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 had been dead for six days. Sports Illustrated writer Mort Sharnik said his hands "looked like cannonballs when he made them into fists." [5] They immigrated to the United States a few years before John was born. Bad end: James John Warjac confessed to giving Sonny Liston an overdose, {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. and he was pointing at some little bandage over the needle mark in his arm. After repeated overnight detention by the St. Louis police and a thinly veiled threat to his life, Liston left for Philadelphia. "[57] Those findings were confirmed in a formal investigation immediately after the fight by Florida State Attorney Richard Gerstein, who also noted that there was little doubt that Liston went into the fight with a sore or lame shoulder. Folley knocked down twice in 2nd round; 9 count and saved by the bell at 9 count. He had a whiplash, so they took him to the hospital," said boxing trainer Johnny Tocco. Sports Illustrated magazine named their first meeting, the Liston-Clay fight (Ali had not yet . [60] The extent to which Liston's heavy drinking and possible drug use may have contributed to his surprisingly poor performances against Ali is not known.[15]. He could send a man to the canvas with his uppercut, but didnt favor overhand punches much. "The public is not with me. Governor John H. Reed of Maine stepped forward, and within a few hours the promoters had a new site: Lewiston, Maine, a mill town with a population of about 41,000 located 140 miles (230km) north of Boston. He didn't move to Las Vegas until after the second fight with Muhammad Ali. This book is as much about Las Vegas as it is about Sonny Liston. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. Yet as Al Braverman, one his more trustworthy managers, assured me while I was researching my biography of Liston, Sonny Boy, his fear of needles was pathological. In the early 1980s, when Swaim was 30, his grandmother died, leaving a batch of press clippings about Warjac, who had once been on the FBI's "most wanted" list. Boston: Little, Brown. Caesar Novak takes Liston back in his gym as a fighter and asks him to stay out of prison. At about 30 seconds into the round he hit Liston with several combinations, causing a bruise under Liston's right eye and a cut under his left, which eventually required eight stitches to close. When Machen clinched in the second, Liston focused on the body, punishing his rib cages with hooks. [22], Early in his career, Liston faced capable opponents. Unwilling to ingratiate himself, he did little to help his own cause. Inter-Continental said local veteran Sam Silverman was the promoter. [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' [103], Sonny Liston was featured in a novel "Girl Fighter" with a brief reference to his early life, his rise to WBC heavyweight champion and his eventual losses to Clay/Ali.[104]. Dennis Caputo of the Clark County Sheriff's Department was one of the first officers on the scene. So long as he was winning he was useful; after Lewiston, he became increasingly dispensable. Anonymous VideoETA - The best source for Blu-ray and DVD release dates Sonny Clothing | Redbubble Drama 2010 1 hr 44 min. His father, Tobe Liston, was in his mid 40s when he and his wife, Helen Baskin, who was almost 30 years younger than Tobe, moved to Arkansas from Mississippi in 1916. the murder of Bobby Zazo and his connection to Caesar Novak.The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship were among the most anticipated, watched and controversial fights in the sport's history. A biography of the controversial fighter follows Liston from the mean streets, where he was a petty criminal, to the heavyweight championship and his life as a pawn of organized crime. Hall of Fame announcer Don Dunphy said, "Here was a guy who was in prison and the guards used to beat him over the head with clubs and couldn't knock him down." [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. The opening round was fought an extra eight seconds, since both fighters and referee Barney Felix apparently did not hear the bell. On July 28, 1963, Liston joined a group of 500 African Americans in Denver who marched to a post office to mail letters urging the Colorado congressional delegation to pass the Kennedy administration's civil rights package. Two of the three official scorers, or judges, awarded the round to Liston, and the other scored the round even. After Liston arose, Walcott wiped off his gloves. [70] There have been a number of unproven theories as to the background to the purported dive including that Liston was threatened by the Muslims, or agreed to lose in return for a share in the more marketable Ali's future purses. Liston experiences nightmares remembering abuse suffered at the hands of his father. Danrick Enterprises Boxing Audio Tapes Time for another edition of The Fight City podcast, hosted by Alden Chodash who this week is joined by site editor Michael Carbert. According to an ESPN expos, Liston was arrested 19 times, had both his fights against Ali questioned by the masses due to the strange nature in which they ended, and succumbed to an alleged heroin overdose in his early forties. Paul R Gallender, 2012. In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. "He said, 'Cut the gloves off. Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. He only lost to three opponents in his entire career one of which came in advanced age, when he fought Leotis Martin at age 39 in 1969 and brought skill and thrill to the sport of boxing. Liston is surprised by Cassius Clay's unusual style in their boxing match and asks Catfish to spread an irritating substance on his gloves to bother Clay's eyes. When caught in January 1950, Liston gave his age as 20, while the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that he was 22. In training for the Clay fight, he re-injured his left shoulder and was supposedly in pain striking the heavy bag. Out of lock down Sonny makes the acquaintance of gym operator and trainer Caesar Novak (Nicholas Torturro), a man with known mob ties, who manages Sonny to a series of wins in the late 50's. Timothy Bradley says Ryan Garcia has some advantages over Gervonta Davis, but also faces some stylistic challenges in the matchup. At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. On September 7, 1954, Liston suffered defeat for the first time in his eighth professional fight, losing to Marty Marshall, a journeyman with an awkward style. Novak takes him to Las Vegas, where Sonny and Geraldine buy a new house in December 1962 as the relationship between Caesar and Farah is falling apart. Should Salt Papi consider a pro boxing career? 25,000 first printing. Sitting in a parked car with Geraldine at night he is told by a policeman to move his car along, which escalates into a fistfight and another prison sentence for Liston. I know it", Liston said afterward. [88] On returning home from a two-week trip, Geraldine had smelled a foul odor emanating from the main bedroom and on entering saw him slumped up against the bed, a broken foot bench on the floor. Something was bothering Ali at the top of round five, and Liston could smell blood. [32] Ironically, Patterson's manager, Cus D'Amato, associated with racketeers and had his manager's license revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission for alleged misconduct in connection with the Floyd PattersonIngemar Johansson title fight in June 1959. If Ali was the face of the civil rights movement, Sonny, as Norman Mailer noted, was "the bad nigger". Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." Descents don't come much quicker or crueller than Liston's. Liston countered his opponents movement with precise shots at the beltline. Authorities theorized that he was undressing for bed when he fell over backward with such force that he broke the rail of the bench. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. Mob connections pressure Novak to tell Liston to take a dive in the upcoming match against Patterson so that they can win on a bet but Novak asks Liston to win instead. Philadelphia wanted nothing to do with him. The inaugural WBC world heavyweight champion cemented himself in history as one of the hardest hitters and soundest craftsmen of all time. Time magazine said Liston had worked himself into the best shape of his career. Liston went down on his back. At a time of growing racial unrest, he was cast in the public imagination as the angry, dangerous black man. Ali called it "the anchor punch." Walcott never began a count in the ring because of Ali's non-compliance and his physical struggle with getting Ali to go to that neutral corner. As usual, Liston wasted no time throwing his jab and keeping Machen at bay, who was trying to get his hands off with minimal success. "[96], Many people who knew Liston insisted he was afraid of needles and never would have used heroin. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma. He told Swaim about his role in both Liston's death and that of a showgirl who had wed a Texas oilman, depriving his family of a handsome inheritance: another enforced overdose, he claimed. [12], Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed three meals every day. "If you work hard in training, the fight is easy." - Manny Pacquiao. Liston angrily responded by questioning whether Dempsey's failure to serve in World War I qualified him to moralize. He rounded out the year by stopping Nino Valdez and Willi Besmanoff. [62] The promoters needed a new location quickly, whatever the size, to rescue their closed-circuit television commitment around the country. [49], Clay later said that in round five he could only see a faint shadow of Liston during most of the round, but by circling and moving frantically he managed to avoid Liston and somehow survive. The grave's marker-plate bears the dedication: "A Man. Unfortunately for Martin, however, his career ended after that fight due to a detached retina he suffered during the bout. In a pre-fight poll, 43 of 46 sportswriters picked Liston to win by knockout. Gary Beckwith said, "It wasn't uncommon for family members in these cases to go through and tidy up to save family embarrassment. We learn all about the underbelly of Las Vegas of the late '60s, including . When he tried to muscle in for a bigger share, Conrad thinks his employers got him very drunk, took him home and stuck him with a needle. Ali is waiting to hit me, the ref can't control him. You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. Reprint. Many in the small crowd had not even settled in their seats when the fight was stopped. The NAACP had urged Patterson not to fight Liston, fearing that a Liston victory would hurt the civil rights movement. His defense was described as "the gate-crossing of arms la Archie Moore. "Let it lie," the producer advised. Sonny Liston was one of historys most fearsome heavyweights, and much more than just a guy who lost to a young Muhammad Ali. Liston stood at 61, with a jaw dropping seven-foot wingspan. [citation needed], The fight turned out to be a mismatch. Patterson, a 4-1 betting underdog, was knocked down three times and counted out at 2:10 of the first round. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. This victory is regarded by some as Liston's most impressive performance. "[69] The fact that Liston did not complain about the clear breach of boxing rules (being declared knocked out without a count) and Ali's obvious state of bewilderment, shouting at Liston "Nobody will believe this" and asking his handlers "Did I hit him? He served brief prison terms and on one occasion was introduced to boxing by a prison chaplain. "He was afraid of needles," echoed Father Edward Murphy. "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." Liston assaulted the officer, breaking his knee and gashing his face. Patterson's fatal mistake was that he "did not punch enough and frequently tried to clinch with Liston. [25][26], In 1960 Liston won five more fights, including a rematch with Williams, who lasted only two rounds. 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