Sonny Liston vs Cleveland Williams II full fight upscaled quality

Williams was doing well ,,until,,,he landed a good shot and decided to open up on Sonny. That version of Cleveland Williams was a dangerous man. I'm not sold Patterson would have gotten by the Big Cat had they fought

 

Great footage. Liston's left hook was like a machine gun.

 

this fight shows how great Ali was as he beat both ofthem

 

Man that was a shoot out. Sonny's right hand was a jackhammer.

 

He didn't beat this version of either. He beat a Liston 4 years older and a WIlliams 6 years older and missing 10 feet of colon, a kidney, mobility in his hip and full use of his left leg.

 

Cleavland Williams muscle definition looks like that of a fast twitch explosive puncher

 

Liston is such a beast.

 

Patterson would have attacked Williams up the middle with both hands, early in the fight. Cleveland couldn't withstand speedy combinations of power shots. That was a strength of Floyd's game. Williams didn't have the inside skills or strength of Liston, or the bullying mentality that all together destroyed Patterson.

 

Sonny's boxing skills are on display in this fight--always balanced, good side to side head movement, feinting, and shooting that sledgehammer left jab while waiting for an opening. Williams landed some heavy power shots in round 2 but Sonny never flinched and quickly countered with his heavy artillery and went in for the quick kill.

If Muhammad Ali fought THIS version of Sonny Liston in 1964 I'd still make Ali about an 8-5 favorite but he better not get careless even ONE time. (Angelo Dundee said that Sonny was a great finisher and you clearly see that in this film clip!)

 

Power aside. Liston had excellent boxing skills

 

Agreed. Patterson via KO

 

I agree. Ali almost certainly beats even the best version of Liston, and definitely beats Williams on his best day but these wins against these versions aren't necessarily a good indicator of Ali's greatness nor H2H prowess despite both being excellent performances.

 

Patterson himself never seemed eager to put it to the test.

In March 1964, the NYSAC planned to select Muhammad Ali’s first challenger through an elimination tournament featuring Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Doug Jones, and Eddie Machen. MSG attempted to launch the tournament with Patterson–Williams. Williams accepted immediately, despite being offered the smaller share of the purse. Patterson, however, went to Sweden to fight Machen who was never the same after his return from the Looney bin.

Later that year, the WBA attempted to organize a tournament to crown a new heavyweight champion. The proposal called for semifinals matching the No. 1 contender against No. 4 (Terrell vs. Chuvalo) and No. 2 against No. 3 (Williams vs. Patterson). Patterson signed to fight...... Chuvalo, undermining the plan entirely. As a result, the WBA abandoned the tournament and simply sanctioned Terrell–Williams as a bout for the vacant title.