WTF was Sonny Liston born?

No one knows for sure. It's been estimated that he was born circa 1930. Some people think even way before that, but I think it's close to being accurate.

When he first stopped Williams, he looked and moved like a man in his physical prime, he was probably anywhere from 27-29 at the time.

 

The official date is 1932. But I read that it could be between 1928 and 1930. Not a big difference. If Liston was alive today, the youngest he would be is 92. The oldest is 96. Perhaps he'd be a future Jake Paul opponent.

 

I agree with Emanual Steward who said Liston was much older, perhaps around 40 when he fought Ali

 

Agreed. There are some who have claimed that he was already in his 40’s when he lost to Ali which I think is a stretch. That would have made him circa 50 when he lost to Leotis Martin.

 

1930 seems most probable to me.

 

Well considering the fact he was around 127 during his first fight against Ali, he must have been born around 1837.

 

Liston at 58 would beats Paul for sure.

 

If you mean that literally, it's probably a stretch. Mike just showed just how old 58 is.

In his 40s, yeah Liston would still beat up Paul.

 

Sonny Liston had been dead for the better part of a couple decades by the time he'd have been 58.

 

Thought he meant Liston from 1958. 52 year old Holmes might have beaten Jake Paul. He did beat Butterbean at 52.

 

Tyson was 58 when he fought Jake Paul. I thought that's what he was referring to.

 

1927 at the earliest - the FBI database. And feds know their stuff.

 

These conversations are always dumb to me. Sonny Liston wasn't an only child. His mom had 12 kids with his dad. His siblings were alive when he was alive.

Liston was the second-youngest child of his parents. If he lied about his age and was 10 years older (or more), then he was one of THE OLDEST ... instead of one of the youngest.

And that would've been readily apparent given the wide age disparity and the number of kids.

Instead of asking Jack Dempsey how old he thought Liston was, all anyone had to do was ask one of his actual brothers or sisters if he was the oldest or youngest in the family.

Who was oldest among the kids? Who was youngest?

Sports writers weren't exactly investigative journalists back then, apparently.

My grandma grew up in a large family. She wasn't sure her actual birth date and year. She found out later she was a year older than she thought she was. But she knew which sibling was oldest and which was youngest. She grew up with them, after all. And she wasn't 10 years older than everyone else.

 

"CHARLES (SONNY) LISTON was on cortisone for five days immediately prior to his ill-fated title defense on Feb. 25, according to a report released Tuesday by the Senate Antitrust and Monopoly subcommittee. prepared by the State's attorney's office of Dade county, the report quoted Liston's adviser and personal physician as saying that Listen also was under going physiotherapy for pains in his left, arm for an 8 day Period before the fight. The Miami boxing Commission was not notified of the treatment, the report said. After the fight, according to the report, Dr. Lester Russin and other doctors at Miami's St. Francis Hospital confirmed Liston's injury as an inflamed tendon in his left arm. Dr. Russin was quoted as saying the condition was "particularly prevalent in older athletes".

"The report said that Dr. Russin estimated Liston's actual age as between 38 and 41. The former champion has listed himself as 30 years old."

Source: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98505474/the-philadelphia-inquirer/

1950 census says he was 27 at the time, indicating a birth year of '22 or '23.

1940 census says he was 10.

When he was arrested for the first time in January 1950, he was listed as 22 indicating a birth year of 1927 (or very unlikely 1928). https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-st-louis-star-and-times/98275755/

Likely range is anywhere from '22-'30. Gut feeling tells me '27-'28.