Jack Johnson -vs- Sonny Liston

There won't be any eclipse of the Sonny.

Liston on points over 15.

 

Hard one to call.... i'd have it either for Liston by TKO or Johnson on points. It would be interesting to see how Johnson deals with Liston's jab. On one hand, most of Johnson's opponents were faster (& smaller), but on the other hand, i don't see his opponents make extensive use of the jab or any outside work.

 

Many of Liston's opponents were faster and smaller too . CP.

 

Good point.

 

Liston by KO

 

Johnson wideish UD, Liston had problems with movers, defensive masters, counter punchers and speed. He had a few problems with Machen too. Johnson would beat Liston to the punch, set traps and counter, outland and outlast Liston

 

Huh? Machen was a defensive guy, a counter puncher, and IMO had a better chin than Jack Johnson. We all saw how Liston easily dominated the action vs Machen.

If the Machen fight was any benchmark, it is Liston all the way.

Sonny could in fight or out fight, and with Johnson’s low guard, sometimes stationary stance, and iffy chin vs power punchers, this one‘s going Sonny’s way unless the fix is in, or an injury strikes.

 

You allways say Johnson had an iffy chin,lets look at this. Johnson was stopped by Klondike in 1899 he had had 2 fights.He was stopped by Choynsky in 1901 in his 9th fight ,Choynsky an acknowledged terrific puncher had had 64 fights.Before you say Johnson had more fights than that I asked you in an earlier post to produce the names you thought were missing from Johnson's resume ,you did not reply.Johnson was next stopped in1915, in tropical heat, at the age of 37 after 26 rds of a fight he was winning on points.3 stoppages in 18 years ,2 when you are a novice ,and the other when you are clearly past it ,does not make you chinny.Dislike the man by all means ,there was much to dislike about him ,but try and be objective M.

 

McVey makes a solid point... The Klondike loss was when he was very young, ill prepared and he actually got hit in the stomach and quit. The Choynski fight was a case of a young fighter getting caught. Joe was a terrific hitter and supposedly clocked him. He did not get stopped again for 13 years losing to Willard ... he did get a flash knockdown to Ketchel. However Johnson was a defensive master with exceptional reflexes like a Whitaker or a Jones Jr. It's tough to say how tough his jaw was since we rarely saw him hit although Moran managed a few times in the film of their bout ...I think Johnson had a solid but not great chin ... Not a glass like Wlad but maybe like Lennox ...

 

Mcvey makes a good point about Johnson´s chin, it was solid enough to survive Liston´s overrated power (he wasn´t the murderous puncher some people make him), I pick Johnson by comfortable decision...

 

I personally see Johnson winning a pretty clear decision in the end..Maybe not wide but clear.

I think he would frustrate the hell out of Liston.

 

Johnson is ridiculously over-rated vs. moderns. He gets soundly beaten, kd'd and retires in his corner. No contest.

 

Some of the moderns I would favor over Jack, Liston isn't one of them. He was pretty methodical and straight forward, there wouldn't be any tricks for Jack to worry about, just hard blocking, parrying, and short punch counters. Jack would have had a little more in his arsenal also with the benifet of better training since such a match would happen in the modern era.