Charles ‘Sonny’ Liston has no official birthday, but is believed to have been born in Arkansas in the early 1920’s. After a troubled childhood that led to crime, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. Released after two years, Sonny began a brief amateur boxing career which saw him win the Chicago Golden Gloves in 1953. He made his professional debut on September 2, 1953, and knocked out Don Smith in one round in St. Louis. His management had mob ties, and they were in control of his professional career until the end. Liston won his first 7 bouts before losing, then rebounded with 7 more wins before doing more jail time. Upon his release after serving six months, Sonny returned to the ring, and began a climb up the heavyweight rankings. After the retirement of Rocky Marciano in 1956, Floyd Patterson won the title, and Liston set his sights on him. After Patterson and Ingemar Johansson fought a trilogy that ended in 1961, Sonny was the number one contender.
Floyd’s manager Cus D’Amato made every excuse for his fighter to avoid facing Liston, but Patterson insisted on accepting his challenge. Sonny had earned the shot by defeating top contenders like Mike DeJohn and Cleveland Williams twice, and the date was signed for September 25, 1962 in Chicago for the Patterson fight. Liston didn’t disappoint the public with his first round destruction of the champion. In the rematch on July 22, 1963 in Las Vegas, Sonny easily disposed of Floyd in one round again.
With his strength, size and power, Liston was viewed as almost invincible, but his title reign ended when he met the young 8-1 upstart named Cassius Clay on February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach. Clay shocked the world with sixth round stoppage, when Liston quit on his stool after that round. A year later, on May 25, 1965, Liston took a dive in the first round, told by his underworld backers to either “Throw the fight, or die.”
While Liston returned to action, and continued to fight until 1970, he never challenged for the title again. Sonny was found dead by his wife Geraldine in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971, and despite whatever you may have heard, was given a hot-shot by the mob to kill him. Whenever I think of Sonny Liston, I think of a potentially great fighter, who had a sad and tragic life. He was rightfully inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, and is still one of the legends of heavyweight boxing history.
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