Sonny Liston first met Nino Valdes in 1953 when he sparred with the pro contender before his fight with Archie Moore. Liston later said he was enamored with the victory over Valdes in 59 because Valdes had beat him up in a sparring session in St Louis in 1953. One report on the sparring session that took place: "Early this year, Liston worked out with the 230lb Nino Valdes, as the big fellow was preparing for a bout here with Archie Moore. Valdes, at the time, the quicker of the two, stepped in and caught liston flush on the chops with a good right. Liston never blinked his eyes and sailed into Valdes with a tremendous body attack that had the huge cuban giving ground." - Globe Democrat 1953 The night before the bout, 1959 Pep Barrone, Sonny Liston's Manager: 'I can't get my boy anywhere. Zora Folley won't fight him. I even suggested that Floyd Patterson and Sonny fight for the American Heavyweight Championship.' 'The current Heavyweight Champion - Ingemar Johansson, he doesn't want to defend his Title, he wants to be a Playboy. Nobody wants to fight my boy'. Bobby Gleason, Nino Valdes' Manager, 'If they think my guy came here to lose, then they're looking at the wrong opponent. That's what Pat McMurty thought, and Nino took him down in the 1st-Round.' 'Sonny better be ready, because Nino has the best left hand in the Heavyweight Division. Nino is the Underdog, but I don't look at the 5-1 odds, as one-punch can changeanything. When you have two big guys who weigh 210 lbs. fighting, anything can happen.' The fight was televised on ABC. Milwaukee Sentinel, August 6, 1959: Sonny Liston, his right eye clamped tight after the first round, exploded with a furious punching onslaught to flatten the veteran Cuban Nino Valdes in 47 seconds of the third round of their scheduled 10-rounder here Wednesday night. A tremendous left hook, followed by a whistling right, dumped the trial horse against the ropes shortly after the third opened. Valdes sat there, one arm draped over the ropes until seven, then rolled to his knees where he took the full ten count. He finally staggered to his feet at 12—too late, of course. It was the third ranking heavyweight's 18th straight victory—he's lost only one in 26—and further embellished his already bright reputation among the big guys. Liston, who claimed Valdes had thumbed him in the late moments of the opening round, was still a tamed tiger in the second round, although he was getting to Valdes with his jarring left jab. But it was a different tale once the third got under way. The 25-year-old Philadelphian marched right out and started banging away. He did get hit with a stunning left hook but bounced right back with a two-fisted attack that backed his huge opponent into the ropes. Then came his dynamiting left-right combination that brought Sonny Boy his knockout. It was an impressive finish by an impressive heavyweight. The usual cry from the winner's camp was heard—a challenge to Ingemar Johansson—but he can forget about it for the time being, although other so-called challengers like Eddie Machen and Zora Folley better beware of this latest threat on the heavyweight horizon. Associated Press Aug 6, 1959 "Sonny Liston, No. 3 ranked heavyweight, loosed a vicious barrage to score a 3rd round knockout of Nino Valdes in the Chicago Stadium Wednesday night. Liston, winning his 18th fight in a row, stunned Valdes with a left hook to the jaw. While Valdes was staggering, trying to gain his equilibrium, Liston pummeled him with a left-right combination, felling him with a sizzling smash. In the 2nd round, there was a lot of infighting and Liston's right eye seemed almost closed. Liston came peering, one-eyed, to start the 3rd round. But once he got in close, he lashed with the left hook which started Valdes to his downfall. The knockout came in 47 seconds of the 3rd round." Meriden Record, August 6th 1959 " Liston, one of the most vicious punchers in the ring today, seemed to explode all of a sudden in the third round. His left hook which staggered Valdes didn't seem to travel more than half a foot. Once Valdes was staggered, Liston closed in with sharp left-right combinations." “The win over Valdes was one of the two turning points in Sonny's career. The other was his first victory over Johnny Summerlin back in 54. Each man had a bigger reputation at the time than anyone Sonny had met before. Because he's big and strong, you don't realize unless you talk to him that he can be scared like anybody else. And he was scared going up against Summerlin and Valdes." - Frank Mitchell, Liston's manager. "Being hit by liston was like being kicked by a mule. Sonny was the strongest man I ever fought and he was very tough. When I fought him, I could still could hit very hard "- Nino Valdes
Had Sonny fought that 1953 Nino it would be different story, Nino would go atleast 5,6 rounds before being stopped by Liston. Wonder what would happen if Sonny fough Satterfield in mid- late 50s.
Liston would have knocked Satterfield out in the first round satterfield doesn’t have a prayers chance against this ATG peak monster in 1958 This content is protected even in 1954, a young Liston performed far better vs Marty Marshall than Satterfield did
SuzieQ: I'm happy you made this post. I'd never read this much detail about the Valdes fight, which I've long wondered about. The accompanying quotes are great.
Almost immediately after getting knocked out by Liston in 1962, a possibly groggy Patterson told a radio audience that Sonny was "too fast." I remember being surprised by that since he was often described as ponderous and slow.
If the Valdes-Liston fight was televised on ABC, is it possible a kinescope or some kind of video exists somewhere?
the Liston is too “slow” remarks came from the Ali fight, in which he was made to look slow. However Ali is in the 99th percentile for speed, he would make anyone in history look slow. Bad luck for Liston he ran into the fastest heavyweight of all time. Liston certainly didn’t look slow against fast heavyweights like Machen Folley Patterson and even big cat Williams
I recall that by 1962 Liston was already called slow and unable to put combinations together like Patterson, of having no foot speed and knowing only one way to move -- forward and backward in a straight line.
Everybody called him slow until they got in the ring with him, his speed and timing was very deceptive. I remember Johansson remarking, "My god he's slow...", and, "Marciano would've stopped him quick!", after watching footage of Liston.
