Sonny Liston in Denver, Colorado. But audiences attending Knopfler's concerts around North America this summer are hearing and responding favorably to a song of a different genre, a bluesy narrative ballad called "Song for Sonny Liston," about the troubled fighter who preceded Muhammad Ali as heavyweight champion in the early 1960's. You could feel the deflation, see the look of hurt in his eyes. Emily Post would probably recommend a ticker-tape parade. Don't confuse shyness with dullness, Sonny was reluctant to talk to the press - the always painted a bad picture of him.Dwight Muhammad Qawi Braxton ATG Philly Joe Frazier Bernard HopkinsTags:pernell whitaker jersey joe walcott louis julio chavez evander holyfield lennox lewis felix sturm oscar de la hoya floyd mayweather miguel cotto marquez manny pacquiao pacman boxing boxer ko knockout tribute robbery mike tyson rocky marciano oscar de la hoya manny pacquiao foreman fight miguel cotto dead death muhammad ali cassius mike tyson clay lennox lewis eric morales barrera floyd mayweather fedor emelianenko ufc boxing ko k.o. [94], On January 1, Liston's wife, Geraldine, called Johnny Tocco and said she had not heard from her husband in three days and was worried. [48] The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run! [31] While Liston began working into shape with hopes for a heavyweight title shot, he also continued his criminal behavior. So I went down. Tocco left the house before the police did. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. His eyes swept the whole scene. When caught in January 1950, Liston gave his age as 20, while the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that he was 22. Im free to be who I want.. ", Chuck Wepner on Liston's intimidating appearance. Tradues em contexto de "with Sonny" en ingls-portugus da Reverso Context : I think you should stay here with Sonny. I'm Sonny Liston, I'm Jack Dempsey, there's no one like I'm from their . Asked by a young white reporter why he was not fighting for freedom in the South, Liston deadpanned, "I ain't got no dog-proof ass. "[18], After Liston was released from prison on October 31, 1952, he had a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year. Arthur Daley of the New York Times wrote that Liston's handlers knew he "didn't have it anymore,"[65] and allegedly they had secretly paid sparring partner Amos Lincoln an extra $100 to take it easy on him -[citation needed] - the same man, incidentally, that Liston dismissed in less than two rounds a full three years later. I remember thinking as a child that this was a man who wanted to be left alone.". "[42], Liston made his second title defense on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). [42], Liston's run-ins with the police had continued in Philadelphia. The Devil And Sonny Liston. #1 December 1963 extended Interview with Champion Sonny Liston - discusses Ali defense, his contenders, even the JFK Assassination 12-02-2022, 12:32 PM Pretty cool interview. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. [105], Singer/Songwriter Rod Picott wrote and recorded a song titled "Sonny Liston" for his 2022 album "Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows. He was poking the bear a bit there . Before he left for his bout with Clay, Sonny's training in Denver took him to some strange places. Writer Jack McKinney said, "I watched Sonny. Liston won 14 consecutive bouts, 13 by knockout, before fighting third-ranked Leotis Martin, previously beaten by Clark, in December 1969. He allegedly later told an assistant that he took a dive because he was afraid of the consequences of beating Ali he thought it would put a target on his own back. . There's never been anybody as ruthless. Banker said he was told by police that Liston had been seen at a house that would be the target of a drug raid. For Sonny Liston, a Ballad to a Heavyweight, https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/13/sports/othersports/for-sonny-liston-a-ballad-to-a-heavyweight.html. Due to Listons long association with the mafia and the reputation as a peerless tough guy, there was speculation that hed thrown the fight for some financial reward. [50] [85] Geraldine had a daughter from a previous marriage, and the Listons subsequently adopted a boy from Sweden. [citation needed], The fight turned out to be a mismatch. However, there were again rumors of alcohol abuse in training. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Gary Robinov, director of Raising Ali, a film about the 50th anniversary of the heavyweight boxing match between Muhammed Ali and Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine.. Two of the best-known are "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. One memo, dated 24 May 1966, outlined an interview with Houston gambler Barnett Magids, who believed Liston would win. He cited Liston's inability to lift his arm: "There is no doubt that Liston's arm was damaged. He said that Liston was not quick with his hand or footwork, that he relied too much on his ability to take a punch, and that he could be vulnerable to an opponent with more hand speed. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy; the only employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative. Naturally, they decided that Ali would take on Liston. But then again, he took a pretty good beating in the fight. [19], On June 23, 1953, a team consisting of ten recent St. Louis Golden Gloves champions of all weight classes, with Liston on top as the heavyweight, was gathered to represent the United States in an International Golden Gloves (USA vs. West Europe) competition at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas. Clay countered in verse, "If you want to lose your money, then bet on Sonny! Liston was supremely confident of easily beating Clay, trained minimally for the fight and went ahead with it despite an injury to his left shoulder.[44]. Knopfler, who was born in Scotland and grew up in northern England, said Liston's story was "exciting subject matter because it's so mysterious." ", It was later theorized that a substance used on Liston's cuts by Joe Pollino, his cut man, may have caused the irritation. [94], Liston was buried at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada. [43] A month later, Liston was accused of impersonating a police officer by using a flashlight to wave down a female motorist in Fairmount Park, although all charges were later dropped. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott, a former world heavyweight champion, had a hard time getting Ali to go to a neutral corner. "[94], A bronze copy of a marble statue of Liston sculpted by Alfred Hrdlicka in 1964 was erected in 2008 between Old Castle and Karlsplatz in Stuttgart, Germany. A widely publicized account of Liston resisting arresteven after nightsticks were allegedly broken over his skulladded to the public perception of him as a nightmarish "monster" impervious to physical punishment. [35] Liston's victory was loudly booed. Night Train is like $11 on Amazon, peep that if you want to get more of the story, i don't like how max was squeezing sonny's bicep. The organization was seen as an extremist anti-white people hate group and opponents of desegregation and Martin Luther King Jr. Clays propensity for self-promotion and controversy seemed to fit in with the groups inflammatory rhetoric. "There's no doubt that he was mean," Knopfler said of Liston. ", One of the most vivid verses creates a word-picture of Liston in his prime with photographic clarity: "Black Cadillac, alligator boots, money in the pockets of his sharkskin suits." "It really has made an impact, actually from the very first time I performed it on 'A Prairie Home Companion,"' Knopfler said in a telephone interview. [15] In 1946, Helen Baskin, along with some of her children, moved to St. Louis to seek factory work. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. "[96], Many people who knew Liston insisted he was afraid of needles and never would have used heroin. 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 a whiplash, so they took him to the hospital," said boxing trainer Johnny Tocco. He also took his gun. ", The Liston song appears on an album called "Shangri-La." He said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. "Yes, it was good and honest". Ali initially stood over his fallen opponent, gesturing and yelling at him, "Get up and fight, sucker!" RARE Sonny Liston Interview before the first Ali fight 1964 in Color Legends of Boxing in Color 22K views 10 months ago On the Spot show with Max Goldberg featuring the heavyweight champion. "I'm doing a portrait of a life, really, in a way, so you are trying to get the whole thing into just a few verses. 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. For his part, Liston said that the referees inability to keep track of time doomed him, as he didnt know when to get up from the mat. During the interim, officials in Boston also got cold feet. "But can he hit!" He also cited medical evidence: "A team of eight doctors inspected Liston's arm at St. Francis Hospital in Miami Beach and agreed that it was too badly damaged for Liston to continue fighting. Philadelphia wanted nothing to do with him. Anyone can read what you share. Liston was the subject of a 1995 HBO documentary titled Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. Liston's story, Knopfler said, "is great for a writer for many reasons. [citation needed], Liston competed in the 1953 United States National Championships at Boston Garden and passed the preliminaries, stopping Lou Graff in the second round on April 13, but lost in the quarterfinals to 17-year-old Jimmy McCarter on April 15. Muhammad Ali called it his "anchor punch," a quick right hand that the young heavyweight champion claimed he had learned from his friend, actor Stepin Fetchit. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. [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. In "Sailing to Philadelphia," a duet with James Taylor, Knopfler told of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon traveling from England to North America to draw the Mason-Dixon line. [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. "He said: 'Look what they did!' "[78] While much has been written about the effectiveness of his left jab, others have commented favorably on Liston's wide range of boxing skills. People around the world tuned in via satellite to watch the match, which was fought in front of 2,434 paying ticket-holders, the smallest crowd in heavyweight championship fight history; people there suggested the crowd was more like 4,000, but nonetheless, it was a very small in-person audience. (, Shaun Assael. Ali did neither. [8][9], There is no official record of Liston's birth. He was a gentle man. He then outpointed Julius Griffin, winner of the New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, to capture the Intercity Golden Gloves Championship on March 26 (representing Chicago). Was Pariah boxing legend Sonny Listons OD really a mob murder? Even before the first punch was thrown, the May 25, 1965 bout between .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, during which the photo was snapped, was already shaping up to be the stuff of legends. Paul R Gallender, 2012. Known for his powerful punch, the majority of his victories were knockouts. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. There are no official records of his birth Tosches, Nick (2000). Caputo, one of the investigating police officers, "The whole department knew about it." Muhammad Ali stands over Sonny Liston after dropping Liston with a short hard right to the jaw on May 25, 1965, in Lewiston, Maine, Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston: The Controversial Fight Behind Their Iconic Boxing Photo, Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, an official member of the Nation of Islam, Senate subcommittee hearing turned up no evidence, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. It burned like hell. It'll just be for slow guitar, soft trumpet and a bell.". In "Song for Sonny Liston," Knopfler's voice is backed by electric guitar, a bass and drums as he tells the story of a sharecropper's son who went from prison to the championship to an early death under mysterious circumstances. The mysterious life of Sonny Liston. 9, 1 March 2018, p. 8, New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, "Photographic image of 'Tale of the Tape', "Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson (Tale of the tape)", "From THE RING: The greatest heavyweight of all time", "25 Greatest Fighters of All Time (Heavyweight)", "ESPN Classic - Liston was trouble in and out of ring", "Jacob's Beach by Kevin Mitchell: review", "Hard Times, Good Times: Charles "Sonny" Liston - Boxing.com", "Dismayed D'Amato Is Expecting To Get Back Manager's License", "Esquire covers commemorate boxing's prime", "Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston I: 50 Years Later", "Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay (1st meeting) - BoxRec", "1964 Clay vs. Liston Judges' Scorecards from Miami Beach Bout. | Lot #80073 | Heritage Auctions", "Muhammad Ali's Toughest Fight Wasn't Against Joe Frazier", "Fifty Years Later: The Mystery of Muhammad Ali's 'Phantom Punch', "I WAS THERE: George Chuvalo Watches Sonny Liston Take a Dive - YouTube", "Fifty Years Later: The Mystery of Muhammad Ali's 'Phantom Punch' | Boxing News", "Daytona Beach Morning Journal - Google News Archive Search", "Sonny Liston the most talented Heavyweight in history", "George Foreman Discusses Friendship With Sonny Liston", "Sonny Liston: Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy Boxing News", "LOTIERZO'S LOWDOWN Sonny Liston: The Most Underrated Heavyweight Champ In History", "The Most Feared Fighter in Boxing History: Charles 'Sonny' Liston remembered", "Liston KO'd Popular Patterson for Title", "O Unlucky Man: Fortune never smiled on Sonny Liston", "Sonny Liston Meets the Press - Boxing.com", "Like Fights Against Ali, Liston Death a Mystery", "December 30, 1970: Mysterious Death of Sonny Liston", "19 YEARS LATER: Liston Death Remains Mystery to His Friends". At one point, Liston had Clay against the ropes and landed a hard left hook. Liston assaulted the officer, breaking his knee and gashing his face. Knopfler said the track "uses a lot of the country-blues style of playing that I started to absorb when I was young.". [62] The promoters needed a new location quickly, whatever the size, to rescue their closed-circuit television commitment around the country. Hed shown up to the fight in the best shape of his life no hot dogs or beer in his diet this time and promised to take down Ali. Reminds me of former UFC fighter Shane Carwin. The governor of nearby Maine, John Reed, stepped up and volunteered to host it in the small town of Lewiston, where a resort and ice rink could provide some infrastructure. He was also seeking to prove himself after his two embarrassing and suspicious losses to Ali. A stoic Liston finished the fight, but lost in an eight-round split decision. It was probably Liston's best moment in the entire fight. The fight lasted four seconds longer than the first one. [71] Credence to the latter theory is provided by the fact that Liston, immediately after his fight with Chuck Wepner, seemed more concerned about supporting the proposed Ali-Frazier bout and Ali's claims to be champion than promoting his own career. Cleveland Williams was the last person to defeat Liston and made $100,000 for his efforts. In an unearthed, unaired TV interview, Sonny Liston's wife once said that the fighter needed to get out of the ring as fast as possible because he had diarrhea. Welcome to r/boxing, the official home of pro boxing on Reddit! Dude was only 6'2 and his hands dwarfed Lesnar's. He then left the fighters to go over to McDonough. In the third round, Marshall nailed Listonreportedly while he was laughingand broke his jaw. For those too young to remember, Sonny "The Big Bear" Liston was a legendary heavyweight boxer. In his next fight, he had a rematch with Summerlin and again won an eight-round decision. He is a relatively elementary, one-track fighter." Like Dylan's subject, Rubin Carter, Knopfler's version of Liston is sympathetic. [66], Former champions Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson and Gene Tunney, as well as contender George Chuvalo all declared they considered the fight to be a fake. Only Massachusetts was willing to host the fight, though it was delayed from November 1964 to May 1965 so that Ali could recover from hernia surgery. Less than 10 days later, he was Muhammad Ali, a name given him to Elijah Muhammad, the head of the Nation of Islam. For me, the most fascinating thing about Liston was the fact that his birth date is unknown. Sonny Liston fought for only $10,000 during his career. After the second loss to Ali, Liston stayed out of the ring for more than a year. Liston, with a 25-pound weight advantage, 214lb (97kg) to 189lb (86kg), knocked out Patterson at 2:06 of the first round, putting him down for the count with a powerful left hook to the jaw. In an Associated Press poll, 64 of 102 reporters picked Patterson. [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. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas Pan publisher; 2017. Many in the small crowd had not even settled in their seats when the fight was stopped. Then again, you can also have guys like Ali or Mike Tyson. In his 1965 rematch with Ali, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix. Muhammad Ali (at the time a rising contender named Cassius Clay), however, predicted a knockout by Liston in the first five rounds. Time magazine said Liston had worked himself into the best shape of his career. Ali would lose his title a year later, though it didnt happen in the ring. "The timekeeper was waving both hands and saying, 'I counted him outthe fight is over,'" Walcott said after the fight. You really never watched the first fight did you? Sports Illustrated predicted a Patterson victory in 15 rounds, stating: "Sonny has neither Floyd's speed nor the versatility of his attack. We cooked up that shoulder thing on the spot. He used the platform to expound on the political theory that was so reviled in white America, defending Malcolm X and condemning racial oppression this was still months before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "You're putting things on and you're taking this out and molding it," Knopfler said. There are echoes of slavery in his upbringing." Convention Center, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Municipal Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Midwest Gymnasium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Pittsburgh Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. New Masonic Temple, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Motor City Arena, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Sources vary on his reach, with some listing it as 80in, Reputations: Sonny Liston: The Champion Nobody Wanted (2001), 50 min, BBC Documentary, Mailer: A Biography By Mary V. Dearborn, page 186. This is a place for friendly and civil debate about the greatest sport on earth. His fists measured 15 inches (38cm) around, the largest of any heavyweight champion. Charles "Sonny" Liston was born c.1930 into a sharecropping family that farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St.Francis County, Arkansas. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. There was something caustic in both eyes." [35] There are several theories as to why: (1) publicist Harold Conrad and others believed Liston had been deeply involved as a bill collector of a loansharking ring in Las Vegas. (4) Liston was supposed to take a dive when he fought Chuck Wepner six months earlier, and killing him was payback for his failure to do so. Liston was overwhelmed by an abusive father, confrontations with the law, underworld managers and a change in African-American culture represented by Ali, Knopfler said. [citation needed] At this time, the head coach of the St. Louis Golden Gloves team, Tony Anderson, stated that Liston was the strongest fighter he had seen. [107] The story speculates that Liston threw the Ali match for the good of society. ", Hutchison, Phillip J. Because of the shirt he wore during robberies, the St. Louis police called Liston the "Yellow Shirt Bandit." [89], Following an investigation, Las Vegas police concluded there were no signs of foul play and declared Liston's death a heroin overdose. Interviewing and trash-talk have both gone through some tremendous evolutions, havent they? Patterson, a 4-1 betting underdog, was knocked down three times and counted out at 2:10 of the first round. He also went with a new manager in 1958: Joseph "Pep" Barone, who was a front man for mobsters Frankie Carbo and Frank "Blinky" Palermo. Sonny Liston became world heavyweight champion in 1962 and fought Muhammad Ali twice In January 1971, former heavyweight champion of the world Sonny Liston was found dead at his Las Vegas. "He said, 'Cut the gloves off. [36], Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying that Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. Banker said, "Sheriff [Ralph] Lamb told me, 'Tell your pal Sonny to stay away from the West Side because we're going to bust the drug dealers.'" "[40][41], Upon winning the world heavyweight title, Liston had a speech prepared for the crowd that friends had assured him would meet him at the Philadelphia airport. BOXING Correction: July 15, 2005, Friday A sports picture caption on Wednesday with an article about Mark Knopfler's ballad for the boxer Sonny Liston referred incorrectly in some copies to the year in which Muhammad Ali knocked out Liston in Lewiston, Me. [17] The athletic director at Missouri State Penitentiary, Rev. Sonny Liston in his prime . Tobe and Helen had 12 children together; Sonny was the second youngest child. From the opening bell Liston attempted to close with Clay, looking to land a hard punch to the head to end the fight quickly and decisively. Alois Stevens, suggested to Liston that he try boxing, and his obvious aptitude, along with an endorsement from Stevens, who was also a priest, aided Liston in getting an early parole. Concert Preview/Interview: John Lodge of the Moody Blues on Reprising "Days of Future Passed . [64] Strict interpretation of the knockdown/count rule states it is the referee's count and not the timekeeper's that is the official count. It made a champion out of Clay, who declared that hed shook up the world.. The opening round was fought an extra eight seconds, since both fighters and referee Barney Felix apparently did not hear the bell. It is hardly the first recording by a rock musician about boxing. According to a report in the Miami Herald a few weeks before the 1964 fight, Clay was consorting with members of the Nation of Islam, who Clays father claimed had brainwashed his son. [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. One of the reasons why sports stays alive in us is that there's part of us that wants to keep the child alive and recognizes that there is something important in doing that.