Tobe and Helen had 12 children together; Sonny was the second youngest child. He sunk to the canvas, and as he was down, Ali stood over him, taunting and demanding his stunned opponent get back up. Liston appears as a character in James Ellroy's novel The Cold Six Thousand. ", confirmed most people's belief that Liston had taken a dive. I'm Sonny Liston, I'm Jack Dempsey, there's no one like I'm from their . Muhammad Ali biographer Jonathan Eig shared a new theory as to why Sonny Liston may have taken a dive in the boxers' second bout. The World Boxing Association one of several boxing organizations was not too pleased, moving to strip Ali of his title and advising states not to agree to host the rematch. Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." There were some, however, who believed the fight was legitimate. One mile up on a mountain 13 miles west of Denver is the Shrine of Mother Cabrini. Liston had never been knocked out before, and most people didnt even see the punch happen. RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color Legends of Boxing in Color 2.47K subscribers Subscribe 16K views 8 months ago Very Rare interview with Sonny Liston and. Odds makers gave Liston 71 to win. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. 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. 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. Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. Watch the interview you be the judge. "From Bad Buck to White Hope: Journalism and Sonny Liston, 19581965. Very rare interview of Sonny Liston talking about how he got started in boxing, his fights with Williams and Patterson and his training routine. "He said: 'Look what they did!' "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. "Some songs just seem to reverberate with people.". Rogin called Liston's physique "awesomearms like fence posts, thighs like silos." A stoic Liston finished the fight, but lost in an eight-round split decision. In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. The highly-anticipated May 1965 rematch between the heavyweight champions almost didn't happen. In the sixth round, he carried it at belt level so that it was of no help in warding off the right crosses with which Clay probed at the cut under his left eye." Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La. In a pre-fight poll, 43 of 46 sportswriters picked Liston to win by knockout. Liston, with a 25-pound weight advantage, 214lb (97kg) to 189lb (86kg), knocked out Patterson at 2:06 of the first round, putting him down for the count with a powerful left hook to the jaw. [37] Frustrated, Liston changed his management in 1961 and applied pressure through the media by remarking that Patterson, who had faced mostly white challengers since becoming champion, was drawing the color line against his own race. Byrne sought an injunction blocking the fight in Boston because Inter-Continental Promotions was promoting the fight without a Massachusetts license. Was Pariah boxing legend Sonny Listons OD really a mob murder? C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. The most iconic photo in boxing history documents the knockout that almost nobody saw happen. So I went down. "[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. Liston was depicted as a bad guy by the media, a handbreaker for the mafia. [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. 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. Dennis Caputo of the Clark County Sheriff's Department was one of the first officers on the scene. Emily Post would probably recommend a ticker-tape parade. Felix later said Clay was seconds from being disqualified. In the 2001 film Ali, Liston was portrayed by former WBO Heavyweight Champion Michael Bentt. [47] Sitting on his stool between rounds, however, Liston was breathing heavily as his cornermen worked on his cut. Caputo, one of the investigating police officers, "The whole department knew about it." He was 6ft 1in (1.85m), and had an exceptionally powerful physique, with a disproportionately long reach at 84 inches (2.13m). "There is power in both his left and his right, even though the fists move with the languor of motoring royalty or as if passing through a gaseous envelope more dense than air." Charles "Sonny" Liston was born c.1930 into a sharecropping family that farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St.Francis County, Arkansas. Writer Jack McKinney said, "I watched Sonny. "He said, 'Cut the gloves off. Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), who entered as a 71 underdog. Theories regarding the circumstance of Liston's death. He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died in mysterious circumstances in 1970. Thom Jones titled his 2000 collection of short stories Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine. interview with Alex Haley in Muhammad Ali by Thomas Hauser. I'm the best ever. "[95], Sgt. [15] In 1946, Helen Baskin, along with some of her children, moved to St. Louis to seek factory work. Then again, you can also have guys like Ali or Mike Tyson. In the first fight, in Miami, a 22-year-old Cassius Clay danced around the ring, taunted Liston, promised reporters hed shock the world, and then delivered on that promise with a blistering late attack that prompted Liston to toss in the towel after the sixth round. "Sonnyboyliston | Race Record & Form | Racing Post", "Moonfire (1972), a film by Michael Parkhurst -Theiapolis", NYSAC World Heavyweight Champion - BoxRec, Lyrics to a song about Liston by Mark Knopfler, FBI Records: The Vault - Charles Sonny Liston, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Liston&oldid=1137950795, International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees, 20th-century African-American sportspeople, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016, Pages with login required references or sources, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Hackman, Timothy. According to a New York Times report the day after the fight, Clay was indeed an official member of the Nation of Islam. RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color Legends of Boxing in Color 22K views 10 months ago On the Spot show with Max Goldberg featuring the heavyweight champion. "Better get me out of this ring," exclaimed Wilson, "he is going to kill me! He took one and went down. The rumors swirling nearly canceled the fight the night prior, and when a reporter that morning broke tradition and asked if Clay was a member of the Black Muslims, as the group was often called, the boxer confirmed his new religion. 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. The commotion was not lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. "[18], After Liston was released from prison on October 31, 1952, he had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. Sonny Liston became world heavyweight champion in 1962 and fought Muhammad Ali twice In January 1971, former heavyweight champion of the world Sonny Liston was found dead at his Las Vegas. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. [10] His family, but not one Charles (or Sonny) Liston, can be found in the 1930 census, and in the 1940 census he was listed as 10 years old. Wepner, who also fought George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, said after his career was over that Liston was the hardest puncher he faced. Ali did neither. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. Knopfler, who now records as a soloist and performs with a backup band, has a wide-ranging curiosity that has produced an eclectic collection of songs. Subsequently, Liston spent some months in Denver where a Catholic priest who acted as his spiritual adviser attempted to help bring his drinking under control. Liston was the subject of a 2008 feature film based upon his life titled Phantom Punch. Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread and all them sluggers went down like lead. He then outpointed Julius Griffin, winner of the New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, to capture the Intercity Golden Gloves Championship on March 26 (representing Chicago). The story goes that Liston was born somewhere . 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." Liston captured the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions on March 6, 1953, with a victory over 1952 Olympic Heavyweight Champion Ed Sanders. Sad how they portrayed sonny in such a negative light he seems like a genuinely kind person. After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia. He said it was taught to him by comedian and film actor Stepin Fetchit, who learned it from Jack Johnson. "[42], Liston made his second title defense on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). Furthermore, that count cannot be started until the fighter scoring the knockdown goes to and remains in a neutral corner. Helen had one child before she married Tobe, and Tobe had 13 children with his first wife. For his part, Liston said that the referees inability to keep track of time doomed him, as he didnt know when to get up from the mat. Alois Stevens, suggested to Liston that he try boxing, and his obvious aptitude, along with an endorsement from Stevens, who was also a priest, aided Liston in getting an early parole. Unfortunately for Martin, however, his career ended after that fight due to a detached retina he suffered during the bout. "[35] Although largely illiterate through lack of schooling, Liston was a more complex and interesting individual than has often been acknowledged. "It was common knowledge that Sonny was a heroin addict," said Sgt. Tocco left the house before the police did. "I was rooting around in my childhood, maybe the way you do when you get to a certain age," Knopfler said.