How old was Sonny Liston REALLY when he fought Clay in Feb.1964 ?

That's because Liston had something called pride which has been sorely lacking in Heavyweights from Tony Tubbs to Buster Douglas to Chris Arreola . He still got in fighting shape for his fights but post Ali his reflexes were going and he was getting tagged more and more. His lifestyle also wasn't conducive for longevity, at all.

In the Clark fight (impressive and highly under rated win, Clark was in the Ring Mag top ten at the time) he got nailed with some full power shots shortly before the stoppage that I have no doubt wouldn't of come close to landing a few years prior. Liston shook them off completely obviously, but this is mainly due to the fact that Clark had something like 2 knockouts in 15 wins. If Clark had some more power we may have seen him finish off Sonny like the more heavy handed Martin did later.

 

I agree that while Liston was never the same after the bouts with Clay / Ali in 1964 & '65, I still say he was in good shape and health up near his death in late 1970..... Liston didn't fall apart like Joe Louis did........

When Louis cameback in '50 to fight Buzzard Charles on TV, the 36 year old Louis looked closer to age 50....... Louis was soft at 218 pounds with little speed and no reflexes..... Sad......

MR.BILL

 

ok the census...was there a birth certificate provided or was the birthdate the vague memory of illiterate sharecroppers?

 

He [Curtis] was registered as born in 1929. Anything beyond that, has not been released yet.


In addition to that, most objective sources (encyclopedias) list his birth year as 1932, and quite frankly, that sounds like a logical year given when his career started (early 20's) and ended (nearing 40's).

 

34 may be about right ...

 

apparently Charles Liston is not listed on the 1930 census for the Liston household. some have concluded that this means he wasnt yet born.

the 1940 United States census information will be available at the U.S. national archives in April 2012.
it will be interesting to see if a Charles liston appears.

of course that wont settle the matter either.
Sonny Liston may not have even been Charles liston at birth.
the story goes that he was heard calling one of his brothers Charles.

 

Im think he is born 1929 )

 

Most sources say that Liston actually was 32 when he fought Muhammad the first time. Not Sonny's fault that he had an old looking face.

 

I heard that Ol' Sonny picked up his weekly pension, before gloving up to face Clay in '64...

 

court documents show he was true father to Prez Obama. His age cant he really be verified theres no birth certificateatsch

 

He was born in 1928, his mother said that many times.

 

Who can truly say ? But he was alleged to be a sparring partner for Jem Mace...

 

much like archie moore, i think liston was about 8 years old when he was born

 

The May 1932 date was bandied about so much. I don't buy that date...Sonny was the oldest 32 year old I'd ever seen when he fought Ali. He looked like he was closer to 40..maybe the 1928 date is closest to the truth.