Your biggest Sonny Liston related question?

Honest suggestion. If you can't think of any topics, don't bother writing articles. If it's not there, don't force it.

Why don't you try using the search bar and resurrecting some older threads? The danger is, otherwise, that we get saturated with Sonny Liston this, Sonny Liston that and new threads get relegated onto page 2. Sonny was great and a fascinating man but you're turning the board into your personal sideshow.

 

Rumor has it that Boudini Brown and Angelo Dundee had a heated argument where guns were pulled over this issue

 

No worries. There are so many other fighters who'll blow you away and you seem really keen to learn.

Here are my favourite fighters. Ezzard Charles, Michael Spinks, Felix Trinidad, Tommy Hearns, Saad Muhammad. Check a few videos and threads of those guys and see what you think. All the very best and glad no offence was taken.

 

How much differently would he be remembered if his era hadn’t overlapped with Ali?
There would be a lot of greats who might not be considered that great if that was the cards they were dealt.
My other question is would he have benefited from a trainer who could teach him to cut off the ring, which to me is his main weakness.
I like Sonny Liston, so I am biased. Don’t think the guy ever got a fair shake but others may feel completely different.

 

Highly highly doubt it.

 

What did he think of The Beatles? (I’m not being flippant, he and Joe Louis were in the audience for their Miami appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, prior to the first Ali fight.)

 

Liston is one my faves but I try to remain objective.

It is true - Liston was forced to literally clean out the division before being granted a shot.

He was basically HW Champ by proxy, so to speak.

Anyone Liston didn’t fight was basically **** scared of him and avoided him.

In similar fashion, Jack Johnson had to run through all eligible opposition before finally being granted a shot by Tommy Burns.

The ONLY problem I see is the perception that actually defending a title successfully is of much more value than a win as a contender.

Don’t get me wrong, of course the delay in receiving a shot wasn’t Liston’s fault and he did prove himself to be THE man.

Patterson’s fighting conduct as Champ was the antithesis of Liston’s as a contender.

However, I think Lennox Lewis put it perfectly when he stated that it is much easier winning a title than hanging on to that title.

There is plenty to say to support that rationale.

For one thing, once granted a shot at the title, many contenders have been known to elevate their substantive game - some performing better than ever before - obviously, motivated by the big prize up for grabs.

As Champ, a fighter has to repel such challenges and remain on his own game 24/7.

As such, some Champs will be maligned for less impressive performances relative to such stern challenges - but really, ultimately winning and holding on the title in the face of such serious challenges is a big deal that should be conversely respected.

On the other side of the ledger, Liston was basically old when he finally came to the title and let himself go a bit thereafter - and he also had to face up to no less than a sublime Ali in just his 2nd title defence. Unlucky.

Some 10 years later, Foreman in just his own 3rd title defence, had to face up to that same Ali - again, very unlucky.

Ali was the major wrench thrown into the machine for two fearsome monsters of the HW Division - Muhammad turning the tricks a whole 10 years apart, at ages 22 and 32 respectively.

Without one Muhammad Ali on the scene, both Liston and Foreman could’ve conceivably had quite a few more successful defences under their title belts to enhance their titular legacies.