sonny liston interview

More on that in a second. Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread and all them sluggers went down like lead. Name: Sonny Liston Birth Name: Charles L. Liston Hometown: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Birthplace: Johnson Township, Arkansas, USA Died: 1970-12-30 (Age:40) Stance: Orthodox Height: 185cm Reach: 213cm Referee: Record Pro Boxer: Record Amateur Boxer: Record Managers: Jack Nilon, Joe (Pep) Barone, Eddie Polino, George Katz, Frank Mitchell, Dick Sadler Former champions James J. Braddock, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson all picked Patterson to win. Tale of the tape: Fight poster for Sonny Liston v Cassius Clay in 1964. . BOXING Correction: July 15, 2005, Friday A sports picture caption on Wednesday with an article about Mark Knopfler's ballad for the boxer Sonny Liston referred incorrectly in some copies to the year in which Muhammad Ali knocked out Liston in Lewiston, Me. People around the world tuned in via satellite to watch the match, which was fought in front of 2,434 paying ticket-holders, the smallest crowd in heavyweight championship fight history; people there suggested the crowd was more like 4,000, but nonetheless, it was a very small in-person audience. Half a mile above and beyond the shrine, looking down from the summit of the mountain, is a statue of the Sacred Heart. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights. Liston won 14 consecutive bouts, 13 by knockout, before fighting third-ranked Leotis Martin, previously beaten by Clark, in December 1969. He offered no comment on the matter, but his victory would soon turn it into an international story. He was also seeking to prove himself after his two embarrassing and suspicious losses to Ali. He won by a seventh-round technical knockout, and seemed on the verge of making a comeback to the big time. And it was probably for the best ticket-buyers didnt exactly get their moneys worth. You've seen him before but probably didn't realize it because the most famous photo ever taken of Sonny was not at his best angle. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. "He was scared, he was scared of so many things," Knopfler said. He sunk to the canvas, and as he was down, Ali stood over him, taunting and demanding his stunned opponent get back up. The torn tendon had bled down into the mass of the biceps, swelling and numbing the arm. However, when Clay returned to his corner, he started complaining that there was something burning in his eyes and he could not see. The match had more storylines than a soap opera. [citation needed], Liston competed in the 1953 United States National Championships at Boston Garden and passed the preliminaries, stopping Lou Graff in the second round on April 13, but lost in the quarterfinals to 17-year-old Jimmy McCarter on April 15. He rolled over, got to his right knee and then fell on his back again. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. This is a place for friendly and civil debate about the greatest sport on earth. "He had a deadly fear of needles," said Davey Pearl, a boxing referee and friend of Liston's. Liston angrily responded by questioning whether Dempsey's failure to serve in World War I qualified him to moralize. At the IBHOF, the casts of Listons hands were bigger than Lennox Lewis' which were also gigantic. The Devil and Sonny Liston. World light-heavyweight champion Jos Torres said, "It was a perfect punch." I was about to say look at those mitts! The organization was seen as an extremist anti-white people hate group and opponents of desegregation and Martin Luther King Jr. Clays propensity for self-promotion and controversy seemed to fit in with the groups inflammatory rhetoric. Sonny Liston in his prime . The bout would need to be delayed by six months. Although the opening round saw Clay largely on the defensive, it was soon established that Clay could reverse roles quickly and take to the offensive with a remarkably fast series of combinations delivered to Liston's head. [48] The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run! It made a champion out of Clay, who declared that hed shook up the world.. "It was common knowledge that Sonny was a heroin addict," said Sgt. Welcome to r/boxing, the official home of pro boxing on Reddit! Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c.1930 December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. "He had a left like Henry's hammer," Knopfler sings, "a right like Betty Bamalam. There's something really primal about the whole thing, obviously. [12], Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed three meals every day. "And I suppose Sonny Liston always stuck with me. But a Senate subcommittee hearing turned up no evidence of any match-fixing, and doctors confirmed his explanation that hed taken such damage to his shoulder that he couldnt feel his arm. [47] Sitting on his stool between rounds, however, Liston was breathing heavily as his cornermen worked on his cut. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Mike DeJohn was the highest paid boxer at $15,000 while James Dickey received $20,000. He also went with a new manager in 1958: Joseph "Pep" Barone, who was a front man for mobsters Frankie Carbo and Frank "Blinky" Palermo. We had a return bout clause with Clay, but if you say your guy just quit, who is gonna get a return bout? Never seen this one before, thanks alot. Liston has been referenced in many songs by artists such as Curtis Eller, Sun Kil Moon, the Animals, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, Phil Ochs, Morrissey, Freddy Blohm, Chuck E. Weiss, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, the Roots, Wu-Tang Clan, Gone Jackals, Billy Joel, the Mountain Goats, Lil Wayne, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Killers. The victim sought out the executioner." Caputo, one of the investigating police officers, "The whole department knew about it." "Now (after seeing video) I think Clay, seeing the opening, snapped the punch the last six inches. In the 2001 film Ali, Liston was portrayed by former WBO Heavyweight Champion Michael Bentt. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." The photo captures the champions exhortations, with all the fire and passion and dynamic physicality that made him such a phenomenon. ", Chuck Wepner on Liston's intimidating appearance. A couple weeks later, he was still complainin' about that needle mark. Entire books have been written about the fight, and one, released in 2015, sought to end the suggestion that Liston took another fall. In an unearthed, unaired TV interview, Sonny Liston's wife once said that the fighter needed to get out of the ring as fast as possible because he had diarrhea. So I went down. Liston's noticeably more muscular left arm, crushing left jab and powerful left hook lent credence to the widely held belief that he was left-handed, although he fought in an orthodox stance. I forgot about the rules." [70] There have been a number of unproven theories as to the background to the purported dive including that Liston was threatened by the Muslims, or agreed to lose in return for a share in the more marketable Ali's future purses. And the face, it was an unforgettable face. At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. It'll just be for slow guitar, soft trumpet and a bell.". He would later employ McCarter as a sparring partner. What are you doing? "[82] Johnny Tocco, a trainer who worked with George Foreman and Mike Tyson as well as Liston, said Liston was the hardest hitter of the three. ", Knopfler compared writing a song about Liston to the work a sculptor performs on a statue. Who needed that? They fought for a third time on March 6, 1956, which Liston won by a ten-round unanimous decision. kos k.o.s ko.s knockouts fight of the year joe louis lewis primo carnera buddy max baer tony galento lamon brewster monte barrett barret amir khan oleg maskaev nicolai valuev nikolai joe calzaghe sergej sergey liakhovich liakovich shannon briggs evander holyfield zultan ibragimov sultan meldrick taylor pauli ayala paul spadafora prince prinze naseem hamed naz johnny tapia john ruiz wilfredo gomez wilfried benitez george foreman big ron lyle earnie shavers joe frazier ken norton angelo dundee eddie futch riddick bowe Henry Akinwande Muhammad Ali Max Baer Michael Bentt Riddick Bowe James J. Braddock Shannon Briggs Tommy Burns Primo Carnera Ruslan Chagaev Ezzard Charles Gerrie Coetzee James J. Corbett Francesco Damiani Jack Dempsey Michael Dokes Jimmy Ellis Bob Fitzsimmons Joe Frazier Marvin Hart Herbie Hide Evander Holyfield James J. Jeffries Ingemar Johansson Jack Johnson Vitali Klitschko Sonny Liston Joe Louis Rocky Marciano Ray Mercer Tommy Morrison Greg Page Floyd Patterson John Ruiz Max Schmeling Bruce Seldon Jack Sharkey James Smith John L. Sullivan John Tate Ernie Terrell Tony Tubbs Nikolay Valuev Jersey Joe Walcott Mike Weaver Jess Willard Tim Witherspoon Muhammad Ali Lou Ambers Sammy Angott Fred Apostoli Ray Arcel Alexis Argello Baby Arizmendi Henry Armstrong Abe Attell Max Baer Caleb Baldwin Carmen Basilio Wilfred Bentez Nino Benvenuti Jack Kid Berg Jimmy Bivins Umberto Branchini Joe Brown Panama Al Brown Ken Buchanan Charley Burley Orlando Canizales Miguel Canto Tony Canzoneri Michael Carbajal Jem Carney Jimmy Carter Marcel Cerdan Antonio Cervantes Bobby Chacon Arthur Chambers Ezzard Charles Kid Chocolate Joe Choynski Stanley Christodoulou Billy Conn Eugne Criqui Jos Cuevas Jack Dempsey Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey Jack Dillon Professor Mike Donovan Paddy Duffy Don Dunphy Roberto Durn Lou Duva Billy Edwards Gabriel Elorde Jeff Fenech Bob Fitzsimmons George Foreman Bob Foster Joe Frazier Gene Fullmer Khaosai Galaxy Vctor Galndez Joe Gans Kid Gaviln Joey Giardello Mike Gibbons Wilfredo Gmez Humberto Mike Tyson [94], Liston was buried at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada. Banker said, "Sheriff [Ralph] Lamb told me, 'Tell your pal Sonny to stay away from the West Side because we're going to bust the drug dealers.'" [20], Liston signed a contract in September 1953, proclaiming: "Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do. The second fight? Some writers thought Liston brought bad press on himself by a surly and hostile attitude toward journalists. Stevens organized a sparring session with a professional heavyweight named Thurman Wilson to showcase Liston's potential. Some found it suspicious that authorities could not locate any drug paraphernalia that Liston presumably would have needed to inject the fatal dose, such as a spoon to cook the heroin or a tourniquet to wrap around his arm. [30] Before his bout with Liston, Muhammad Ali consulted Machen and was advised that the key to survival was to make Liston lose his temper. Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. [24], In 1958, Liston returned to boxing. Once he went down, I got excited. [8], Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed muggings and armed robberies. Time magazine said Liston had worked himself into the best shape of his career. Gary Beckwith said, "It wasn't uncommon for family members in these cases to go through and tidy up to save family embarrassment. He was scared of the black-power movement. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. The commotion was not lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. There are echoes of slavery in his upbringing." . For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." Authorities theorized that he was undressing for bed when he fell over backward with such force that he broke the rail of the bench. "[18] The only backers willing to put up the necessary money for him to turn professional were close to underworld figures, and Liston supplemented his income by working for racketeers as an intimidator-enforcer. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The FBI was on the hunt for evidence for match-fixing, given Listons mob ties mobsters still owned much of his fight promotion contract and the sports shady business model. The opening round was fought an extra eight seconds, since both fighters and referee Barney Felix apparently did not hear the bell. [50] His "Speedway at Nazareth" was about auto racing. [32] Ironically, Patterson's manager, Cus D'Amato, associated with racketeers and had his manager's license revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission for alleged misconduct in connection with the Floyd PattersonIngemar Johansson title fight in June 1959. The champion was stripped of the belt when he refused to be drafted into the armed services during the Vietnam War, and he didnt box again in a match that counted until 1970. "I was rooting around in my childhood, maybe the way you do when you get to a certain age," Knopfler said. Genuinely kind mobster who had been convicted of armed robbery and assault. (4) Liston was supposed to take a dive when he fought Chuck Wepner six months earlier, and killing him was payback for his failure to do so. The following year, Sonnydetermined to reunite with his mother and siblingsthrashed the pecans from his brother-in-law's tree and sold them in Forrest City, Arkansas. "[78] While much has been written about the effectiveness of his left jab, others have commented favorably on Liston's wide range of boxing skills. [72], "I was an 'intimidator' until I fought Sonny Liston. "Nat Fleischer [editor of The Ring] was sitting beside McDonough and he was waving his hands, too, saying it was over." It was the first time in his career that Liston had been cut. In "Song for Sonny Liston," Knopfler's voice is backed by electric guitar, a bass and drums as he tells the story of a sharecropper's son who went from prison to the championship to an early death under mysterious circumstances. [33], Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example for youth. You really never watched the first fight did you? Arthur Daley of the New York Times wrote that Liston's handlers knew he "didn't have it anymore,"[65] and allegedly they had secretly paid sparring partner Amos Lincoln an extra $100 to take it easy on him -[citation needed] - the same man, incidentally, that Liston dismissed in less than two rounds a full three years later. That saw him drive a big red bus to Liston's home that read, "Sonny Liston is a great but will fall in eight" along with the words "World's most colorful fighter Cassius Clay.". Sonny Liston in Denver, Colorado. Rare interview of Sonny Liston colorized. ", Liston appeared on the December 1963 cover of Esquire magazine (cover photograph by Carl Fischer) "the last man on earth America wanted to see coming down its chimney".[106]. With the proceeds, he traveled to St. Louis to live with his mother. [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. interview with Alex Haley in Muhammad Ali by Thomas Hauser. Liston retired in his corner due to an inflamed shoulder. Philadelphia wanted nothing to do with him. [35] There are several theories as to why: (1) publicist Harold Conrad and others believed Liston had been deeply involved as a bill collector of a loansharking ring in Las Vegas. Machen's mobility enabled him to go the distance but he was clearly outpointed despite Liston being penalised for a low blow in the 11th round. And I said, 'Whoa, whoa, back up, baby. [43] A month later, Liston was accused of impersonating a police officer by using a flashlight to wave down a female motorist in Fairmount Park, although all charges were later dropped. At one point, Clay was wiping his eyes with his right hand while extending his left arm"like a drunk leaning on a lamppost" Bert Sugar wroteto keep Liston at bay. Liston believed his date of birth to be May 8, 1932, and used this for official purposes[11] but by the time he won the world title an aged appearance added credence to rumors that he was actually several years older. All Rights Reserved. Knopfler, who was born in Scotland and grew up in northern England, said Liston's story was "exciting subject matter because it's so mysterious." Walcott never began a count in the ring because of Ali's non-compliance and his physical struggle with getting Ali to go to that neutral corner. [103], Sonny Liston was featured in a novel "Girl Fighter" with a brief reference to his early life, his rise to WBC heavyweight champion and his eventual losses to Clay/Ali.[104]. [5][6] Alfie Potts Harmer in The Sportster also ranked him the third greatest heavyweight and the sixth greatest boxer at any weight. ", Hutchison, Phillip J. Furthermore, that count cannot be started until the fighter scoring the knockdown goes to and remains in a neutral corner. "[75], Future world heavyweight champion George Foreman, who sparred with Liston after Foreman's amateur career, assessed Liston's jab as the most formidable he faced and Liston as the strongest man he encountered in the ring, describing Liston as having the most natural talent and skill. His wife said he was a kind & gentle hearted person who cared deeply for children & that no one ever saw that side of him except those closest to him I believe there's a documentary somewhere on YouTube I'd recommend watching it MatterUpbeat8803 19 days ago Liston biographer Paul Gallender claims that Liston fathered several children, though none with his wife. The previous month, Schreibauer had won a bronze medal in the European Championships. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. He said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. [15] In 1946, Helen Baskin, along with some of her children, moved to St. Louis to seek factory work. The fight quickly descended into chaos. He said that Liston was not quick with his hand or footwork, that he relied too much on his ability to take a punch, and that he could be vulnerable to an opponent with more hand speed. After demolishing these top-ranked fighters in the heavyweight division, Liston was regarded as the top-contender champion-in-waiting. But audiences attending Knopfler's concerts around North America this summer are hearing and responding favorably to a song of a different genre, a bluesy narrative ballad called "Song for Sonny Liston," about the troubled fighter who preceded Muhammad Ali as heavyweight champion in the early 1960's. His death was, too. Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin wrote that "that final left hook crashed into Patterson's cheek like a diesel rig going downhill, no brakes." Thom Jones titled his 2000 collection of short stories Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine. He rounded out the year by stopping Nino Valdez and Willi Besmanoff. "You're putting things on and you're taking this out and molding it," Knopfler said. He is seen in the far left part of the row, wearing a white and gold robe, standing beside the original-look Beatle wax figures. The date of death listed on his death certificate is December 30, 1970,[90] which police estimated by judging the number of milk bottles and newspapers around the front door of the property. The connections to organized crime were an advantage early in his career but were later used against him. Liston was the subject of a 2008 feature film based upon his life titled Phantom Punch. Liston was depicted as a bad guy by the media, a handbreaker for the mafia. Asked by a young white reporter why he was not fighting for freedom in the South, Liston deadpanned, "I ain't got no dog-proof ass. Liston had thrown a jab with his left arm and, leaning forward, took a right hook from Ali right to the skull. The story goes that Liston was born somewhere . Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and his infamously intimidating appearance. Tosches, Nick (2000). The governor of nearby Maine, John Reed, stepped up and volunteered to host it in the small town of Lewiston, where a resort and ice rink could provide some infrastructure. It was the third-fastest knockout in a world heavyweight title fight, and the first time the defending champion had been knocked out in round one. Both fights were in Summerlin's hometown of Detroit.[23]. "He was scared of the police. And Tex Maule of Sports Illustrated wrote, "The blow had so much force it lifted Liston's left foot, upon which most of his weight was resting, well off the canvas.

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