Sonny Liston achievements vault.

I argue with my friends a lot in regards to Liston and I like to have all of my sources and such on hand, so I started to work on this. It’s a compilation of a lot of statements talking about Liston. Thought I may as well make it public. If you want to add, feel free. Please include what the source claims(paraphrase if necessary) and provide a link to the source.

START:


MISCELLANEOUS CLAIMS

'Of all the men I fought in boxing, Sonny Liston was the scariest.' - Muhammad Ali


'He's the meanest fighter that ever lived. No one's more intimidating. Not even myself.' - Mike Tyson


'Liston compares favorably with any of the heavyweights of the past. Any of them. When somebody asks me, 'How does Liston compare with Joe Louis?' I have to stop and think. So you know how good a fighter Liston is.' - Cus D'Amato


'Liston was the biggest puncher I ever fought.' - Chuck Wepner


'Sonny Liston stood up to me and actually made me give ground. No one has ever done that to me before or since.' - George Foreman


'If you got hit with that right hand, you wouldn't get up.' - Floyd Patterson


'Possibly the greatest left jab in thehistory of the heavyweight division. That left jab could go through brickwalls.' - Bert Sugar


'Liston could scowl as hard as any man in or out of the ring. And, of course, he invented the big stare.' - Joe Louis


'I boxed heavyweights for four years till I realized Sonny Liston wasn't my cup of tea. When I saw him come on the scene, I said I'm going to get back down where I belong.' - Willie Pastrano


'When you got hit by Sonny Liston's jab, it felt like you were getting hit with a telephone pole.' - Ray Schoeninger


'Nobody hit those bags like Sonny. He tore bags up. He could turn that hook, put everything behind it. Turn and snap. Bam! Why, he could knock you across the room with a jab. I saw him knockguys out with a straight jab. Bam! In the ring, Sonny was a killing machine.' - Johnny Tocco


'When Sonny gave you the evil eye - I don't care who you were - you shrunk to two feet tall. And one thing more; he could fight like hell. They forget it now, but when Liston was champ, some people thought he was the greatest heavyweight of all time.' - Harold Conrad


"Sonny Liston, I watched Sonny Liston when I was a teenager do somethingthat I’ve never seen any heavyweight do—walk through the whole division almost from being the number ten guy all the way up to the champion because he was that devastating like around ’57, and ’58, and ’59. I mean he had unbelievable brutal punching power. He was mean, punched with both hands"--Emmanuel Steward


Source: Heavyweight History WithEmanuel Steward: Part 3 Of 3 • East Side Boxing • News Archives (https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/128028)


“Were you scared of sonny liston?”

“Scared to death.”-ali

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Liston didn’t blind ali

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/liston-didn-t-blind-ali-6987354.html

https://ibb.co/XyFb6Nm


Liston was injured Pre-Fight (Ali 1)

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-irving-daily-news-texan/103574716/


Cus damado thought sonny was best boxer OAT

“None other than Cus D'Amato, Patterson's manager, says, "Liston compares favorably with any of the heavyweights of the past. Any of them. When somebody asks me, 'How does Liston compare with Joe Louis?' I have to stop and think. So you know how good a fighter Liston is.”

https://vault.si.com/vault/1963/07/...=None other than Cus D,have to stop and think


Census’s all contradict on Listons birth

Article clipped from The Philadelphia Inquirer


Liston held back while Foreman went all out in sparring

https://www.*******.com/george-foreman-discusses-friendship-with-sonny-liston--47293


“Sparring with Liston is the most dangerous thing that I ever did in my entire life”

“There were times when he could have knocked my head off but he didn’t because we were pretty good friends”

- George Foreman

https://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196686


FBI thinks Liston vs Ali 1 was fixed

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https://www.cbssports.com/general/n...spected-ali-liston-bout-in-64-was-rigged/amp/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/24/was-rigged-by-mob/


“Sonny Liston could’ve existed and done well in any era”- george foreman

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Keep munching+ bag hitting really doesn’t indicate anything.
Also Ali says Liston hits harder than Foreman

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Is english not your first language? This sentence makes absolutely zero sense.

Ali studied his opponents massively. I don’t think its a stretch to say he knew what he was talking about on both subjects.

 

I dont care about heavybag weight + theres no way to verify that. Also Sonny was unable to prove his worth because there was no one for him to test against, like Joe Louis.

Theres many ways to verify punching power besides taking a punch from them. Videos, word of mouth, stories. Many ways to figure it out.

 

He Never spoke on the bags weights.

Ali had significant brain damage after the Foreman fight. No way could he have accurately remembered Listons strength.

 

He was much older when holding Foremans bag, cant imagine that wasnt a factor. Also that doesnt effect bag weight.

Your fan theory’s are of no interest to me.

 

Size does not mean its a heavier bag. Also if people cant be uninformed then my claim of Ali saying Sonny hit harder is justified according to you.

Liston was so much better than everyone that he was unable to prove himself, truly a tragedy. Liston is simply the harder hitter, sorry bud.