Writer debunks "The Four Who Baffled Liston Article"

I thought it was a load of nonsense myself.

 

Marshall broke Listons jaw and beat him and Liston looked decidedly ordinary against both Machen and Whitehurst. I give the SI author more credence than McKinney who was close to Liston and obviously biased in regards to him.

 

Came to say all of this.

 

Interesting stuff

 

It doesnt matter if Marshall was Listons 7th pro fight the fact is that he was baffled by him. Marshall was a light heavyweight who had been stopped by almost every hw he faced and had never convincingly defeated a hw so lets not pretend that he wasnt at his own disadvantages.

The question wasnt whether Liston defeated Whitehurst and Machen but whether he was baffled by them. He was. Whitehurst fought Liston head to head, showed no fear of him, and had the radio announcers calling the fight saying Liston looked ordinary and nothing like the hype that was building around him. Machen fought Liston one handed and lost by a round swing on one card and a two round swing on another. Liston by his own admission was frustrated as hell in that fight. So yes, Id say the SI article was far accurate than Jack McKinney who was well known to puff Liston up.

 

Very nice S ,just got it in before the virus hit home.Had to cancel my flight to the Dominican Republic Tuesday though.

 

The original article was written just ahead of the Clay fights at a time where Sonny was seen as absolutely unbeatable, so the object here was to find examples in his background where an invincible champion had more difficulty. And the guy did a good job unearthing these interviews.

It would be no different had a reporter done a piece like this on Tyson ahead of the Douglas fight.

 

Marshall won a spit dec over a novice Liston.Liston owned him in the two subsequent fights .
Was there any doubt Liston deserved the verdict against Machen who fought an unambitious fight imo ? Liston knocked Whitehurst out of the ring in their last fight he was in the process of climbing back in when the final bell rang and saved him from a ko . Much Ado About Nothing.

 

But a lousy job of interpreting them!