Sonny Liston. How old do you think he really was when he fought Clay(Ali)? When he died? The book "The devil and Sonny Liston" is a pretty informative and exhaustively researched book by Nick Tosches, and it sheds a lot of light on how Sonny Liston's year of birth was determined to be in 1932. When Liston was born in the backwoods of Arkansas, they didn't have sophisticated record keeping and birth certificates. If a person was lucky, a family member might record the birth date in a family album or ledger of some sort. Hell, Liston's own mother didn't have an accurate year and date of her own son's birth. All she could say was that it was a cold month when he was born, and she could only estimate. Liston's date of birth changed numerous times over the course of his life. On one boxing license it was recorded as 1929; on another it was 1932. His prison records and marriage certificates all had conflicting years - from 1928 to 1932. Liston finally settled on 1932. But most people think Liston was at least a few years older than that, with 1928 or 1929 as being more accurate.
You can look up his family in the 1930 census, and Charles Liston was not yet born. That appears to be the best evidence. He was probably born in 1932 as he claimed.
Anyway, he and his mother disagree. In circumstances like these it's best to leave be. You're entitled to your best guess of course. I'll roll with OLD FOGEY, but I'm as likely to be wrong as right.
Liston looked older than 38 when he died in 1970. If I remember correctly, Liston's mother claimed that he was several years older than he claimed to be. Sonny might have doctored his birth date when he turned pro in order to boost his chances of landing good management. Rightly or wrongly, guys who turn pro at a late age are perceived as having a less promising future than their younger counterparts.
If Liston was indeed only 32 when he fought Clay, he should have been in his prime then. Heck, nowadays, 32 is nowhere near old. But a lot of people write about Liston as if he were an old man at that point.
