Sonny Liston KO 1 Albert Westphal

Everytime I see this fight ,I think the German is going to go right through the canvas.
Liston looked appreciably quicker on his feet than in later fights.
I beleive this was shown as a double header with a Patterson title defence, talk about steal the Champ's thunder. Damato must have decided then and there ,no Liston for Floyd.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9msELiZKyU

This one.

 

One of my favourite knockouts. The only one I prefer at heavyweight is Louis-Paychek.

 

At the weigh-in on the day of the fight, Liston was glaring at Westphal .

“You can talk to me. I’m your friend. Why are you so angry?” Westphal asked him.

“You’ll find out tonight,” Sonny snapped.


--After the fight, Sonny referred to him as "Quick-fall".

 

I find it interesting that Westphal was only 5'8" tall. This was a kayo made to order, kind of like pitting Orlin Norris against Vitali Klitschko in 2001.

Even so, I don't doubt Liston's skill and power for a single second.

Interestingly, there's another Liston-Westphal film on youtube, this one including Sonny's kayo over Gerhard Zech in 1966. Against Zech, Liston looks ponderous and much slower than in his earlier fights. I'm wondering if Sonny deteriorated markedly after his Ali losses?

 

Liston slowed down post Ali for sure. Some of Liston's early filmed fights are almost comical. You get the feeling the other guy in there over matched, and pretty much doomed as soon as the stare down started.

 

I think Liston started slowing down as soon as he won the title, and as if by coincidence, that was when he seemed to visibly age. Let's face it, he does have the look of an older fighter by '62, perhaps before then even.

On another note, I've been searching doggedly for photographs of Liston writing - anyone else heard about him being left handed? I've looked all over the internet and through several pictorial books of mine and found nothing. An image of him signing a fight or autograph would conclude matters.

 

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Still not enough to conclude. I mean, I'm right handed, but because I'm such a geek I deliberately use my left hand for things that my right hand would be better at in the hope of being fully ambidextrous by the time I'm... Eighty...

 

Liston was illiterate and could barely write his name .I dont think you will get many pics.
Liston could not count or read.
Pictures of him screwing up a paper with the headline " Clay has Hernia Op
Fight Off "are purely publicity photos.
The poor sod was publicly humiliated at the Kefauver hearings, when asked about how much he got out of his purses and if he knew what his managers share was, he had to admit "not exactly"
The crusading lawyer who wanted Liston to admit Palermo was his money man ,badgered Sonny until he had to concede he couldnt read or write.And had to rely on his managers honesty,not a particularly good idea , when your manager Frank Nilon is just a front for Carbo /Palermo.
In his book By George ,Foreman recounts how he attempted to do Liston's Horoscope from a magazine and Liston went ape **** .
Dick Saddler had to pull him to one side and explain "the big man can't read".
Liston and Foreman fought on the same bill Foreman met Bob Hazelton ,Liston, Leotis Martin ,for the vacant NABF title . If Liston won he was supposed to get a shot against Jimmy Ellis.
Sonny called Foreman up to his room and asked him to read his contract,George told him he would get 50%.
Of course Sonny ,after leading on the cards was kod.Foreman went back to Sonny's home afterwards,Geraldine, Sonny's Wife said Sonny was devastated at the loss , he hardly spoke to Foreman, who never saw him again.

 

Believe it or not, I did know Liston could barely write - but he could sign his name, and he would naturally do that with his best hand.

Also heard about the Foreman horoscope thing as well, apparently it **** George right up, as it would anyone I suppose.

Liston seemed the perfectly designed exploit. A shame because he was actually a fairly intelligent man, just not academically.

 

I take your point ,didnt know if you knew, Foreman said he used to sign 10 autograph's to Sonny's 1 ,as you say, he would naturally do it with his lead hand.A small postscript.I went to school with a Travelling lad , he was barely literate, used to copy my , and another mate's essays etc, he has his own brick company now and employs upwards of 50 people.
Education doesnt = intelligence as you know.

 

Liston stopping the granite-jawed Wayne Bethea inside a single round from two different camera angles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZQRExcO9aA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZkFNdPkdI

 

Ben Skelton, a sparring partner of his, said that he'd "heard" that Sonny was a converted southpaw and thought he was due to his left arm being so much more muscular than his right, and his observation that Liston did everything with his left -though he meant in the ring. Why the hell wouldn't he have just asked the man is beyond me.

I've seen pictures of Sonny carrying a cane with his right, and pulling the lever of a slot machine with his right. Add to that robbi's bow and arrow picture. Then there's the picture below...


--handwriting experts cannot tell you if a person is right or left handed, but that dot over the "i" in the upper left signature is moving rightwards. That tells me that the hand writing it is not a southpaw. It's not conclusive, but it may be as close as you'll get short of a picture.

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