Tyson had a strong chin but a glass mind. Your a little off on that. If you don't punch you don't leave any openings.
A peak Sonny Liston, 1958-1962, was a very hard puncher and a good boxer. He even fought with a fractured jaw in 1954 against Marty Marshall. While I agree that both opponents were very dangerous in their respective era's, their backgrounds have to be looked at. Liston came from the streets of St. Louis, and had been incarcerated during his youth. He was a debt collector for the likes of Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo, those were the role models that he followed. He even put a policeman upside down in a dumpster that was located in an alley in 1957, because the officer called him a derogatory name. Mike Tyson though had a very difficult youth as well, was adopted by the great Cus D Amato, who took him under his wing. In this bout, Mike would not attempt to intimidate Sonny, who usually did the intimidating with his cold stoic stare. Mike would approach Liston with caution, bobbing and weaving in his peek a boo style. Liston would utilize his 84 inch reach, the pole like left jab to keep Tyson at bay. There would be some fierce exchanges during this match, both hurting the other but I believe that Sonny who has gone the distance before catches an exhausted Mike Tyson in round 10 with his 14 inch fist left hook, sending Mike to the canvas, he will rise but will be defenseless, forcing a stoppage ny the referee. This fight would not be one sided by any means, as both are capable of stopping the other during the bout.
I love the prime of both these fighters. Let's face it, both guys had extremely flawed careers for different reasons post prime. We all know that Sonny was controlled by the mob and that the 2nd Ali fight was not legit. I do think he underestimated Ali in the first fight and was soundly beaten just as Tyson underestimated Buster Douglas. If we are talking the best versions of both of these guys before Mob, drugs, Alcohol, prison, age, etc. It's a pretty tough fight to call that truly comes down to one thing. Can Tyson and his superior speed get past Liston and his 84 inch jab? I personally thinks Tyson has his moments early but let's not forgot how strong and tough prime Liston was. I think he gets through those moments all the while landing that brutal stiff jab and as the fight goes on, Tyson start to wear down. I see Sonny stopping him late but I don't begrudge anyone that thinks Tyson wins this. He was that explosive in his prime and had a significant speed advantage. I just like Liston's steadiness and jab a little more.
This is a great write up on the subject. Pay attention to the part about how they got their title shots. Liston literally had to fight every top contender and was probably three years past his best when he got his opportunity against Floyd. https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/boxing-art...er Liston fought to Tyson was Floyd Patterson.
This is so true, President Kennedy told Floyd Patterson in 1962, that he better beat Sonny Liston because if Liston won, which he did, he would be a poor example for the youth of America. So even the President Of The United States was against Sonny.
One of the saddest scenes in that documentary on him is whenhe wins the title and he is expecting people to greet him at the airport with a celebration, only to see no one there. He knew he would never be accepted by anyone except the mob. Have you ever read this? I find this fascinating since Foreman fought both the tale end of Liston's era and in Tyson's. It's pretty clear how he feels about Sonny. From George--Sparring with Liston is the most dangerous thing that I ever did in my entire life. As I said earlier, no matter what I tried against him, it was me who had to revert back to boxing. Nobody made me box like Sonny Liston did and that happened every time we worked together. He taught me many things, including the importance of the jab. I just couldn’t get mine straight and every day he had me working on it. There were times when he could have knocked my head off but he didn’t because we were pretty good friends. I saw the way he stared at people and I took on some of that behavior to intimidate opponents. That was where some of that “Bad George” came from, hanging around with Sonny.
Their was a fantasy heavyweight tournament a couple years back, which had multiple expert analysis on each matchup. Liston VS Tyson was one of them. (I believe one of the analysis was the one you quoted above). Will try to find it.
Stylistically I think Sonny is wrong for Tyson. I fancy prime Tyson to get under and inside the jab of prime Holmes, Wlad or Lewis. But Sonny is a similar height and that jab is coming straight across. I think Sonny's powerful long jab will demoralize Tyson after a couple of rounds of getting pounded at long range. Tyson still has a chance of a KO though.
