Many forget about the fallend legend of Sonny Liston, but this man was an absolute machine in his day! The heavyweight era of the 60s was arguably the most treacherous that ever existed, and Liston was an argualy undefeated 35-1 boxer (due to a fishy split decision) with ferocious power who sought out the best fighters each time out.
What people don't realize about Sonny Liston was just how damn good he was though! He was a serious threat to any man pre and post championship run, and one must remember that he was a hefty favorite against Floyd Patterson, a man who was on an 8 fight title defense run and was the youngest man to ever become heavyweight champion. With the ferocious beatdown and eventual knockout of Patterson, Liston made a name for himself as a legitimate champion.
Check out the short fight and finish below:
After this brilliant performance from Liston, Patterson was granted an immediate rematch due to the acclaim of his past achievements. Usually such a one sided beatdown doesn't permit the fighters to meet again so soon, but this was literally the first round and Floyd had never been dominated like this in any of his fights, but especially in his 8 fight title defense streak in which he had initially gotten the championship back after losing it.
Liston defeated Patterson by knockout in the second matchup when it was made, and in addition to becoming the 21st heavyweight champion of all time from beating Floyd Patterson, he had also gotten to defend his title spectacularly!
When Muhammad Ali became the mandatory challenger to Liston, it wasn't quite the cake walk people make it seem today. A part of Ali becoming the greatest was due in part to him defeating men like both Patterson and Liston. The iconic framing of Ali standing over Liston overshadowed most every other picture in boxing history due to its meaning at the time, and how Ali devastated the most frightening division of that era.
From Liston to Foreman, Ali is the greatest because of how great men of his era were!
Do you remember Sonny Liston's era, who are your favorite boxing heavyweights?
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