Ray Mercer vs Sonny Liston

I'm not sure that Liston would stay in a tough fight for a long time. Mercer would. Also, Mercer weighed 238 pounds in the Lennox Lewis fight, Liston was about 212 for Cleveland Williams. I think these are supposed to be the fights the fighters are being matched from. Mercer fought big, strong fighters regularly, Liston wouldn't be anything different for him, Liston usually had a big size advantage and Mercer would be a bigger, tough fighter who would keep the pressure on, SL had not seen that. I picked Mercer by stoppage because he was a good puncher, he'd be fighting a smaller man, and I'm not convinced that SL had the heart to stay in a fight with a guy like RM.

People will point out that SL fought a tough fight with C.Williams, but it didn't last but 2-3 rounds. RM would probably be there for the duration, he'd keep the pressure on, and he would have a 25 pound weight advantage. I think SL would either get stopped or he would find a way out. (I posted about the same thing yesterday, but when editing it, I accidentally erased it and didn't replace it)

 

Liston should beast him on the jab but an interesting matchup ..

 

Sonny wins by late stoppage.
Unlike lewis and holmes who countered him and nailed him on the backfoot. Liston would push forward behind the jab and grind him down.
Nobodys chin or face for that matter is that tough. Eventually the doctor or ref will stop it.

 

Liston is too canny for Mercer and delivers a drubbing.

Liston W UD 10

 

Because Mercer was the more recent fighter. That's how he votes 90% of the time. He may try and write a long winded explanations to rationalize his picks, but that's what it boils down to. It's very consistent and he always finds a way to criticize the older fighter.

 

True his defense was horrible, but he was a stone man. I can see him losing a 15 round decision. I don't think Liston is stopping the version that beat Tommy or lost to Lennox.

 

Mercer got his jaw broke and went life and death with Bert Cooper, and also went 1-1-1 against 2 journeyman in Marion Wilson, Jesse Ferguson, and alot of people think he was very fortunate to get a draw vs Wilson aswell.

Not to mention Mercer lost every round to Damiani until he landed a freak uppercut on the edge of Damiani's nose. Was schooled by a 42 year old Larry Holmes, and was dropped and hurt vs Holyfield who isn't a big Heavyweight nor is he noted as a big puncher. Which tends to contradict your views about Liston not winning due to being smaller, since Liston is about the same size as Holyfield but physically stronger and a harder puncher with a better jab and a longer reach.

 

I think as usual folks are underselling prime Liston's excellent BOXING skills in this thread. The man was not just a KO artist. I pick Liston by KO.

 

OUCH! This post is a factual knock out punch, tip of the hat to you......

 

Mercer wasn't that great when you take a brutally honest look at his career. He was an inconsistent hot/cold fighter who could get outboxed by Damian in 1 fight, then pushes Lewis to the brink in another. Goes life and death with Cooper in an even slug fest, then somehow walks through the much bigger and harder hitting Morrison's punches and brutally takes him out.

One thing I noticed in threads like these people often focus on Mercer's positive qualities only while ignoring the glaring flaws you and others have brought up. The way people write about Mercer you'd think he was this invincible juggernaut and one of the best boxers of the 90's and it makes you wonder how on Earth he didn't have more success if this was even remotely true.

 

I actually like Mercer as a fighter, but people do tend to forget all the struggles he had. Honestly I just think Liston is a class above Mercer, and I think the argument of Mercer being bigger than Liston is not a good one, considering Holyfield dropped Mercer and beat him. Size can make a difference in a fight but not when Liston is superior to Mercer in pretty much all areas.

 

I'm assuming that Liston owes the Mob a favor and holds his punches back. Mercer UD and the crowd is booing throughout the contest.

 

They act like the only way Liston could beat Mercer is by knocking him out (which isn't the most likely outcome, but far from impossible). Liston is flat out the superior boxer with a better jab, better defense, better body puncher, better combinations, etc. Liston had the stamina to go all 12 if necessary he wasn't just some mindless slugger.

 

Totally.

IMO, Liston was a boxer/puncher, at the high end of the spectrum for that category type with terrific boxing IQ to go.

As to Ray, does the description - a slugger with good skills suffice or is that a disservice?

Anyway, compared to Ray, Sonny has many more strategic options at his disposal, based on his style, power, jab (an entity in its own right) and very well rounded skill set.

Liston can punch it out if necessary or pull it back to methodical boxing with still formidable power behind each and every punch. Either way, all available roads lead to a Liston victory.

Sonny would intelligently read the situation if Mercer exhibited a chin that wasn’t going to cave too soon or too easily.

Rather than letting it all hang out in the early rounds, punching in futility and unnecessarily burning his tank, Sonny would lean more into boxer mode, whilst still punching very hard and incrementally breaking Mercer down over a number of rounds.

One of my favourite fights of Liston’s is vs Besmanoff.

Imo, had Liston chosen to really put the pedal to the metal, he could’ve gotten Besmanoff out of there sooner - and perhaps by clean KO.

Instead, Liston took it as easy as you please, boxing beautifully, picking his shot, taking his opponent apart, piece by piece with controlled power punches.