Sonny Liston vs George Chuvalo Prime for prime and in 1971

I think Oscar Bonavena could have beaten Liston in '69 or '70.....on points with a kd thrown into the mix.....but that's for another thread.

 

In their primes Liston would've really beat Chuvalo badly. i'm Canadian and a big Chuvalo fan but he was very limited and lacked defense. Liston would pound him mercilessly with his jab and power punches. Chuvalo would keep coming but I'm almost sure with his lack of defense he wouldn't see the distance. I think the fight would likely get stopped on a cut or like the George Foreman fight the ref seeing enough after Chuvalo eats a number of power shots. I think its very possible if these two met especially in Liston's prime we could see Chuvalo hit the canvas for the first time and probably not be able to get to his feet. Liston would be a nightmare match up for Chuvalo because no only was Liston a tremendous puncher but he had good boxing skills with possibly the best jab of all time. IMO this would be one of the very worse match ups you could possibly make for Chuvalo. If they met in 1971 I still think Liston would win and give Chuvalo a terrible beating but Chuvalo might survive the distance.

 

Interesting. Im not sure how a dominant performance in which Liston won every round, knocked down Wepner, cut his face to ribbons, shattered his cheekbone and broke his nose would foretell a Chuvalo victory but interesting none the less. Chuvalo may have been better than Wepner but he wasnt exactly leaps and bounds better, particularly not in 1971.

 

I do think that Chuvalo would have put up a better, more competitive fight than Wepner, but I share your skepticism in a way regarding Chuvalo...after all he was always a plodder, a straight ahead, predictable and unimaginative guy even at his best...I really think that Oscar Bonavena would have been a far worse prospect for Sonny,...being more unpredictable, more explosive and a crazy sob....much more so than Chuvalo.

 

I agree 100%

 

Prime for prime Martin would beat Chuvalo.

 

Liston already did what Frazeir could not do,at the age of 39 he stopped Scrap Iron Johnson in 7 rds,Johnson went the full 10 with a 23 years old Frazier.:think
Frazier could not hit like Sonny,was one handed for power, and didn't have his telephone pole jab.

 

Frazier's power is overated he was a grinder, a saturation puncher that eventually ground down his opponents.Liston kod his.

Liston was a month off 40 years old when he fought Wepner,you don't think that might have had a bearing on the result?
Liston fought a 28years old Machen who boxed conservatively on the back foot.Frazier fought a faded 34 years old Machen, 2 fights away from retirement[both of which he lost], whose legs were gone.

Again don't you think the deterioration of Machen and his age had a real input in the respective results?
Foreman would have floored Chuvalo if the referee hadn't rescued him.

 

Based on seeing a lot of Chuvalo's fights and being ringside when Leotis Martin beat the **** out of Thad Spencer at the RAH to get the fight of the year award. Chuvalo never really beat a top fighter his win over Quarry was a one off aberration.He lost to moderate Eduardo Corletti over here,and was really a fringe contender .