I've always thought that Liston's speed was very underrated. People just remember him from the Ali fights. Their are two things most people don't realize. One; Liston was no where near prime and very overweight. Two; Ali would've made anybody look slow. Angelo Dundee even said once, that Liston was just as fast if not faster than Mike Tyson! I also found a quote from a book that said the following: What do you guys think of Liston's speed?
Swag Re your Contentions Concerning Liston People just remember him from the Ali fights. Their are two things most people don't realize. One; Liston was no where near prime and very overweight. I think that perhaps you are not crediting Joe and Josaphine Public with enough knowledge, Of course there was people all over the US and Europe who had no interest in boxing whatsoever, However the verbosity of Young cassius clay had tweeked international interest with news programmes carrying news sections on the fight, With clay going Bear Hunting on Liston's Lawn and Predicting the round in which he would stop 'The Big Ugly Bear' He was proving great news copy and the fight was expanding in interest beyond the normal US world heavyweight title fight sector .. As for Liston only being remembered for the Ali Fights Hmmm... Liston was a massive favourite, because people remembered what he had done to Cleve Williams twice, Folly, Then of course the Patterson destructions, some of this knowledge may of been gained retrospectively in the run up to the clay fight, but thats why he was viewed in awe, And experts feared for this Kid Clay As For Liston was nowhere near his prime and very overweight - With the mystery about Sonnys date of birth there was no big play on this prior to the fight, only when people were looking for a reason for his loss afterwards, Very overweight ? i dont remember rolls of fat hanging off Liston. He almost certainly did not train to a peak, and of course was indeed more capable circa 62 but i suspect his real problem was he was flabby mentally, facing what he thought was a scared kid who would probably cave in when belted a few times, But the Kid that s****ped past Doug Jones and had a close escape with Henry cooper.. Was not the confidant young man who he had to look up to at Ref's pre fight instructions.. I think a lot of people do remember a lot of things about Mr Liston not just Clay/Ali Fights.
Liston's hand speed slowed down noticeably in 1960 when he was 30 years old. After his loss to Ali, he was even slower. In his younger days, Sonny was faster. His best showing off speed that can be seen today was the Bethea fight in 1958. I would not call him fast handed and he wasn;t very good at cutting off the ring either. Liston had never ending reach, thudding power, and good skills. Those who he could hit were in big trouble. You could say he would be in trouble vs bigger boxer movers Ali's size and up unless he caught them early.
