Mike Tyson vs Sonny Liston

@AwardedSteak863

Jim Carney- Author and Boxing Expert: Tyson vs. Liston
Steel and concrete here. Perhaps the two heavyweight champions you'd least like to meet in a dark alley (although Dempsey, Foreman, Jeffries and John L. would also be especially fearsome in that venue). In addition, both Sonny and Iron Mike may have the same major flaws.

Both are extremely strong and able to convert their strength into punching power. Tyson also has quicker than average hands, which added to his power and defensive ability. He is generally considered above Sonny in this area, Liston's hand speed being rated average by some, above average by others. Tyson also had the edge in foot speed, though this might mean less than in other match-ups as both would basically be coming forward. A huge advantage for Liston would be his 13-inch edge in reach, whose value is enhanced by what many consider the most powerful left jab of all time. Liston would appear to have the edge in durability, though Tyson rates well here too. Many may feel that the fact that Mike hit the floor more times than Sonny relates to a weaker heart rather than a weaker chin.

Both men are suspect in the matter of heart and there are specific parallels between them in this area. Each man folded when they met a man around their own talent level at their peak; Liston with Ali and Tyson with Holyfield. They also both were total embarrassments in their rematches with their exposers; Liston futilely chasing Ali then flopping down in round one and Tyson being outmuscled and outfought and then biting Holyfield twice before being disqualified in round three.

In other areas of this match-up, the pair is close in weight, Liston's height advantage is not significant to Tyson (virtually all of his major opponents were at least a little taller than Sonny). Though Liston and Tyson have fought men with the same main assets (strength and punch) that they face in each other, I don't know that Mike ever fought an oncoming fighter who combined brawn and skill with a mercilessly glacial approach like Liston. Likewise, Sonny never met a man with Mike's hard-hitting, ferocious (and in the beginning) bobbing and weaving attack.

Tyson was probably the better schooled under Cus D'Amato and Kevin Rooney, but Liston's trainer Willie Reddish was solid and Sonny had the benefit of training with and serving as a sparring partner for master boxer and former great heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles. Both men rate well in the skill department. However, after the deaths of D'Amato and Jimmy Jacobs and the firing of Rooney, Tyson grew notably sloppier in his ring techniques. Testimony to Liston's skill is given by Muhammad Ali who notes that Sonny was smart in the ring. Overall, there wasn't much difference in the quality of foes each man met and beat.

In this dream matchup, the pair begins by competing with each other to intimidate. Tyson talks of dire consequences for Sonny and gets the famous Liston stare in return. The battle is a nip and tuck smashing war from the beginning. Tyson goes low to the body and switches to uppercuts while Sonny stabs with his awesome jab, sometimes adding left hooks and occasional right crosses to the mix. The battle swings back and forth. Despite the fact that Mike's short arms and more or less equal strength should give him an advantage in the infighting. Sonny dominates here. For some reason, all Mike usually does in close is hold on, sometimes even grabbing the other party and holding even when he is winning an exchange.

During his career, Tyson folded in a number of different circumstances, including incidences when he was being overpowered. Liston, on the other hand, usually only had trouble (and only gave in against Ali) when he was fighting men with styles confusing to him. In brawn to brawn confrontations he was always a man's man. He flattened powerful Cleveland Williams after Williams had broken his nose at the start of one of their bouts. Zora Folley hit him 30 straight shots against the ropes, and then Sonny steamrolled him. Sonny also went through one of his three fights with Marty Marshall with a broken jaw. I don't think Mike would fare that well in these situations. That's the difference between the two and that's why I pick Liston by a late round KO.

By Moontan(Judge) Heavyweightaction.com -Expert

Very difficult matchup between two of the strongest heavyweight champions in history. Both dominated their division for a brief period as thoroughly as anybody has seen. Tyson from 1986 to 1990 and Liston from 1959 to 1964. Both loss their title in two of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history. Ali was a 7 to 1 underdog to Liston while Buster Douglas had even greater odds against Tyson.

Both were tremendous fighters that intimidated their opponents and relied on it to big advantages in many of their fights. Neither fighter held much because they were constantly coming forward throwing punches. Their opponents were always holding and grabbing trying to stay upright.

The Tyson that I am comparing in this fight was the person who dominated boxing from 1986 to 1990 before he had all types of struggles with the law and did not work or train as hard. The Liston that I am ranking was the top fighter in the world from 1959 to 1963. Tyson was never as dominating in the 1990s as he was earlier and Liston of course declined rapidly after his fights with Patterson. Both made a good living on their reputations during the later part of their careers.
I watched more fight footage comparing these two fighters than any of the previous matches we have picked. Watching Tyson in his match against Razor Ruddock and Liston in his fight against Cleveland Williams. Ruddock had very similar size to Liston and Cleveland Williams was the most powerful fighter that Liston faced during his career. Most fighters who survived Liston boxed and moved and tied him up inside(Eddie Machen). Williams did not, he was the aggressor while the fight lasted and Liston took everything he threw at him and knocked him out in third round. Tyson took numerous shots from Ruddock in both their fights and Razor lasted the full 12 rounds in their second fight. Tony Tucker also gave Tyson a lot of trouble with his reach but he held and grabbed which Liston would not be doing. I see Liston's jab and reach being a big factor in the contest as well as his outstanding boxing ability and his offensive skills. The only fighter Tyson ever faced with the offensive skills and power of Liston was Lennox Lewis and Tyson did not fair well against the Brit. Liston was much stronger than Lewis. I don't see the fight lasting long because both fighters were so aggressive. Give me Liston in a 6th round knockout.

The Sweet Science: by Frank Lotierzo Jan.,2005
Who Would've Won

A Liston-Tyson confrontation comes down to two things: who would've backed up, and who would've been the least intimidated by the other. I know this may not be popular, but I just can't envision Liston being intimidated by Tyson. Liston had no fear of Clay/Ali, and on top of that he kept going after a hard puncher like Cleveland Williams, who was in his prime at the time, even after having been nailed by bombs. Liston also chased down Marty Marshall despite having a broken jaw for the majority of the fight. This is in contrast to Tyson, who would go into long defensive shells and stop throwing punches when faced with an opponent who attacked him with big shots. I believe in a battle of wills, Sonny convinces Mike that he's not going to win easier than Mike convinces Sonny that it's not his night.

The fact that I think Liston wins the psychological warfare translates into the physical fight and how it plays out. I think Tyson may try to jump on Liston like he did Holyfield and Lewis at the onset. The first round or two would be incredible. Tyson would probably come on very quickly, almost recklessly, and his movement and fast hands might provide him with a measure of success. But then he'd face his first problem, Liston wouldn't fall. And, of course, Liston always fired back.

All it would take would be a few of those telephone pole jabs to take all the starch out of Tyson mentally. I also doubt he'd have the nerve to pull any ear-biting, arm-breaking **** with Liston. Once Tyson gets second thoughts about coming in with impunity and starts to think his way through the fight, he's in trouble. The moment Liston senses that Tyson has some reservations, he'd pick up the pace and apply even more mental and physical pressure.

The way I see it, Liston stops Tyson. He had the jab reach and power, along with the style, to neutralize Tyson and his greater hand speed. On top of that, Sonny takes away Tyson's biggest weapon, the intimidation factor. Tyson is the one who harbors self-doubt, and it is Tyson who would be unsure of himself during the stare down as he faced Liston in the center of the ring before the bell for round one.

Cox's Corner
If anyone could intimidate Mike Tyson it would be Sonny Liston. Liston's awesome 84-inch reach, destructive jab, and deadly hooks and uppercuts would spell trouble for Iron Mike. As Tyson moved in he'd be greeted by Sonny's thunderous long jab. Liston was at least Tyson's equal in terms of sheer power. Sonny was also under-rated as a boxing technician. Liston would hammer Tyson at long range, control the tempo of the fight, and batter Tyson much worse than Douglas ever could. By the eighth, Tyson would have trouble seeing Sonny's punches and a murderous barrage would send him down for the count.

Experts Predicted Outcome: Liston's favor 4-0
Jim Carney Liston KO late
Moontan Liston 6-KO
Frank Lotierzo Liston
Cox’s Corner Liston KO

 

I also think that given Tyson’s chin stood up to the power of James Smith, Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno, razor Ruddock and Pinklon Thomas that he might outlast Liston who never took that many shots from a big puncher. Yeah he fought Cleveland Williams twice but I think big cat was taken out before he was able to do any real damage

 

its based on the quote of floyd match which he was a prototype mike sense mike way better defense and hit way harder and was a counter puncher floyd wasnt

 

Now that i think about it, Tyson KO. Tyson would probably get rocked and/or dropped though

 

Dude didn't you already bump a Liston-Tyson thread (from 2 decades ago mind you) today?

 

Uh he did broke Liston's nose with that left hook.

 

Not a bad bunch of analyses here. Although I must offer some correctives.

Tyson should be cited for his deadly combinations.
Ruddock was somewhat bigger than Liston-in all but reach. But I never understood given Sonny's muscle & not low body fat, why he did not weigh 20 lbs. more.

I think Tyson beat better competition. Especially considering the large disparity in average sizes, let alone records.
That may betray bias-why say their opponents were about equal in quality?

However, Liston had the stylistic advantage.
Both boxed well & pressed when they found openings, Tyson generally more aggressive early.
The question being is this enough to overcome the significant speed differential.
Given Tyson's inability as to utilize his shorter arms effectively by fighting inside, & them both having some kind of a come forward style...

I think it would be enough.

 

Another excuse for ball hugging, my friend. Nothing to see there.

Mike had ONE fighting style, while Liston was able to adjust and actually box very well should the need arise.

To be perfectly blunt, Mike would be half defeated when he saw how completely unintimidated Liston would be at the stare down. Just like Holy II.

I see Sonny getting rocked hard early, but switching strategies by the 3rd round. Mike would be done in 10.

 

Liston,his jab gives Mike fits

 

Yeah I was gonna say I didn’t get that part either. Liston himself conceded he thought he was going to be knocked out and that Williams cut his throat, along with the broken nose you mentioned. You don’t do much more damage than that without getting a KO.

 

My 2 favorite HWs, and both are incredibly underrated.
It can go either way.

 

what advantage being slow puncher

stop saying dumb quotes u read
when mike had trouble with people who had long reaches they used it by fighting around it using the ring son never fought that way which means no advantage

 

1) I reread my post: I did not use any quotes, nor did I cite any information that was from any quote.

2) Even if you were not mistaken, why alienate people by being rude "stop saying dumb quotes u read"?
Be polite & decent, showing how you think some information is incorrect.
Should I call you dumb for being wrong that I stated anything from a quote?
Nah, because that would be disrespectful & mean.

3) Your grammar in the second sentence is so mangled that I am unsure what you meant.
IF you intended to say Tyson (you wrote "they") used lateral movement to get around a long wingspan, fair enough.
But what you mean by "son never fought that way" is incomprehensible.

But Tyson often had difficulty with long reaches-that he usually overcame.
But that does not mean that having a longer reach is not an advantage.
Just like being faster than Liston would be an advantage.

Whatever you reply with, please review & edit it so it makes sense & I can reply to what you *meant* to say.
Thank you.

 

is saying a advantage that wouldnt be there not using a quote cause it is so you lied

and I said mike had trouble with people who fought around the jab son never did like I said and no I wont edit so you can understand cause everything makes sense cant read good huh

and I wont talk how you want me to just like I told the other brainwashed person your free to talk how you want like I am I dont have to change how I talk to please you

all u liars say how mike had trouble with Jabs like it was all it only was with people who fought around it like I said he never had trouble with a basic come forward like son he countered those types easy

why is it always said in general instead of the way I said which makes a difference

 

I've been back-and-forth regarding the outcome of this fantasy fight for years, but right now I think Tyson wins via a late-round TKO. Liston would tag him with some very good shots, but ultimately I think Mike weathers the storm and stops Sonny.