Liston, Sonny

Early years

His mother was Helen Baskin, Liston’s father was Toub Liston, a worker who worked on Morledge Plantation in Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas. Sonny was the 24th child in a family of 25 children and was often beaten as a child. At 13, he fled from his father and hitchhiked to St. Louis , where his mother and cousins ​​lived.

As a teenager, he was sentenced to prison for taking part in a gas station robbery. His boxer's talent was discovered by a Catholic priest, at whose request on the Halloween night of 1952 Liston was released on parole . During his brief amateur career that lasted less than a year, he won in several tournaments, including the Golden Gloves tournament. One of his victims was Olympic heavyweight champion Ed Sanders .

Professional career

September 2, 1953 Liston made his debut as a professional. The fight took place in St. Louis, where Liston held the first five fights. Liston's rival Don Smith was knocked out in the first round.

Liston’s next fight with John Summerlin took place in Detroit and was broadcast on national television . He was eight-round and ended with Liston's victory on points. Later Liston beat Summerlin for a rematch.

On September 7, 1954, he suffered his first defeat in a fight with martenman Marty Marshall. From the very beginning, Marshall frankly ran from Liston around the ring until, in the third round, he laughed out loud, at the same moment Marshall jumped up to him and struck a blow, from which Liston's jaw cracked. Despite the pain, Liston spent all eight rounds, but ended up losing on points.

In 1955, he won six fights, five of them - by knockout, including a rematch with Marshall, which ended in the sixth round.

In 1956, he won on points in the third ten-round meeting with Marshall, and in May of the same year he was arrested for beating a police officer. He was sentenced to nine months in prison and after six months was released on parole with a ban on holding matches for a year.

In 1958 , returning to boxing, won eight victories. 1959 was a good year for Liston - he knocked out all four rivals, including Mike De John in the sixth, Cleveland Williams in the third and Nino Valdez also in the third round. Despite the steady advancement of Liston in the ranking, he could not get a meeting with world champion Floyd Patterson , whose entourage was actively spreading rumors about Liston's relationship with the mafia .

In 1960, he won in five bouts, including a rematch with Williams, which lasted only two rounds. Also knocked out Roy Harris (in the first round) and Zora Folly (in the third round). Eddie Machen lasted all 12 rounds and was the first who Liston honored with a shadow of sympathy, indulgently patting his shoulders after the fight.

Patterson - Liston

In 1962, he finally signed a contract to fight with Patterson in New York , but the New York boxing commission, referring to Liston's criminal record, banned the match. As a result, the battle was moved to Chicago's Komiski Park. Liston and Patterson met on September 25 , and Liston became world champion by knocking out Patterson in the first round.

The victory, however, did not increase Liston’s popularity, and he was very upset that on his return to Philadelphia, reporters and fans did not meet him at the airport.

Patterson and Liston agreed on a rematch on July 22, 1963 in Las Vegas. This fight lasted two seconds longer than their first fight and again ended with Patterson's knockout in the first round.

Liston - Clay

The next time he entered the ring only on February 25, 1964 in Miami against Cassius Clay , being considered the favorite (the bets on Liston were 8 to 1). Before the start of the seventh round, Liston shocked the public by refusing to get out of his corner and stating that he had injured his shoulder. Thus the title passed to Clay. On May 25, 1965, a rematch against Clay took place, by which time he had changed his name to Mohammed Ali. The meeting place was supposed to be Boston , but a week before the fight, Ali was hospitalized with a hernia . The match was moved to Lewiston, Maine.

In the second minute of the battle, Ali sent an opponent to the deck. The blow was without scope and seemed weak. However, Liston awkwardly fell on his back, sprawling on the carpet, and the triumphant Ali shouted: "Arise, suck, stand up and fight!"

In the ring, something incredible began to happen. Several spectators climbed over the ropes, cursing the defeated Liston with curses. Shouting without leaving Ali and referee Jersey Joe Walcott could not open an account, and finally crushed Liston did not even try to rise.

Walcott finally shoved Ali into a corner. Liston reluctantly rose, and the fighters resumed the bout. At the same moment, Nat Fleisher, editor of The Ring magazine , swinging a stopwatch, shouted that Liston had been on the floor for 17 seconds. Totally dazed, Walcott threw the fighting boxers and went to explain himself to Fleisher, although he had not the slightest right to influence the events in the ring.

Now the public was making fun. The referee talked about something hotly with the editor, and abandoned Ali and Liston pounded each other. Finally, Walcott returned, stood between the boxers and announced the defeat of Liston.

The photo of the knockdown of this fight is one of the most replicated in the history of the press, and was placed on the cover of a special issue of Sports Illustrated magazine “The Greatest Sports Photos of the Century”

Subsequent battles

After the second defeat of Ali Liston gave himself a year of rest. In 1966-1967, he took the promoters of the former world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson , won a knockout of four fights in Sweden - including a meeting with Amos Johnson, who won the Englishman Henry Cooper a year ago.

In 1968, seven knockout fights were won (one of them took place in Mexico ) - among those defeated was young promising Henry Clark, who at the time was fifth in the ranking and knocked out in the seventh round. This fight was shown on ABC and was the first match of Liston after the defeat of Ali, broadcast in America.

In 1969 he scored three victories, including a ten-round bout with Billie Joyner in St. Louis, won on points.

In December, a meeting was held in Las Vegas with Leotis Martin for the new vacant NABF title . Liston, who dominated the ring all the time the fight, in the ninth round was sent to the knockout. Martin ended his career after this match due to retinal detachment.

In June 1970, he met with Chuck Wapner . Surpassing the enemy in height by about 12 centimeters, Wapner, instead of the traditional for high boxers outfighter style, boxed in the style of browler , but this gave an advantage to Liston, who during the fight broke Wapner's nose and cheekbone. After the battle, Chuck needed 72 stitches to stop the abundant bleeding of his face, and the nickname “Bayonne Bloodletter” ( English Bayonne Bleeder ) ^[6] stuck to Wepner. Due to injuries received in a duel, Wapner was seriously thinking about retirement, but decided to continue speaking.

Death

Soon, Liston began negotiations on a battle with George Chuvalo in Pittsburgh . On January 5, 1971, Liston's wife found him dead in their Las Vegas home ^[2] . According to experts, the death occurred 6-8 days before, and Liston’s official date of death is December 30. The police investigation revealed no signs of violent death.

The reason for the death of Liston remains a mystery. According to the protocol of examination, there were signs of injections on Liston's right hand, a syringe was lying next to the body, and there were bags of heroin in the kitchen. Based on this, the heroin overdose has become the official version of the cause of death. However, an autopsy revealed that Liston's morphine and codeine levels are too low for overdose.

Some, however, believed that the police investigation had concealed some of the details, and the true cause of death for Liston was not established. In confirmation of this, the fact that Liston has a phobia in relation to needles is given (after the victory over Patterson, Liston’s demonstration performances were planned in Europe, but he abandoned them after learning about the need for vaccinations before going abroad). Liston's wife also reported that her husband, when he had a cold, refused to take basic medical procedures because of his dislike of needles ^[3] . This, combined with the fact that Liston was never seen in drug use, gave rise to rumors about the murder of Liston by his acquaintances from organized crime .

In addition, the authorities failed to find any other drug injecting supplies that would allow an overdose, such as a spoonful of heroin or a vein clamp. It only added to the mystery around his death.

One of Liston’s friends reported that Liston had an accident a few weeks before his death. With minor injuries, he was sent to the hospital, where he was treated with intravenous drugs. These injections, apparently, were taken for the traces of Liston taking heroin.

Liston is buried at Paradise Memorial Garden Cemetery in Las Vegas. The epitaph on the tombstone consists of only one word - “Man” ( orig. “A Man”).

According to The Ring, Liston ranked 15th in the list of the 100 best punchers of all times.

• In 2009, the film “ Ghost Smash ” was shot, telling about the life of Sonny Liston.
• The wax statue of Liston in his boxing gown, exhibited at Madame Tussauds , stands to the left of the George Harrison wax statue on the cover of the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of The Beatles .
• He played the role of cameo in the 1968 film “The Head” with the participation of “ The Monkees ”.
• In 1970 he starred in the movie "Moonfire" as a farmer.
• In the 60s, together with Andy Warhol, she appeared in advertising for Braniff Airlines.
• One of those to whom Jerry Spinelli dedicated the novel "Star Girl".
• He is the character of James Ellroy 's Cold Six Thousand. In the novel, Liston consumes not only alcohol, but also pills, and is an informer for the heroin mafia in Las Vegas.
• In 2004, Brian De Vido released the novel “Every Time I Talk to Liston” about a boxer, before his battles, coming for moral support to Liston’s grave.
• “My friend was Sonny Liston” - the title of a collection of 2000 short stories by American prose writer Tom Jones.
• Mentioned in Hunter S. Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A wild journey into the heart of the American dream ":" The message about two Pushers of heroin in a white Cadillac with a convertible, who rode back and forth along the Boulevard, who were seeking and insulting visiting tourists who were completely unfamiliar to them, would seem absurd at first glance. Even Sonny Liston did not go so far in his lawlessness. ”
• Redd Fox in his comedy album Live and Dirty, vol. 1 distorted (by chance or intentionally - unknown) the name of the boxer as “Sonny Lister”.
• In the 23rd episode of the first season of the Munstra television series “Follow the Moonstrom” (released on February 25, 1965 ), Lily calls herself Sonny Liston at the moment when Herman, having received a blow to her jaw, is on the floor.
• In the first episode of the sixth season of the series “ Clinic ” My Mirror Reflection , the cleaner, talking to an elderly patient, said that when he harpooned the whale, the whale went down like Liston.
• In the movie " Sleeping " Poster Liston hangs in the apartment of his father Bobby .
• A character called Samantha “Sonny” Liston participates in the TV show “E-Ring”.
• Mentioned in the songs of such bands and singers as “Sun Kil Moon”, “ The Animals ”, Tom Petty , Mark Knopfler , Phil Oaks , Morrissey , “The Mountain Goats”, Freddie Blom, Chuck E. Weiss, “This Bike is a Pipe Bomb and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds .
• One of the songs of the 2004 album of Mark Knopfler Shangri-La is called “Song For Sonny Liston”.
• Mentioned in the song “ Glenn Tipton ” by the group “Sun Kil Moon”, also available on the 2006 solo concert album Little Drummer Boy Mark Kozelek: “Cassius Clay was hated more than Sonny Liston. Some like KK Downing more than Glenn Tipton. Some like Jim Nabors, some Bobby Vinton . I like 'em all ... "
• Mentioned in the song “Don't Feel Right” by the band “The Roots”: “And they’re wanna visit, where they’re slang and keep it up”.
• Mentioned in the song "Triumph" group " Wu-Tang Clan ": "Sound convincing, thousand dollar court by convention, hands like Sonny Liston".
• Mentioned in the song "Born Bad" of the group "Gone Jackals": "I dodged a sucker punch and dropped a bomb, like Liston, on an animal hunch."
• Mentioned in the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" Billy Joel : "Liston beats Patterson".
• Mentioned in the song “Love Love Love” by The Mountain Goats: “And Sonny Liston rubbed some tiger balm into his glove ...”
• Mentioned in the song "Badman" of the group "Roll Deep": "Youths go in the system, get banged up like Sonny Liston".
• Mentioned in the song “Babe, I'm On Fire” from the 2004 album of Nocturama of the group “ Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds”.
• In December 1963, he was depicted on the cover of Esquire magazine (Karl Fischer’s work) with the caption: “The last person on American soil that we would like to see going down the chimney.”
• Mentioned in the song "Save You From The Fire": Liston "group" UCL ".
• Mentioned in the song "Swingin '" from the 1999 album Echo of the band "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers".
• Liston is dedicated to the album of the French group “10 Rue d 'la Madeleine” “Comme Sonny cogne”.

• Service record (eng.)
• Liston fighting video
• The son, whom everyone feared