Here is a good read about Liston. The author believes that Liston's greatness is best typified in his two Clevelend Williams fights. Liston was up against a man who could hit as hard as he could. He beat Williams with hand speed, boxing skill, ring generalship and brains. He loses a little credibility toward the end by saying he has inside information that Liston's Clay fights were both rigged. Maybe they were and maybe they weren't but it distracts from the main thesis of the article. http://coxscorner.tripod.com/liston_cf.html
Charles Farrell,,,,,,,,,,,, Only touches the surface,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,nothing 'in-depth' Forget about trying to explain the Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay and Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston bouts with 'one paragraph'. You would need as many pages as 'War and Peace', just to get through the backroom details of those 'carnival acts'.
...the thing that lots of people remember is that as champion...Liston QUIT WHILE SITTING ON HIS STOOL AGAINST Cassius Clay in Miami in 1964...and being...ahem...KO'd by the "Phantom Punch" up in Maine in 1965...
That certainly gutted Liston's legacy. Whether they were legit or fixed, those fights didn't do Liston any good.
All we need to know,,,,,,,,,,, is that Sonny Liston was connected,,,,,,,, and that he made more money by losing to Cassius Clay, than if he won that February 1964 bout. Sonny Liston had the promotional rights to the next 'two' Casssius Clay/Muhammad Ali bouts. If Sonny had won that 1964 bout, he was only going to get about $250,000 for his next bout, a Title Defense versus Eddie Machen. Instead, he received over $1,000,000 for the rematch, plus ancillary fee's. Sonny wanted out of boxing in the ring, and he was cashing in. He wanted to 'hob-nob' with the 'big-wheels'.
