Which of these men would you favor against Sonny Liston, prime for prime, with every man giving his best possible performance that night? Pick as many (or as few) as apply. Not trying to stir debate. I just want to get everyone's votes on the record. Reminder: He's also been matched up against Dempsey, Marciano, and Foreman in the earlier threads. Here are the links to those polls and the others: Dempsey: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/poll-which-fighters-would-you-favor-over-jack-dempsey.631678/ Marciano: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/poll-marciano-beats-which-of-these-champions.627727/page-2 Foreman: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/poll-who-would-you-favor-against-foreman.629256/ Louis: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...-would-you-favor-over-joe-louis.628396/page-3 Frazier: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/poll-who-would-you-favor-against-frazier.634027/
Louis and Holyfield is pretty tough. I stay by what I said before: Liston didn´t show (or didn´t have the chance to show) his abilities against more modern HW athletes.
I hesitated to pick any of them to be honest, even at their best they each have a fundamental flaw thay Liston could exploit. This doesnt mean i think liston is a top 5 h2h monster, its just that at his best he had a lot of tools and strengths that could make him no less than 50/50 against several of the men listed here. That being said, I'll explain each vote Holmes: quickness, stamina, ring generalship and guts earn him a close decision after several scary moments. Id be on the edge of my seat for the entire duration of the bout tho. Liston interestingly has longer arms and is the subject of much debate over the best jab. I really dont know who'd win the mid range war over space. The question is which is the "best" version of Holmes and if it's the norton fight his foot speed seals the deal. Lennox Lewis: very hard to say this is more 50/50 due to him being demolished 2x from a big right hand. And the guys who did it aren't half the fighter prime Liston was. On the other hand, liston was thoroughly outboxed by cassius clay 2x and looked bad against a highly defensive Machen. The more careful lennox is the higher his chances are. People might say "oh that wasnt prime lennox who got dropped"--true, but the veteran supposed prime lennox was also a lot heavier, slower, had worse stamina and kept a relatively low work rate. We saw that he was uncomfortable with determined pit bull like fighters who bring the fight to him and insist on having a high work rate (Mercer, holyfield 2). True he won those fights but...on paper. They were very controversial to some people and holtfield was past his prime and mercer doesnt have the power or overall ability of Liston. So the more i think about, the most i can give even a "prime" lennox is a 60/40 advantage. Vitali: this one is a bit more clear cut. Vitali has an iron chin and uses an awkard sway style to avoid shots. High volume and knew how to use his height. He spoils and stinks up the joint or marks up the listons face and stops him late. 70/30. Liston might manages to rip his face or catch him early and get a stoppage from a relentless barrage.
Lewis and Holmes are the two id pick with some certainty . In saying that ,I'd pick those two against most heavyweight s !
