Sonny Liston
Sonny Liston | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles L. Liston May 8, 1932? |
| Died | December 30, 1970 (aged about 38 to 42) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Sonny The Big Bear[1] |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
| Height | 6 ft 0.5 in (1.84 m) |
| Reach | 84 in (2.13 m) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 54 |
| Wins | 50 |
| Wins by KO | 39 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (May 8, 1932 (uncertain) – December 30, 1970) was a professional boxer who became world heavyweight champion in 1962 by knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round. Liston was one of the most powerful punchers and jabbers in the history of boxing. He was number 15 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Early life
His mother believed he was born in January, 1928, but Liston would later claim his birth date to be May 8, 1932.[2]
Liston was born the son of a sharecropper in the sector of Morledge Plantation that day in Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas. He was the 12th of 13 children born to Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin, and he endured frequent beatings as a child. At 13, he escaped from his father's control and hitchhiked to St. Louis by himself to reunite with his mother and his cousins.
He was sentenced to prison as a teenager for taking part in the robbery of a gas station. When he robbed places he always wore the same yellow t-shirt, and became known to the local police force as the "Yellow Shirt Bandit". When he was caught running away from the gas station wearing the same yellow t-shirt, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison. His boxing talent was discovered by a Roman Catholic priest, and it was boxing that helped him get out on parole two years later, along with an endorsement from the priest. Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed 3 meals every day. [3] On Halloween night in 1952, he was paroled.
Amateur boxing career
After he was released from prison Liston had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. He won several amateur tournaments, including the Golden Gloves. One of his opponents was Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders.
Professional boxing career
Liston made his professional debut on September 2, 1953, knocking out Don Smith in the first round in St. Louis, where he fought his first five bouts.
At 6' 0½", Liston had a disproportionately long reach of 84" (equaled only by some champs who were/are 6'4" and over). He also had the largest fists in heavyweight history, 15", at least until the recent appearance of 7-ft Nikolay Valuev. His noticeably more muscular left arm and crushing left jab lends credence to the widely held belief that he was left-handed but utilized an orthodox stance.
Liston's favorite song was "Night Train". He was known to repeat both versions (Jimmy Forrest's original 1952 version and James Brown's 1965 smash hit) during long rope jumping sessions.
In his 6th bout, in Detroit, Michigan, Liston faced John Summerlin (19-1-2) on national television and won an eight-round decision. He later beat Summerlin in a rematch, but then suffered his first defeat, also in Detroit, at the hands of Marty Marshall on September 7, 1954. In the third round, Marshall, a tough journeyman, managed to break Liston's jaw with a right hand as Liston foolishly laughed at the smaller man during rounds. While Liston still finished the fight, Marshall got the decision.
In 1955, he won six fights, he won five by knockouts, including a rematch with Marshall, whom he knocked out in six rounds, after first getting knocked down himself. A rubber match with Marshall in 1956 saw him the winner by a ten-round decision, but in May of that year he again ran afoul of the law, accused of beating up a police officer. He was paroled after serving six months of a nine-month sentence and prohibited from boxing during 1957.
In 1958, he returned to boxing, winning eight fights that year. 1959 was a banner year for Liston, as he fought four times, knocking out Mike DeJohn in six, No. 1 challenger Cleveland Williams in three, and Nino Valdez, also in three. Despite moving up in the rankings, Liston had difficulty getting a shot at world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, whose handlers cited Liston's links with the mob.
In 1960, Liston won five more fights, including a rematch with Williams, who lasted only two rounds. He also had knockout wins over Roy Harris (one round) and top contender Zora Folley (three rounds). Eddie Machen was the only contender who was not knocked out by Liston, but Liston secured a one-sided, 12-round decision.
Patterson-Liston
In 1962, Floyd Patterson finally signed to meet Liston for the world title. The fight was scheduled to be held in New York, but the New York Boxing Commission denied him a license because of his criminal record. As a result, the fight was moved to Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois. Leading up the fight, Sonny Liston was the major betting line favorite, though Sports Illustrated predicted that Patterson would win in 15 rounds. James J. Braddock, Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson picked Patterson to win. The fight also carried a number of social implications. Liston's connections with the mob were well known, and the NAACP was concerned about having to deal with Liston's visibility as world champion and had encouraged Patterson not to fight Liston fearing that a Liston victory would tarnish the civil rights movement. [4] Patterson also claimed that John F. Kennedy did not want him to fight Liston either.[5] In the ring, Liston's size and power proved too much for Patterson's guile and agility and Patterson did not use his speed to his benefit. According to Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin, Patterson didn't punch enough and frequently tried to clinch with Liston. Liston battered Patterson with body shots and then shortened up and connected with two double hooks high on the head. The result at the time was the 3rd fastest knockout in boxing history.[6] After the fight questions were raised on whether or not the fight was fixed to set up a more lucrative rematch.[7]
Liston, however, was not a popular champion. After his knockout of Patterson, Liston practiced the speech he was going to give when the crowds greeted him at the airport in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia. However Liston was disappointed that on his return there was no one there except for airline workers, a few reporters and photographers and a handful of public relations staff. He left Philadelphia after he won the title in part because he believed he was being harassed by the police. While driving through Fairmount Park which he had to drive to get from the gym to his home he was stopped for "driving too slow" through the park. As a result in 1963 he moved to Denver, where he announced, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia." [8]
Patterson and Liston signed for a rematch, held on the evening of July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This fight lasted four seconds longer than their first fight, with Liston once again knocking out Patterson in the first round.
Liston-Ali
Liston did not box again that year, and in 1964 on the evening of February 25 in Miami, Florida he fought against Cassius Clay, whom odds-makers made a distant 7-1 underdog. Liston lost his title when he shockingly quit in his corner before the start of the seventh round, claiming he had hurt his shoulder. yet in an earlier fight against Marty Marshall with no championship at stake, Liston had a fought a number of rounds with a broken jaw. It is important to note that no punches are thrown from the jaw.
On May 25, 1965, Liston would encounter Clay again, now known as Muhammad Ali. The bout was originally scheduled for Boston, Massachusetts, but Ali, a week before the fight, was hospitalized with a hernia. The rescheduled match was held in the city of Lewiston, Maine.
Less than two minutes into the fight, while he was pulling away from Liston, Ali hit Liston with an punch which didn't seem to have much weight behind it. However, Liston awkwardly went down, first lurching forward to the canvas then sprawling out onto his back, spread-eagled. In the total shambles that followed, referee Jersey Joe Walcott never counted over Liston and never made Ali go to a neutral corner, while Ali yelled hysterically at Liston, running around the ring, arms aloft. During this time Liston made an attempt to get back to his feet, before again rolling onto his back.
After Liston finally got up, ringside boxing writer Nat Fleischer, who had no authority, informed Walcott that Liston had been on the canvas for over 10 seconds (during which time the fight briefly resumed), and that the fight should be over. Inept 'referee' Walcott then waved the fight off even though he had never counted over Liston and had never made Ali go to a neutral corner, which meant the count in that fight is still at zero by the actual rules of boxing. The photograph of the suspicious knockdown of this fight is one of the most heavily promoted photos in the history of the media, and was even chosen as the cover of the Sports Illustrated special issue, "The Century's Greatest Sports Photos".
Former champions Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and Gene Tunney, as well as Ali opponents George Chuvalo and Floyd Patterson, all stated that they considered the fight a fake.
Subsequent fights
After the second loss to Ali, Liston took a year off from boxing, returning in 1966 and 1967, winning four consecutive bouts in Sweden, co-promoted by former World Heavyweight Champion Ingemar Johansson. These knockout victories included one over Amos Johnson, who had recently defeated Britain's Henry Cooper. In 1968, he won seven fights, all by knockout, including one in Mexico. During that year, he stopped the young prospect Henry Clark (seven rounds), who was ranked No. 5 at the time. This bout was broadcast on ABC's "Wide World Of Sports" and was America's first look at Liston since the Ali rematch.
In 1969, Liston had three wins and one loss. Among his wins was a 10-round decision over Billy Joiner in St. Louis. But, in December, Liston lost by a knockout in nine rounds to Leotis Martin in Las Vegas after dominating the majority of the fight. But while Martin's career ended after the fight because of a detached retina, Liston went on to win his final fight by technical knockout, against Chuck Wepner in June 1970. The referee stopped the bout in the 10th, with Wepner needing 57 stitches.
Death
Liston was negotiating to fight George Chuvalo in Pittsburgh, when he was found dead by his wife in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971.[9] She entered the premises and smelt a foul odour emanating from the main bedroom. She entered and saw Sonny slumped up against the bed, with a broken foot bench on the floor. The day of his death on his death certificate is December 30, 1970. Police estimated it by judging the number of milk bottles and newspapers at the front door.[10] Following an investigation, Las Vegas police concluded that there were no signs of foul play.
The cause of Liston's death remains a mystery. The police declared it a heroin overdose. An autopsy revealed traces of morphine and codeine of a type produced by the breakdown of heroin in the body. His body was so decomposed that tests were inconclusive and officially, he died of lung congestion and heart failure.[11] As documented on the show Unsolved Mysteries, authorities found a puncture wound on Liston's right arm, a syringe near his body, and small bags of heroin inside his kitchen. Authorities thus ruled Liston's death a heroin overdose, although an autopsy showed only minute morphine and codeine levels in Liston's body; too small for an apparent overdose.
Some, however, believe that the police investigation was a coverup, and the cause of Liston's death remains unresolved.[2] Liston supposedly had a phobia regarding needles. After winning the title, Liston at first refused to go on an exhibition tour of Europe when he was told he would have to get shots before he could travel overseas. Liston's wife also reported that her husband would refuse basic medical care for common colds because of his dislike of needles. This, coupled with the fact that Liston was never known to be a substance abuser (besides heavy drinking), prompted rumors that he could have been murdered by some of his underworld contacts. Sonny's wife had a very vivid dream the night of December 28, in which Sonny was in a shower shouting "Help me Geraldine, Help Me Geraldine".[12]
Additionally, authorities could not locate any other drug paraphernalia that Liston presumably would have needed to inject the fatal dose, such as a spoon to cook the heroin or an appendage to wrap around his arm. This only added to the mystery surrounding his death.
A friend of Liston's also told "Unsolved Mysteries" that Liston had been in a car accident a few weeks prior to his death. Liston was hospitalized with minor injuries, and received intravenous medicine. This is believed to be the source of the puncture wound that authorities found upon discovering Liston's body.
Liston is interred in Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada. His headstone bears the simple epitaph "A Man."
In popular culture
- A feature film about Liston's life Phantom Punch, starring Ving Rhames was produced in 2008 by Hassain Zaidi, Marek Posival and Ving Rhames.
- A wax statue of Liston in his boxing robe, borrowed from Madame Tussauds' Wax Museum, stands next to The Beatles on the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
- Liston made a cameo appearance in the 1968 film Head, which starred The Monkees.
- Liston played the part of the "Farmer" in the 1970 film Moonfire, with Richard Egan and Charles Napier.
- Liston appeared in a 1960s Braniff Airlines TV commercial with Andy Warhol. [2]
- The Munsters - Season 1, Episode 23 entitled Follow That Munster (original air date 2-25-1965) references Liston when Lily calls herself "Sonny Liston" as she strikes Herman in the jaw, knocking him down.
- Jerry Spinelli, the author of the children's novel Stargirl, included him in its dedication because its titular character has an analogous experience.
- Liston appears as a character in James Ellroy's novel The Cold Six Thousand. In the novel, Liston not only drinks, but also pops pills, and works as a sometime enforcer for a heroin ring in Las Vegas. Liston also appears in the sequel, Blood's a Rover.
- Brian DeVido's 2004 novel Every Time I Talk to Liston details a boxer's attempts to draw inspiration from visits to Liston's Las Vegas grave.
- Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine is the title of a 2000 collection of short stories by Thom Jones
- Hunter S. Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas mentions Liston: "The idea that two heroin pushers in a white Cadillac convertible would be dragging up and down the Strip, abusing total strangers at stoplights, was prima facie absurd. Not even Sonny Liston ever got that far out of control."
- Redd Foxx mispronounced the boxer's name (whether accidentally or deliberately isn't quite clear) as "Sonny Lister" on his comedy album Live and Dirty, vol. 1.
- The Season six premiere of Scrubs, "My Mirror Image": The older patient the Janitor is talking to claims to have punched a whale and that the whale went down 'like Liston'.
- In the film Sleepers, a poster for Liston is seen on the wall of Robert De Niro's apartment and show's The Pines as the location of the fight.
- The TV show E-Ring features a character named Samantha "Sonny" Liston.
- Liston has been referenced in songs by artists such as Sun Kil Moon, The Animals, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, Phil Ochs, Morrissey, The Mountain Goats, Freddy Blohm, Chuck E. Weiss, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
- Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston," appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La.
- Liston is mentioned in the Sun Kil Moon song "Glenn Tipton". This song is also found on Mark Kozelek's 2006 live solo album "Little Drummer Boy." Lyrics: "Cassius Clay was hated more than Sonny Liston. Some like KK Downing more than Glenn Tipton. Some like Jim Nabors, some Bobby Vinton. I like 'em all..."
- Liston is mentioned in The Roots song "Don't Feel Right": "And that's the reason we livin' where they don't wanna visit, where the dope's slang and keep swingin' like Sonny Liston"
- Liston is mentioned in the Wu-Tang Clan song "Triumph": "Sound convincing, thousand dollar court by convention, hands like Sonny Liston."
- Liston is mentioned in the Gone Jackals song "Born Bad": "I dodged a sucker punch and dropped a bomb, like Liston, on an animal hunch."
- Liston is mentioned in the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire": "Liston beats Patterson."
- Liston is mentioned in The Mountain Goats song "Love Love Love": "And Sonny Liston rubbed some tiger balm into his glove..."
- Liston is mentioned in the Roll Deep song "Badman": "Youths go missing in the system, get banged up like Sonny Liston."
- Liston is mentioned in the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song "Babe, I'm On Fire" from 2004's Nocturama.
- Liston appears 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".
- Liston is mentioned in the UCL song "Save You From the Fire: I'm winning this fight like Ali vs. Liston."
- Liston is mentioned in the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, "Swingin'" on their 1999 album Echo: "Yeah, she went down swinging / Like Sonny Liston."
See also
References
- ^ http://www.fastload.org/so/Sonny_Liston.html - His opponent Muhammad Ali used this nickname against Liston, changing it to "the Big Ugly Bear" and leaving bear traps outside Liston's house
- ^ a b c Tosches, Nick, 'The Devil And Sonny Liston, 2000, Little, Brown, USA, ISBN 0-316-89775-2.
- ^ Sares, Ted, "Boxing's Hard Times, Good Times", East Side Boxing, November 22, 2006.
- ^ Esquire covers commemorate boxing's prime
- ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/11/sportsline/main1610954.shtml Ex-Champ Floyd Patterson Dies At 71
- ^ Sonny Liston: The Facts http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/705/sonny-liston-facts/
- ^ The Facts About The Big Fight http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1147918/index.htm
- ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1118820/3/index.htm O Unlucky Man
- ^ The Sad Legacy of Sonny Liston
- ^ Like Fights Against Ali, Liston Death a Mystery
- ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1118820/8/index.htm
- ^ Sonny Liston: His Life, Strife and the Phantom Punch by Rob Steen, pp 252
External links
- Boxing record for Sonny Liston from BoxRec (registration required)
- The Cyber Boxing Zone - Sonny Liston
- The Sad Legacy of Sonny Liston by William Dettloff
- The Troubled Life And Sad Legacy Of Sonny Liston by Mike Dunn
- Lyrics to a song about Liston by Mark Knopfler
- Sonny Liston Memorial at Find A Grave