If Sonny Liston didn't die after his fight with Chuck Wepner

Sonny died after beating Chuck Wepner...and from what I was able to tell, I think Sonny was on the decline..slowly....I think he quite possibly could have been beaten by Lyle and Quarry. The Leotis Martin knockout could have quite as possibly been replicated by either one of those two..esp. by Lyle, who was a monster puncher. Quarry was quicker and quite cruel a counterpuncher who would have given Liston all he could handle, IMO. As for Bugner, I think Liston might have won a decision...Bugner was more safety-first oriented than Wepner and had as good a set of whiskers and may have hit the deck against Sonny, but would more than likely have been able to survive to a narrow decision loss. i think Sonny was too past it to have beaten either Frazier or Foreman...even a green Foreman.

 

i have to agree. i think he'd fit right into the heavyweight mix of the 70s. slower, older but still had his power and fundamentals. end of the day, he'd always be able to take the "b-class" of that era

 

I think he would have become the gatekeeper, then a trial horse.

Sure, he gave Martin problems but Martin clobbered him in the 9th. Martin never fought again due to a detached retina suffered in the fight.

By the time Liston fought Martin he had slowed a good bit and his stamina was not great.

Frazier and Foreman would have stopped him at that point.

Even a prime Liston would probably be stopped by Foreman... maybe by Frazier as well.

 

Liston was well past his prime in the late 1960s, but still very dangerous with his size, strength and punching power. Frazier's management steered him clear of Sonny. It's a shame Liston did not get to participate in that WBA tournament. I think he had a decent shot at winning it(especially around 67-68 where he was a couple years younger). Remember, Liston was pretty much dominating Martin before that knockout blow landed. He effectively ruined Leotis Martin. I think Liston might have ripped Quarry's faces to shreds for a cuts stoppage. Liston def would have picked up a loss or two at that stage, but he was still capable of beating young contenders in the division.

 

quarry is leagues above chuck wepner but i see a similar result

 

Well I think the Liston of 67 beats Quarry. But Liston of 1970 was so old and slow by then..i think quarry could have won that one.

 

This is how I see it. Liston would be a past his prime, but dangerous opponent in 1970 and 1971.

 

He always wanted to fight Quarry. It would have been interesting to see. Liston was still good enough to possibly cut up and stop Quarry, but Quarry would test him in the late rounds if the fight lasted that long. Liston ran out of gas against Martin and got caught, the same could have happened again.

 

Disagree..

Liston essentially was Foreman, expect better schooled in every skill department, and had much better stamina. liston would scientifically pick foreman apart and slowly hammer away at george and stop him under 5 rounds. I don't think a Prime Foreman beats Liston. No way. I am very confident in this pick.

I think Frazier's predictable aggresive come forward style is made for Liston. Sonny would absolutely hammer frazier with that uppercut, and would manhandle him physically. the fight would not go past 5 rounds. Frazier would be outgunned.

 

Really? Who is the best guy he KO'd besides Shavers, who Quarry took out in the first?

Boone Kirkman?

As far as Sonny goes, he was pretty used up but still a dangerous high risk/low reward match-up for any of the youngsters.

 

Liston would've fought until he was 50 on the club-circuit had he not kicked-off in late '70...... Liston needed the money... His days / nights as a solid contender were over, but he would've fought on.......

MR.BILL

 

Lyle destroyed Larry Middleton in a real display of power...the aforementioned ko of Shavers was puncuated by one of the most spectacular coup de grace right hand bombs I've ever seen a man throw..and lest we forget the blasting of big George Foreman...no one before of afterwards was able to deck Foreman with that kind of raw power...the ko by Ali was as much through exhaustion as was the kd by Jimmy Young....of course Lyle was a monster puncher..with his relatively modest skills in other areas, power was basically all he had.

 

THE Larry Middleton? This just goes to prove my point that his power was not particularly devastating at the world class level.

Foreman was fragile and a bit exposed and still won in short order. KO'ing Shavers was near a right of passage for b-level heavies in the 70's. Lyle possessed decent power and that was about it. He was tough, determined and fairly durable which made up for his shortcomings.