.....in the 50's,interupting his boxing career. I would say that a legacy enhancement would have been on the cards. Sonny would have beaten Floyd Patterson around four years earlier than he did in reality. Ingemar would n't have become champion. Liston's two short,but entertaining fights with Cleveland Williams would have been title defences. All in all,I can see Sonny defending the crown 7/8 times before running into a certain young man named Cassius Clay. After that,history would be back on track. Liston would be in most people's top 5 heavy list.
sometimes a short break early in a career is good. It gives the body a physical break from training and mentaly the mind gets time to reflect. There is evidence of some champions beter after a year or so out from the ring early on like ezzard charles. liston was just finding his way as a pro around the summerlin fights and actualy came back beter after his stint in the big house. williams never made the ratings until 64'. maybe liston would have got to machen before ingo but floyds manager cus would have stalled liston just like he did anyway. cus still would have chose ingo over Liston folley and machen regardless of the year. he picked the far less potent radmacher, london and harris over those 3 after all...
