Who wouldve taken Listons crown had Ali not been born?

Frazier eventually.

 

I'm really not. I'm absolutely right. Foreman came along in 1973, Frazier would have taken Liston's belt way before that.

 

Yeah, Ioakeim is right here. Not to mention that Foreman would be nowhere near the same fighter that he was in our timeline- Even if you want to say that Frazier somehow doesn't get a title shot before George, he's not going to have the same training, teaching, or skills without Liston to help nurture him. Foreman could only be as good as he was to us if Sonny loses to Joe and ends up training with George.

 

By aging him out. Liston wouldn't have the speed and power to bomb out Frazier in the late 60's or early 70's, he would simply be too old for that. At that point he couldn't even handle Martin, he would inevitably succumb to the pressure of Frazier.

 

It's just a matter of timing. '67, '68, whatever, by the time Frazier is in his prime, Liston will have far declined.

 

Honestly there’s a good chance Ellis gets to him in the mid-to-late 60s

 

Ellis, Frazier or Quarry.
One of them would in 1968.

 

Agree with Frazier, could see Bonavena getting it done too, they were just too durable/tough and would be able to destroy an aging/less motivated Liston on the inside

 

This really depends on timing who gets to the front of the line first. Liston had wins over 3 of Alis next contenders so there would be a different list of contenders Liston fought.

Frazier is the most likely answer but someone else can either beat Liston first or if Frazier gets his shot too early Listons chances of beating him are higher. Foreman is more of a sure thing if Liston were to last that long which he probably won't but plausibly could.

 

Some upset would´ve happened. Liston would make the name of someone like Ernie Terrell or Karl Mildenberger as the HW Champion of thw World. I find hard to believe Liston would have any longevity as the champ.

 

I think the answer is whoever was around when he diminished and could take full advantage of it. Liston wasn’t fighting much by 1965. It wasn’t until after he launched a comeback that he started getting busy again but by that time he was already way past it. There were even some reports that his people were paying his sparring partners to slow down in preparation for the Ali fight