Ray Mercer vs Sonny Liston

Prime Sonny Liston should make mincemeat of Ray Mercer.

 

Liston by decision but Mercer gives him a good fight and surprisingly lands a lot of jabs. Mercer developed his jab kinda late in life but it was good when he finally did. It was a hard and accurate jab and his reach was pretty long for his height (like the man he'd be fighting).

 

He was due for a KO loss!

Liston stopped Folley and Patterson x2. Good fighters but small and not so durable. Machen was pretty much on par with Folley but more durable most of the time... he was able to last the distance with Liston and give him some problems just like Folley would have been able to do had he been more durable. Patterson was down more than any other HW Champ in history (20 times)... yes, many of those were vs. Liston. Cleveland Williams and Chuck Wepner were not very good fighters but they was were the biggest (in size) that Liston beat who were notable fighters. Liston is pretty overrated.

Mercer wasn't great but he had a great chin. Mercer lost a very close decision to Lewis that could have went either way, they really should have fought again. He also gave Holyfield a good fight. He had a good win over Witherspoon. Holmes outboxed the overconfident Mercer but didn't come close to stopping him. Mercer worked on his jab after this fight since that is what Holmes beat him with. Mercer took everything Morrison could dish out and then stopped him in the 5th round. Mercer also beat Ocasio W8, Cooper W10, Damiani KO9, Wimpy Halstead KO2, and Jesse Ferguson W10 (avenging an embarrassing decision loss in their first fight).

Liston was better, but Mercer would give him a good fight.

 

Lol why is this even a thread?

 

Liston beat all the "top fighters" of his era, including the Champion Floyd Patterson. When he was on the back end of the curve, he lost twice to the perfect fighter with the skills to beat him (assuming both fights were on the up & up). The best Mercer would give Liston a very tough fight. Liston by close UD, with Liston acknowledging Mercer post-fight as a very tough opponent.

 

The Merciless one gives him a tough fight, but Liston prevails

 

Liston stomps a mudhole in his @ss.

Please to remember Mercer as the guy asking Jesse Ferguson to take it easy on him.

 

On the other hand, Mercer did take Lennox Lewis life and death and rendered Tommy Morrison unconscious. I was almost convinced he'd beat the Baer brothers. Almost.

 

Ray Mercer is about the same height as Liston, has a shorter reach, and up to
10 lbs (at prime) heavier than Liston.

Can Mercer's "Army toughness" beat Liston's "bully toughness" since the fight will be in the
middle of he ring with no one going anywhere.

Liston probably brings more to the table in firepower.



Sonny Liston vs. Nino Valdes

1959-08-05 : Sonny Liston 211 lbs beat Nino Valdes 211 lbs by KO at 0:47 in round 3 of 10

• Location: Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Referee: Bernie Weismann 10-9
• Judge: Frank Clark 10-9
• Judge: Howard Walsh 9-10

"Sonny Liston, No. 3 ranked heavyweight, loosed a vicious barrage to score a 3rd round knockout of Nino Valdes in the Chicago Stadium Wednesday night. Liston, winning his 18th fight in a row, stunned Valdes with a left hook to the jaw. While Valdes was staggering, trying to gain his equilibrium, Liston pummeled him with a left-right combination, felling him with a sizzling smash. In the 2nd round, there was a lot of infighting and Liston's right eye seemed almost closed. Liston came peering, one-eyed, to start the 3rd round. But once he got in close, he lashed with the left hook which started Valdes to his downfall. The knockout came in 47 seconds of the 3rd round." -Associated Press

• After two completed rounds both referee Bernie Weissman and judge Frank Clark had Liston ahead 10-9 and judge Howard Walsh had Valdes up by the same margin.

Milwaukee Sentinel, August 6, 1959:

Sonny Liston, his right eye clamped tight after the first round, exploded with a furious punching onslaught to flatten the veteran Cuban Nino Valdes in 47 seconds of the third round of their scheduled 10-rounder here Wednesday night. A tremendous left hook, followed by a whistling right, dumped the trial horse against the ropes shortly after the third opened. Valdes sat there, one arm draped over the ropes until seven, then rolled to his knees where he took the full ten count. He finally staggered to his feet at 12—too late, of course. It was the third ranking heavyweight's 18th straight victory—he's lost only one in 26—and further embellished his already bright reputation among the big guys. Liston, who claimed Valdes had thumbed him in the late moments of the opening round, was still a tamed tiger in the second round, although he was getting to Valdes with his jarring left jab. But it was a different tale once the third got under way. The 25-year-old Philadelphian marched right out and started banging away. He did get hit with a stunning left hook but bounced right back with a two-fisted attack that backed his huge opponent into the ropes. Then came his dynamiting left-right combination that brought Sonny Boy his knockout. It was an impressive finish by an impressive heavyweight. The usual cry from the winner's camp was heard—a challenge to Ingemar Johansson—but he can forget about it for the time being, although other so-called challengers like Eddie Machen and Zora Folley better beware of this latest threat on the heavyweight horizon.

 

Lewis, Holyfeild, Morrison all had there hands full with Mercer & the Mercer chin held up well. Sonny could outjab Ray to take the decision but I dont see Sonny doing something Lennox and the others could not. It wasnt until an older Ray stepped in with Vlad that he got blasted and stopped.

 

I don't know if he stops Mercer, but he beats him imo.

 

Liston has to win a decision in a battle of jabs here. In no way an easy fight for Lison in any kind.

 

Ray had a way of making for a hard nights work for fights like this, but not quite being able to get over the hump.

Liston on points in a competitive affair for me.

 

Liston wins a hard fought decision but the bigger ironed chin Mercer gives him a war.