How "Past It '' Was Sonny Liston Defending Against Ali?

Justa couple of wrinkles left then:

35 or 40?
Injury and/or fix?
Booze and/or heroin?

 

Yes.

 

I think we have agreement here.

 

It is optional.
All or any of the options, mix and match.

I'd go for 40, FIX and booze.
light on the injury, no heroin.

 

Physical prime, no.

Mental prime, yes.

Boxing is at least fifty percent mental.


Those back to back wins were what caused his rapid psychological decline and caused him to lose interest, same as Tyson Fury beating Klitschko.

Liston basically thought he’d get everything he ever wanted once he won the title. Respect, money, fame, love from the crowd. After he beat Patterson and came home, he was expecting a large group of press and fans at his plane arrival (like Patterson had when he won) and maybe even a parade. When he landed there wasn’t anyone really.

Try to imagine working your entire career with a goal and believing achieving that goal would make you happy and solve all your problems. When it doesn’t some people turn to cocaine and the buffet (Tyson Fury) some people turn into anti-social animals (Mike Tyson) and some like Liston just fade quickly after losing their drive.

Liston was a machine, not a natural athlete and when he lost the sole reason he had to care, the machine broke.

 

If you are going 40, that means he was born sometime in 1923 or in January 1924. Do you have any facts at all to back that up? Any at all? Any?

Census records show 1930. He claimed 1932.

Where, honestly, do you get 1923 to January 1924?

Seriously. I'd like to know. How did you come up with 40?

That's like having trouble telling the difference between someone born in 2013 and someone born last month.

 

Good point.
33 then.

 

It's clear to me even peak Liston wouldn't have been able to handle Ali's heretofore unseen combination of hand and foot speed.

 

Patterson had faster hands and maybe feet than Ali.

 

He couldn't glide around Liston like Ali did. Watch the fights.

 

Just saying, Liston saw handspeed before Ali. Better handspeed.

 

This is all ridiculous. Liston was clearly 78 when he lost to Ali the first time and 96 when he lost to him in the rematch. He was 124 years old when he died.

 

This is about it. Much of this is carved in stone.

 

He's not saying any different.