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Sonny Liston

(1932-1970)

Who Was Sonny Liston?

Sonny Liston had a controversial boxing career, winning 54 of 58 bouts from 1953 to 1970. Known for his powerful punch, the majority of his victories were knockouts. He died circa December 30, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Early Life

Boxer Charles L. "Sonny" Liston was born in St. Francis County, Arkansas on May 8, 1932. (There is some speculation about his year of birth, but most sources state sometime from 1929 to 1932.) The son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his father's 25 children. Along with his many siblings, Liston grew up working in the local cotton fields. His father was an abusive alcoholic, and Liston eventually left the house during his teens.

In St. Louis, he quickly encountered problems with the local police. At the age of 16, Liston—more than 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds—became a menacing presence in his neighborhood, occasionally working as a strike-breaking labor goon.

Liston was arrested more than 20 times. In 1950, he was convicted of two c

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Sonny Liston (1932?–1970)

Charles “Sonny” Liston was a noted boxer who briefly reigned as Heavyweight Champion after a first-round knockout against Floyd Patterson. However, his career was marred by criminal activity and, later, accusations of mob connections and throwing fights.

Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African Americansharecroppers in rural St. Francis County. He was one of many children—one account lists twenty-two siblings and half-siblings. Liston was raised on heavy farm work, many beatings, and with virtually no schooling. At the age of thirteen, he ran away to St. Louis, Missouri, following his mother, who had left earlier. There, he committed various muggings and robbery. Soon caught (his crimes were inept, spur-of-the-moment, strong arm jobs) and charged with first-degree robbery and larceny, he was sentenced in 1950 to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary.

In prison, encouraged by Catholic chaplains, Liston took up boxing, where he was an immediate and spectacular success. Paroled in 1952, he had a bri

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"I think Sonny gave that second fight away [to Muhammad Ali]. I swear. He said, 'No, you win and you lose.' I said, 'In the first round?' "says Liston's widow Geraldine on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series.

A brute inside the ring, Sonny Liston also was a brute outside it, condemned to a life of trouble. Born Charles, he was called Sonny. He was a man of mystery. No one is sure when he was born. No one is sure when -- or even how -- he died. More pressing to boxing fans is the questionable ways in which he lost two heavyweight title fights to Muhammad Ali, who was known in the first as Cassius Clay.

Sonny Liston had 39 knockouts, including eight in the first round.

Each fight had its own set of ambiguities. The first, held in Miami Beach, provoked cries that Liston went into the tank when he didn't come out for the seventh round. The second, held in a small town in Maine, was even more questionable, as Liston was knocked out in the first. Many openly wondered whether the fights were fixed.

What can be said with certainty is Liston was one of the most imposing f