We often find threads on the resumes of champions - Klitschko, Liston, Tyson, Marciano and others. But what about Charles 'Sonny' Liston? Of course, he had a short stint as champion of the world. But one could say that he was the de-facto top guy of the division since about 1959. Sonny's hits: Clevland Williams (1959, 1960) Nino Valdes (1959) Zora Folley (1960) Eddie Machen (1960) Floyd Patterson (1962, 1963) Roy Harris, Willie Besmanoff, Howard King, Marty Marshall, Henry Clark, Chuck Wepner. Sonny's misses: Marty Marshall (1954) Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali (1964, 1965) Leotis Martin (1969) Sonny went undefeated for nearly ten years. Would it be wrong to say that he cleaned up the division?
Liston fought 2 12 round eliminators before Patterson in Folley and Machen. If you're looking to measure a "de facto" reign as number 1 contender thats his run right there Folley, Machen, Pattersonx2. Before fighting Folley, Folley was the one with that status. In the 60 to 65 period Liston was number 1 contender and/or champ Ingo and George Chuvalo are the biggest names missing from his resume. Otherwise he fought every champ and number 1 contender of the period. I do think he fell short of "cleaning out the division".
You could argue that the losses to Ali occurred well after Sonny's peak years. (The loss to Martin was certainly past Liston's prime.) His date of birth is listed as May 8, 1932 but many suspect he was born at least 4 years prior. (Some have speculated he might have been pushing 40 when he fought Ali the first time in 1964.) Having said that--I think the version of Liston that fought between roughly 1957-60 could have beaten ANY other heavyweight with the possible exception of pre-exile Ali. And I would make Ali about an 8-5 favorite with Sonny having a legitimate chance for the upset. (If Sonny caught Ali with a power shot that might be all it would take!)
I also thought his wins over Mike DeJohn, Johnny Summerlin, Roger Rischer and Wayne Bethea were credible and deserve to be mentioned outside that top 5 you've listed.
