How good was Sonny Liston?

Question

Either Liston was an un-beatable bear who took obvious dives against Ali..........

........or he was a glass-jawed fake that would have been a very early KO victim of Marciano.

Which one is it guys?

Answer 1

Well according to the rocket scientists here in yahoo answers Liston made water into wine, raised the dead, and walked on water! Marciano would have took him apart within 5. Sure he could punch and had a good jab but so does Tommy Morrison. So theres a superfight, Liston-Morrison!!!!! The Mulletted warrior VS The big ugly bear!

Answer 2

Between bundini and johnny quest they pretty much covered it, both get a thumbs up from the blogbaba. Liston was beatable, anyone is beatable, nobody is invincable. Ali beat him, twice, and you have to figure if a light hitting Ali could KO Sonny, so could Marciano, who hit a lot harder than Ali. Liston hit as hard as anyone, and all I have is an opinion as to whether he tanked or not in the Ali fights, no hard facts.

My opinion is the first fight was on the up and up, Liston's corner wouldn't have put the liniment on the gloves in an effort to blind Ali if they were trying to tank it. In the second one, Ali definately landed a hard short punch, you can see the sweat spray off Liston's head and watch the jolting impact of the punch. As to whether Sonny could have got up and continued, only Sonny knows for sure, and he isn't telling.

Sonny certainly wasn't a glass-jawed fake, he had a ligitimate hall of career, but I cannot attest to his personal honesty, I didn't know the man personally.

Answer 3

Neither.

Sonny Liston was a heck of a fighter in his prime. The program is that we're not really sure when that prime was. He had more than 20 brothers and sisters, and never even knew how old he was.

Liston had one of the great jabs in boxing history. Floyd Patterson dodged him for years until he couldn't avoid it any longer. You saw what happened to him, and Liston was already in his late 30's -- at least, and maybe older -- by then.

If Liston had gotten a shot earlier in his career -- there were always whispers about his mob connections -- then he might have been champion for six, seven, eight years. He didn't look good against Ali, but sometimes you can get old overnight and he was facing arguably the greatest fighter ever. You can't hit what you can't catch.

Liston's career probably started too late for him to be any threat to Marciano, but it would have been a heck of a fight between the two of them in their primes. We only remember Liston from Lewiston, Maine, but the man could fight.

Answer 4

During his prime, Liston was the complete package. He was strong and he was quick despite his massive frame. He had a stiff left jab - one of the best in boxing - that could knock his opponents down. Most of all, he had knockout power in both fists which gave him a fearsome image just like Mike Tyson two decades later. Plus, his criminal past and shadowy background which manifested in his famous staredown gave his opponents, including Cassius Clay, chills, and most of them had themselves KO'd even before the opening bell. No one knew for sure if he had indeed taken a dive in the Clay/Ali fights but you must remember that Liston was an old cat (almost 40 years old) during those years and his skills had diminished somewhat so I think Ali really won those fights. Still, Liston should be considered one of the top 10 heavyweight greats.

Answer 5

liston was as legitimate a heavyweight as any, his left jab was exteremely powerful and he has knocked out opponents with it, as far as a glass jaw, you can throw that notion out the window, 50 - 4 (39) says it all. he was champion from september 25, 1962 to february 25, 1964.

Answer 6

mediocre at best. Oleg "the big O" Maskaev can beat this guy any day of the week.

Answer 7

his ok