I know its very much a hypothetical question ..but if these 2 were matched would Liston have been able to shake up Johnson? He did it with Patterson and no doubt others , tried it with Ali . But I just don't see it with Johnson. Jack had gone through his life dealing with **** , so my feelings are Jack would laugh in Sonny's face . Just a personal opinion .
Makes a list of the twelve greatest heavies of all time. None of those guys would have been intimidated by any other heavy in a way that mattered.
I get u ,but it probably didn't stop a fighter trying .To some like Sonny , it probably came natural ,to get in your opposition s head .
Johnson faced some physically intimidating guys: [url]http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/images/mcvea-sam-22.jpg[/url] [url]http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/images/willard-jess-11.jpg[/url] [url]http://www.fightsaga.com/images/stories/AJackJohnsonJimJeffries.jpg[/url] [url]http://cdn1.thecomeback.com/queensberryrules/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2015/02/Joe-Jeannette-1.jpg[/url]
Who knows, I think Ali was a bit scared of Liston. Johnson was a superstitious cat, always wanting to enter the ring first, and according to stories, had to be pushed out of his dressing room to enter the ring for Jeffries. I think Liston whacks Johnson. Bad match up.
I can't think of another heavyweight champion pre Liston who had that aura of intimidation ,who actually tried using it to his advantage. Maybe Dempsey had it with out Even trying .I may be wrong but Liston is the main one that spring s to mind .
Foreman said his knees were knocking when during the staredown with Frazier just before the start of the fight. Its okay to have some nerves before a fight, actually is nearly an essential if you in there with somebody good. Liston was an intimidating dude. I believe Tyson before he was beaten, had some his opponents scared so intimidation can matter, especially early.
So it matters. Dempsey was fearful before the first bell for Willard, too. There are probably no greater examples of fighters who benefited, rather than suffered from intimidation than Foreman against Frazier and Dempsey against Willard.
And in a round about way perhaps it worked against Liston when he faced Cassius. Ali seemed to do his best work when he faced guys that could be dangerous .When he took some one lightly he sometimes paid for it .Against Sonny , the fear may have worked for him , spurred him on so to speak .
No. Johnson took a much more nuanced approach to intimidation than Liston, and he would win the psychological battle here.
Liston and Tyson's aura of intimidation was based on the reality that they were capable of causing great bodily harm to physically strong, grown men who were professional fighters.
That's what I'm getting at. Liston may have tried imposing him self physically in from of Johnson , stuck towels in his dressing gown to look bigger , the dead man's eyes stare .But against Johnson it wouldn't have fazed him .
Johnson's condescending smile got into his opponents heads. His strategy was to convince them that he saw them as a joke, and was almost looking at them with an element of pity. When Jeffries seconds suggested that they flip a coin, to decide who got the corner with the sun in their eyes, he just smiled sympathetically and said "pick whatever corner you want Jeff".