Was Sonny Liston REALLY afraid of needles?

He certainly was afraid of Ali's needle-like precision.

 

Ohhh you'll set off WW 3!!

 

Seems like the best bet is that he wasn’t afraid of them enough to avoid heroine addiction…

and bless his soul for that, if he struggled with that, I bet that was the hardest fight he ever had…

 

Apparently he was quite an avid heroin user before he died so doubt it

 

I read all those books as well.

my takeaway is that nobody credible ever said sonny took drugs. Or was dealing drugs. It’s not documented that he was a user…and he was picked up and searched enough times to have been caught in possession if he was or had been involved with drugs.

Sonny did not look like a heroin user. He liked a drink. A guy who worked out and still liked to drink. It is documented that he drank. He was getting into films. That he was still owned by the mob and that he misbehaved when his wife was out of town.

whatever happened to Sonny was probably a misadventure of some kind. I don’t think it was anymore mysterious than that.

 

Needles are not necessary to enjoy heroin. You can smoke it or snort it or eat it. A lot of people with a fear of needles begin their drug experience in ways other than intravenous usage. It is also not uncommon for the need to feed the addiction to overcome the fear of needles at some point down the road and that is a risky proposition because injection is a much more efficient method.

 

Who likes needles? I don’t but sometimes they’re a necessary evil so I just cop to them.

If I was a well known figure and once publicly said “I don’t like needles” (not a big deal), I could easily imagine that being exaggerated or at least lazily interpreted into my having a fear/phobia of needles by the press.

IF one was a heroin addict, the need for a hit would well exceed whatever fears they have or did have of needles.

Some addicts have taken it so far as to inject into the orbit of the eye.

Who wouldn’t have a dread fear of taking an injection that far UNLESS they were a hopeless addict with an overpowering physical need.

Sad.

 

Drugs have a way of helping you overcome fears they’re sort of magic like that.

 

Isn't there a story that he almost didn't fight Patterson because he had to take a needle shot before boarding the flight?

 

I agree with this. Sonny did not look like a drug abuser at all. Some form of steroids which was avaliable at the time ? Maybe...