If Sonny Liston had lived ?

\I doubt he could have made a serious come back, I beleive he was knocked out by martin in his 2nd last fight and the division only got tougher from the 60's.Liston would have a difficult time competing because his flawwould be revealed and many fighters would exploit this. There is a reason why despite only having 4-5 loses he never got anywhere near the title again, he wasn't competitive,he was well into his 40s and likely lost the passion and was past prime.Although he claims to have been born in the 1932, I highly doubt the claim as do his biographers who estimate he was anywhere from born in 1928 to as early as ww1.

 

It depends 'how much he had left'!!! If he had a decent level left he'd be good enough to beat a good few contenders

Against Frazier if he has a fair bit left he may knock Frazier out, Liston has allot of what Foreman had to KO Frazier, but it depends what's left in the tank

 

Sonny wasn't looking to fight anymore.

Only if the 'money' was right. He would have never turned himself into a 'trial horse' for anyone.

Maybe he fights George Chuvalo in March 1971 (either in Pittsburg or Japan). After that,
the only other option would be Joe Frazier for a Championship bout in late-1971.

Sonny and Mac Foster had some words in Las Vegas, and that was the 'only' other
possibility.

Other than that, those were the 'only' 3-bouts he would take.

 

Ali?

 

Bill B,

What promoter would have the 'balls' to put that circus together.

 

You have a point.
Although there might have been enough people who would pay to see it, thinking this time it wouldn't be rigged, since they wouldn't be fighting for the title.

 

Bill B,

Let's just say that the Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston III bout gets promoted.

What would everybody say if Sonny goes the distance, or even wins.

Everybody in the world would have then been convinced 'like us', that the
first 'two bouts' were 'fixed'.

And that Cassius Clay in 1964/1965 was a complete fraud.

 

After the stench of Lewiston, I don't think Liston was ever going to get a chance at the title again.

He was personna non grata and had to go to Sweden to get fights. He never had a shot at getting into the '67 WBA tournament and was more or less a side show.

Even if he had managed somehow to get a fight with Frazier in 1970, Frazier would have destroyed him. Sure, there might have been some early danger for Joe, but not nearly as much as 5-7 years earlier.

There wasn't much left to Liston past 1968, imo.