targets for Liston’s shotgun jab coming behind a reach among the best in heavyweight history. Smashing them with his jab the ever aggressive Liston moves inside and pounds the bodies of the big men with powerful lefts and rights and then switches to the head with jolting uppercuts and crushing hooks. Liston would be the invincible destroyer, annihilating his way through the heavyweight division if he were fighting today."
What's his age got to do with his peak? Was Hopkins at his peak when he was 28? Was Fernando Vargas at his peak when he was 28? 'Peak' is when a fighter is at the best stage of his career. Wladimir Klitshcko didn't hit his peak until a couple of years after the Brewster defeat.
