Sonny Liston vs. Mike Tyson

Tyson himself stated the one man hed be intimidated by would be Liston

i also read somewhere that Foreman said Liston was the only guy who never ran from Foreman in the ring. He said Frazier thought he was tough, but he ended up running and Ali just lay on the ropes but Liston stood his ground.

people diss Liston for the Ali fights but forget that Sonny was approx 40 years old at the time

what were other ATGS doing at the age of 40

 

Always have to throw in the question, how old really was Sonny when he fought Ali.

My guess would have to be 36-38.

 

how old was foreman when he sparred liston..very young. Also he wasn't 40, his official age was 34/35 - and it was reported he was couple of years older than that really

Liston would lose because he had a poor defence compared to Tyson, but it would be a great fight

 

At that age Ali himself was losing to Berbick and Tyson was losing to Mcbride.

I think Liston gets too much stick.

 

Not sure how old Foreman was, ive just seen the pictures.

But im gonna take Foremans word for it, he seemed pretty honest in that interview

RC: Many people don’t know that you sparred with Sonny Liston, what was it like to spar with him when you were only 22 years old?

GF: Well I first sparred with him when I was 18 or 19. He is the only man to this day that has ever stood up to George Foreman in the ring. Even Joe Frazier tried to charge me but he eventually ran. Sonny Liston stood up to me and actually made me give ground. No one has ever done that to me before or since. It doesn’t matter if it was Muhammad Ali, he covered up, and even when he hit me he was on the run. Liston was the only man to stand up to me and make me back up.

full interview
http://www.examiner.com/article/george-foreman-wladimir-will-not-leave-much-of-a-legacy-boxing

 

Always difficult to go off age, think more thought has to be put into wear and tear.

When Liston lost of Ali, it was his 37th fight. When Ali lost to Berbick it was his 61st fight likewise when Tyson lost to Mcbride it was his 56th fight.

 

But also Liston had to jump through many hoops to get Patterson to give him a title shot, because Cus knew Liston was all wrong for Floyd

 

i think FP got rid of him so he can fight Liston

 

Tyson would take Liston...

Hard to judge with the big era gap.

I've always felt Liston usually gets overrated with these sort of things.

 

Manny Steward said that by the time Liston fought Ali, Liston was living the easy life and playing golf all the time.

 

Hard to say both were the biggest fish in a small pond.

 

New book the bite fight(DL link on one of the boxing sites) where one reporter recounts a story where he and Tyson are watching fights and how Tyson likes to explain how he would fight Ali,Frazier etc but when they watch Liston, Tyson tells the guy how he cannot beat Liston..might be Cus talking but hey interesting

 

Tyson.................

 

This one would be fascinating.
Tyson always had the intimidation factor over his opponents but it just wouldn't register with Liston.
I think Liston is just a tad overrated on here but he was still a very good fighter,and if Tyson couldn't get him out of there in the first 3 or 4 rounds I'd take Liston to knock him out,heck he might even knock Tyson out early on.