Liston's Death

Amazing how those mob strongarm guys got Sonny to sit still for a shot with a needle, especially considering he was deathly afraid of needles.

 

If such a thing happened, do you think Sonny volunteered?

 

You think they could get Sonny to sit down and volunteer with no signs of a struggle? Because there apparently weren’t any signs of a struggle. It’s hard to get a needle in the man of an arm if that man refuses to cooperate, much less if that man is a former heavyweight champion of the world — seems like he’d have had some bruised knuckles, some puncture wounds of misses while he moved his arm, etc. None of which were present.

 

Well, they could’ve used the old Maxwell Smart ruse, pointing to a photo on the wall asking Liston: “Hey Sonny, who’s that in the pic with you?” and then, as Sonny turned, jabbed him with the needle.

I guess you find the hard to believe?

Well, would you believe the theory re the suspicious looking Girl Scouts (each about 6’ tall and apparently unshaven) selling cookies who allegedly knocked on Sonny’s door in and round the time of his death? Hmmm.

 

They could've caught him as he was sleeping, or got him drunk first (which is actually the prevailing theories for those who think he was murdered). I am not sure if he was murdered, I admittedly haven't done much research on it in over ten years (when I first became invested in boxing), but it's certainly not as clear cut as you're making it out to be.

 

I think Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston fair and square in the first fight, and I have no proof that the second fight was fixed. It could have been just a total screw up after the knockdown, which I think was legitimate. I agree with you, if either fight is suspicious, because of the way it went down, it is the second one, but *see below.

The first fight: An older, and not as good (in my view) Muhammad Ali managed to defeat a young, strong George Foreman. But young Muhammad Ali needed an older Sonny Liston to take a dive in order to defeat him? I cannot bring myself to believe that.

*The second fight: After seeing what happened in the first fight between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, somebody thought it would be necessary to spend money to get Liston to take a dive in the second fight? They were afraid Ali could not beat him again? I cannot bring myself to believe that either.

 

To be fair Liston was a 7-5 favorite in the rematch so yes the majority believed Liston would beat Ali and take his title back.

Especially considering Liston trained like a mad man for the rematch before the delay.

 

Didn’t Sonny once get drunk and then beat up some armed cops sent to arrest him? IDK maybe but I’m not betting the house.

 

Fbi suspected it to be fixed though...

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I wouldnt be surprised if it was fixed though. Probably happened more than we knew.