Sonny Liston, who was called the Bear, was born in 1932 in the county of St. Francis, Arkansas, his father was an alcoholic. Liston was arrested several times, he spent some time in prison, where he learned to box. After his release, he began his career as a boxer, winning 54 of 58 fights from 1953 to 1970. He was a puncher, world heavyweight boxing champion from September 25, 1962, when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round in Chicago, and until February 25, 1964, when he stopped the fight with Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) before the seventh round in Miami Beach, Florida.
The boxer died on December 30, 1970 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
early life
Boxer Charles L. Sonny Francis County, according to an official biography, was born in Arkansas on May 8, 1932. Living in a large family of a tenant farmer, the future boxer with his many brothers and sisters actually grew up in local cotton fields. His father died when Sonny was still a teenager. In St. Louis, he quickly ran into problems with the local police. He was a tough guy, at the age of 16, Liston was over 6 feet (1.82 m) tall and weighing about 200 pounds (90 kg).
Sonny Liston’s biography contains many unpleasant moments. He was arrested more than 20 times. In 1950, he was convicted of two cases of theft and two cases of robbery of the first degree. As a result, he spent more than two years in the Missouri State Prison in Jefferson. While Liston was in custody, one of the prison leaders involved in sports, Alois Stevens, introduced him to boxing.
Boxing success
Released in 1952, Liston quickly won the local Golden Gloves championship. September 2, 1953 he became a professional fighter. He decides to fight Marty Marshall, who became the first boxer to defeat Liston in the ring.
After that, his career was interrupted for nine months. After his release, boxer Sonny Liston moved to Philadelphia, PA, where his career quickly blossomed.
Liston was known for its power. From 1953 (his first recorded fight) until 1970, the boxer spent 54 fights, scored 39 wins by knockout and lost only 4 matches.
Historical victory
Sonny Liston won 26 consecutive fights, inexorably advancing to the heavyweight championship. His victory in this weight category on September 25, 1962 testified to his powerful style: only two minutes later he knocked out Floyd Patterson. This fight for the first time in history showed that the current heavyweight champion was defeated in the first round.
As one of the leading fighters of world renown, he became an easy target for sports commentators, who often noted not only his threatening behavior and incredible impact power, but also his criminal past. Boxer reveled in his role.
Defeat in the battle with Cassius Clay
Sonny Liston won by knockout in a rematch with Patterson. However, his 17-month heavyweight championship ended after a fight with another fighter named Cassius Clay. Liston, who was considered almost invincible before this fight, could not appear in the seventh round due to an injury, and Clay (who soon received the name Muhammad Ali) was named champion on February 25, 1964.
The next rematch with Clay took place on May 25, 1965. It was then that Sonny Liston came under the infamous "phantom blow." Although it turned out that he had barely been hit by Clay's right fist, the boxer fell, holding out for just one minute and 45 seconds in the first round.
Return and death
In 1966, after his defeat to Cassius Clay, Liston decided to return to the ring. He won eleven consecutive knockout fights in 1968 and added three more victories in 1969 before losing a fierce fight to Leotis Martin. He returned to the ring on June 29, 1970, gaining a technical victory in the tenth round against Bayonne Bleeder Chuck Wapner.
After no one was able to contact Sonny Liston for 12 days, his wife Geraldine returned to her home in Nevada on January 5, 1971. Upon her return, she discovered her husband's dead body. The official cause of Sonny Liston's death was congestion in the lungs and heart failure, although he had fresh needle marks on his arm and the police found heroin and a syringe in the house. After some time, a version was also expressed about his murder. Until now, the death of the great boxer remains unsolved. In his death certificate in the column "date of death" indicated December 30, 1970, according to experts, death occurred in 6-8 days. Liston was buried in the Paradise Memorial Garden Cemetery in Las Vegas, Nevada, under a simple tombstone. The epitaph on his monument reads: "Man."