Who would you pick to beat a PRIME Sonny Liston ?

Those men in their primes wouldn't give Liston problems now.

 

A prime Tubbs, shifty and large and exceptionally quick, would cause him problems.

 

I'd agree with you if we're talking about 2016 Liston.

 

Tubbs has everything that would tie Liston in knots.

 

Foreman.

 

Prime Tyson
Prime Holmes

 

Tyson beating Liston .

 

The only thing Tubbs might have that would tie Liston in knots is a rope.

 

HAHAHA, I know, huh! Should be Tyson destroys Liston.

 

Marciano, Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Holyfield.

 

Should be Tyson destroys Liston....'s lungs by making him laugh his ass (and lungs) off to The amount of **** coming out of Tyson's ****.

 

I feel ya. I pretty much feel the same... although I'd favor him over Mercer, Thomas, and Witherspoon.

He never really beat a "big" and talented top HW. He beat Hall of Famer Floyd Patterson x2. He beat good contenders like Folley and Machen. He beat Williams x2... who was taller than Liston but weighed about the same. Late in his career he beat Wepner who was much taller but I wouldn't call him a top HW. 50-4 (39) overall, stopped x3, and 2-2 (2) in HW world title fights... 2 wins over Patterson and 2 losses to Ali.

He can't help who was available though and I do think he is an all-time great. I just can't justify putting him in the top 5 like a lot of people do.

 

I don't know what that little piece of paper says but I'm assuming it says something like, "just messing with ya, I know Tyson was way too fast and elusive for Liston"

 

Patterson was faster than Liston and he did so well against Liston. Right?

 

I agree. There are a lot of 80s/90s guys I think he'd have problems with. He simply never came up against bigger men who were talented, experienced, had power, durability etc. Spoon and Mercer would be a big step up from the mostly cruiser sized heavies he was cleaning up against in the 50s.

It also has to be said his legacy isn't helped by the way he completely fell apart against Clay/Ali. Men like Karl Mildenberger and George Chuvalo put up a better fight against Ali than Sonny did.