Sonny Liston vs. Jim Jeffries

but martin was a top ranked contender WHO COULD REALLY HIT. he killed sonny banks with his punches.

 

I searched the New York Times archives but they had no report on the Liston-Earls fight--but I did come across this article and thought I would share it.

New York Times 6-25-1968 "Liston Apparently Knocked Out by Sparring Mate."

(Reuters)--Sonny Liston, a former heavyweight champion, was hit hard by a little known sparring partner over the weekend and reportedly was knocked senseless.
Liston, considered invincible until beaten by Cassius Clay, was struck by a local boxer, Mac Foster, while preparing for a bout against Henry Clark, ranked fifth in the World Boxing Association listings.
Foster's manager, Pat Difuria, told reporters Liston was sent staggering and had to be helped out of the ring. A gymnasium official privately confirmed his account."

Two points

1. Liston was going back rather obviously on the films by 1968 and 1969--I think he had gone back severely by 1966.
2. Foster was later proven to be a tough puncher.

 

Mac Foster story is true. My father knows firsthand about it. Mac Foster could hit like a truck, he knocked liston OUT COLD and he could have done so to any other fighter.

 

Except Jerry Quarry. So I presume, given previous threads of logic, that Quarry defeats Liston emphatically.

 

No offense taken, but records can also be misleading. Memphis Al Jones was I think something like 11-35-3 with 7 knockouts. He seems the total tomato-can, but he ko'd Tony Longoria, an undefeated prospect early in his career. Later, after suffering several knockdowns, he flattened Boone Kirkman with one punch. He put Jerry Quarry on the floor twice in their bout. Pretty good for a guy with that record.

 

I prefer video evidence to eye witness account from a 100 + years ago.

Jeffries was strong in his age but boxing did take a revolutionary turn in the 1920s