Sonny Liston Amatuer Days.....Ed Sanders

thanx to Cyberboxing for all this info




Listons Amatuer record

Here is what I have --

1952
--- starts boxing around August

1953
St. Louis Golden Gloves
Feb LLoyd Willis St. Louis [W] Finals

26th Chicago, Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, Feb 23-Mar 7
Feb 24 Donnie Fleeman, Fort Worth, TX KO 3
Feb 24 Carl McClure, Oklahoma City, OK W 3
Feb 25 Tullos Lee Mead, Memphis, TN KO 2 Qf
Mar 6 Ben Bankhead, Kansas City, MO W 3 sf
Mar 6 Ed Sanders, Los Angeles, CA W 3 Final

Chicago-NY Intercity, Chicago, IL
Mar 26 Julius Griffin Chicago, IL W 3 Liston down in 1st

65th USA National AAU, Boston, MA
Apr 14 Lou Graff Boston, MA KO 1 (0:50)
Apr 15 James McCarter Boston, MA L 3 QF

International Golden Gloves, at St. Louis, MO
Jun 23 Herman Schreibauer (RFA) St. Louis, MO TKO 1

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ED (BIG ED) SANDERS
HAYES EDWARD SANDERS
HEAVYWEIGHT
BORN: March 24, 1930, Los Angeles, CA
DIED: December 14, 1954, Boston, MA from a blood clot on the brain
sustained in his last professional fight.
Height: 6-4
Weight: 220
Amateur Record: 43-4-0 (Idaho State Boxing Team; US Navy Boxing Team)
Professional Record: 6-2-1 (3)

Amateur Highlights
1950 NCAA Championship (Idaho State)
1951 NCAA Championship (Idaho State)
1952 NCAA Championship (Compton Junior College)
1952 Gold Medal: Heavyweight Boxing - Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland

1951
Apr 6 Jack Scheberies East lansing, MI L 3 (NY Times 4/7/51)
(NCAA Semi-Finals) The bout had an odd ending. Scheberies dropped Sanders
at 1:05 of the 3rd round. The bell was rung then and it was officially
ruled as a decision for Scheberies)

1952
Mar 24 Norvel Lee New York L 3 (NY Times 3/25/52)
(Finals - Intercity Heavyweight Golden Gloves Title)

May -- Johnny Little (Ire) Dublin, Ireland W 3 (Ireland vs US)
May -- Bernard Navarre Paris, France TKO 2 (France vs US)
May -- Willie Walloscheck Berlin, Germany KO 1 (Germany vs US)
May -- Francesco Cavicchi Chicago, IL W 3 (Italy vs US)
Jun 7 Lloyd Willis Omaha KO by 1
(Mid-West Regional Olympic Boxing Trials)

Lloyd ended Ed's long winning streak with a devastating knockout
victory. Lloyd was a soldier stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas.
"Willis dazed Sanders with a series of solid right hand smashes
in the first minute of the fight, then chased him around the ring
...with both fists flying. Sanders absorbed enough punishment for
ten men before he crumpled to the deck. He tried to get up but
pitched head-long into the ropes and was counted out." (1)
Jun 18 Jack Scheberies Kansas City TKO 2
(First Round of Olympic Trial Berth)
Jun 21 Lloyd Willis Kansas City KO 2
(Final Olympic Boxing Trials)

" Willis stood up to Sanders at the start and it was obvious he
came prepared to to knock out Big Ed as he had done two weeks before
in the Mid-West Regional Trials. Willis landed several good blows
in the early fighting but he slowed up as Sanders began to find the
range with jolting lefts and rights which he fired to both head and
body. Sanders buckled Willis' knees with a right cross to the jaw
near the end of the first round and then moved in relentlessly.
The action was still rugged in the second frame but it was Sanders
who was doing the damage and he finally dropped Willis with a terrific
left hook. Willis staggered to his feet but was in no condition to do
battle with Sanders who knocked him colder than a February morn with
a vicious right-uppercut to the chin." (1)


1952 Olympic Games - Helsinki (July 28 - August 2)
Jul 29 Hans Jost (SUI) KO 1 First Round
Jul 30 Bye
Jul 31 Giacomo Di Segni (ITA) KO 3 Quarter-Final Round
Aug 1 Andries C. Nieman (SAF) TKO 2 Semi-Final Round
Aug 2 Ingemar Johansson (SWE) W DQ 2 Final Round

"Navy sailor Ed Sanders... operated like a lesser Joe Louis. Big and strong,
he demonstrated power that was more than slightly frigtening to his
opposition. In the final against Sweden's Ingemar Johansson .....Ingemar
wanted no part of him. He ran, literally ran, from big Ed, and the referee
disqualified Johansson for not fighting." (2)

1953
Feb -- Charles (Sonny) Liston Chicago L 3
(Chicago Golden Gloves)

After winning the gold medal, Sanders served 2 years in the Navy and turned
professional in Boston where he was stationed.

Professional Record

1954
Mar 8 Sonny Nichols Boston KO 1 (debut)
Apr 1 Billy Booker Boston KO 1
Apr 10 Henry Anderson Boston KO 2
Apr 24 Willie Wilson Boston L 5
May 23 Battling Jack Flood Boston W Dsq 4
Aug 12 Willie Wilson Boston W 8
Oct 5 Bert Whitehurst Boston D 10
Oct 26 Bert Whitehurst Boston W 10
Dec 11 Willie James Boston KO by 11
(New England Heavyweight Title)
(Died from injuries sustained in loss to James)

 

Yes there is, I think there are a few secons of highlights on youtube. it shows liston with his incredibly freakingly long arms throwing punches at some really tall chizzled dude, that appeared to be ed sanders.

 

naww he was prolly around 34-35 when he fought ali. he looks about in his mid twenties at least in 1953

 

The closest thing to a birth record for Sonny is an arrest record, which lists him as 22 in the beginning of 1950, thus born 5/08/1927.

 

This quote comes from the founder of the Philadelpha Boxing history Website

"I am not so sure about Sonny Liston being only 20 years old in 1953. I have a picture of Sonny in 1950 in the Missouri Pen and he looks like he is then in his mid twenties. To further muddle the Liston age question, famed Philadelphia Daily News boxing writer, Jack McKinney, reported that one day in a Philly gym one of Sonny's brothers was an unwanted visitor and was brushed off by Sonny who called his brother "Charles." This brings up many possibilities about Sonny Liston's age, one being that maybe he was using this brothers name and/or birthdate."