Sonny Liston TKO11 Mike Tyson
Both men are respectful of each other in the early going, with Liston’s superior workrate earning him the opening stanza. Tyson is having difficulty getting past Liston’s jab, and when he does he gets tagged with a hard left hook to the head. Iron Mike keeps busy though as he works his own jab to keep Liston honest. Tyson’s hooks start landing in the third, but it’s Liston’s punches that seem to be doing the most damage. Late in the round Tyson finally lands a flush right cross, but Liston brushes off the punch. Tyson’s right lands again in the fourth, and he follows it up with a double hook to the body and head. Liston stays upright and calm, and a frustrated Tyson hits him on the break, drawing a warning from referee Carlos Padilla. Liston’s jackhammer jab sets Tyson back a few steps in the early stages of the fifth, and a follow-up cross hurts Iron Mike. But when Liston misses a hook to the head, Tyson jumps in with a counter right that evens up matters. The fighters take turns rocking each other in the sixth round, with Tyson holding a slight edge. In the seventh, Liston staggers Tyson with a right cross but can’t land the coup de grace. Liston is having a great eighth round behind his jab, but Tyson might have stolen the round with a late flurry of activity that jars Sonny. In the ninth a huge uppercut hurts Tyson, but he is able to hold on. Tyson goes back to his corner with a nasty gash over his right eye though. In the 10th Tyson is busier, but every punch Liston throws is on the mark and more devastating. How Tyson is still standing is amazing. The battering continues in the 11th until at the 1:15 mark Padilla has seen enough and he stops the bout in Liston’s favor. At the time of the stoppage, Liston led on one scorecard, 96-95, was even at 95-95 on the second, and trailed on the third, 97-94.

And then there were eight…tune in tomorrow for the quarterfinals…

QUARTERFINALS
Joe Louis – Sonny Liston
Sam Langford – Rocky Marciano
Jack Dempsey – Jim Jeffries
Joe Frazier – George Foreman