Thread: Sonny Liston ~ 'Career After Cassius Clay'

Charles 'Sonny' Liston

~ Career After Cassius Clay ~

Both 'Ring Magazine', the WBA and other associated ranking bodies dropped Sonny Liston
from their World Rankings after the May 25, 1965 fiasco in Lewiston, Maine.

Could for the former Champion {and very old Man} regain some self-respect with a comeback
in 1966.

Well for one, it was 'not' going to happen in America, as 'Sonny Boy' was banned from
every State Athletic Commission in United States.

Sonny Liston {Stockholm, Sweden ...... May 1966}

~ April 1966 ~

What They Said

Cassius Clay



After me, I think that Sonny Liston is the next best Heavyweight out there. He can beat most
fighters out there with one-hand.

The sanctioning bodies should be ashamed of themselves for not him ranking him in the Top 10.
If he fought any of these guys, he would be an overwhelming favorite by the bookies.

If he gets 2 or 3 wins, he'll be right back at the Top. I'd fight him again next year. But I don't
think the Promoters would put up the money for that fight, unless the public demanded it.

Like I said, if Sonny gets a couple of wins, the public will give him another chance. They have
very short memories.

Ali stuck up for Sonny, that is a show of class from the man.

~ March 1966 ~

What They Said

Ernie Terrell



Ah, Sonny should go away. He made it bad for all of us. Just when Boxing was starting
to gain some respect again, he went out and ruined it.

As for his {2} losses to {Cassius} Clay. I was not shocked at all. I had been smacking that
'Old Man' around for nearly 2-Years before he got in the Ring with Clay.

Sonny is a tired old man now. I call him 'Grand-Pappy'. I sent him a box of Slippers and a Pipe,
and a bottle of 'Old Grand-Dad' Whiskey for Christmas {December 25, 1965}. He's done.

If we fought, I'd slap him silly for the entire fight. He couldn't hit me 3-Years ago, so I highly
doubt that he could hit me now. I'd shut him out.

Sonny put on a good long run of good wins into early 70's when he mysteriously died. Spoiler alert.

You need to stop this ridiculous attempt to slander Ali. Its getting a little long in the tooth dont you think? Its become a mammoth tusk. Another attempt I see coming in sideways as if Ali had something to do with his misfortune with promoters etc or something to do with the rankings.Yeah as if the second fight had nothing to do with it. There was only 1 governing body then and they did things differently because of that fact. Liston did very little after the second fiasco to get himself into contention. For anyone interested in the times and Sonny Listons place in it they should read "The Devil and Sonny Liston" by Nick Tosches.


You didn't get into contention again in those days by fighting guys like Dave Bailey, Elmer Rush and Willis Earls and ending the run getting knocked out by Leotis Martin. The guy fought 15 times before his big showdown with Chuck rice paper skin Wepner from 1966 to 1969. That is 5 fights a year for 3 years having never fought anyone. Rightly or wrongly the boxing world turned its back on him because of the phantom-punch and he did nothing to rectify that. He made the bed he slept in not Ali.
He was dead 6 months after the Wepner fight. Surprised you didn't blame Ali for that also.

The number one most famous boxing writer of 1965 whose name I will not say here but you all know very well said the following thing after he was sitting at ringside right next to Rocky Marciano where Sonny Liston fell after the Phantom punch:

"The punch that Clay landed on Liston's jaw wasn't strong enough to crush a grape."

~ March 1966 ~

What They Said

George Chuvalo



Look, I don't know happened with Sonny in those {2} supposed bouts with Cassius Clay.

I won't call them fights, because they were not. In their '1st-Bout', one guy was trying to
survive and the other guy was floundering by the 5th Round.

In their '2nd-Bout', I don't think anybody on this Planet can figure out what happened. All
I know, is that I was supposed to get to challenge Sonny Liston after he regained his Title.
At least, that is what we were told.

As for now. I think that Sonny may be able to get some respect back. But he's going to have
to earn it. He's not going to get it handed to him like last time.

I want to see him in at least '2' real fights before I make any judgment on him.

As for me, I fight that 'Clown Clay' in 4-Weeks. Win or Lose, his kidneys will get smashed.

Top 10 Ratings {March 1966}

*** Cassius Clay
#1 .. Ernie Terrell
#2 .. Floyd Patterson
#3 .. George Chuvalo
#4 .. Karl Mildenberger
#5 .. Zora Folley
#6 .. Amos Lincoln
#7 .. Thad Spencer
#8 .. Doug Jones
#9 .. Hubert Hilton
#10 . Brian London

Amos 'Big Train' Lincoln



If Sonny wants to come back, that would be alright with me and most of the other guys
in the Heavyweight Division.

We all want a 'piece-of-his-ass' now, for all those years that he beat us up bad in those sparring
sessions, where we were not allowed to hit him back.

That's right. If you wanted to get paid, you were not allowed to hit Sonny in sparring. You
had to sit there and take it. He had a free reign in punching the Shit out of you.

Oh Boy, I want that 'old man' in bad way.

~ March 1966 ~

What They Said

Angelo Dundee

Sonny has forgotten how to fight. All those easy '1st-Round' Knockouts made him think that he was indestructible.

He then refused to develop or improve himself in training sessions. He thought that he could just walk out from his
corner, throw a few punches, and then go home.

Anybody with movement and good boxing skills will give him all that he can handle. He has heavy-feet, and cannot
move all that well in the Ring. He's also a slow-thinker.

You can't teach an 'Old Bull' new tricks.

Originally Posted by Bill Paxtom

~ March 1966 ~

What They Said

Angelo Dundee

Sonny has forgotten how to fight. All those easy '1st-Round' Knockouts made him think that he was indestructible.

He then refused to develop or improve himself in training sessions. He thought that he could just walk out from his
corner, throw a few punches, and then go home.

Anybody with movement and good boxing skills will give him all that he can handle. He has heavy-feet, and cannot
move all that well in the Ring. He's also a slow-thinker.

You can't teach an 'Old Bull' new tricks.

the "tricks'' were only done by the NOI and Dundee in Zaire with the ~ropes~

Originally Posted by brocktonblockbust

Originally Posted by Bill Paxtom

~ March 1966 ~

What They Said

Angelo Dundee

Sonny has forgotten how to fight. All those easy '1st-Round' Knockouts made him think that he was indestructible.

He then refused to develop or improve himself in training sessions. He thought that he could just walk out from his
corner, throw a few punches, and then go home.

Anybody with movement and good boxing skills will give him all that he can handle. He has heavy-feet, and cannot
move all that well in the Ring. He's also a slow-thinker.

You can't teach an 'Old Bull' new tricks.

the "tricks'' were only done by the NOI and Dundee in Zaire with the ~ropes~

Triple 'B'

You are the man with 'Geometric Logic'