Interesting article on Sonny Liston

[Dempsey19]

What really strikes me is this line- 'He heralded in the era of giant heavyweights, without, in fact, being a giant heavyweight himself.'

[a.rihn]

Thanks for sharing this - I read "The Murder of Sonny Liston" last year, so I'd be interested in seeing "pariah" as well.

[The Old LefHook]

My dad always used to say that someone had "arms like Sonny Liston."

[QueensburyRules]

What really strikes me is this line- 'He heralded in the era of giant heavyweights, without, in fact, being a giant heavyweight himself.'

- -Doubt Sonny 15" fists have been exceeded and he's in top 10% for reach. At 210-220, he was a load for his era.

[smeck]

What really strikes me is this line- 'He heralded in the era of giant heavyweights, without, in fact, being a giant heavyweight himself.'

Yeah, when I watched the doc (it premiered on Showtime today, Nov 15) that line was a bit of a surprise. Only six feet tall? So how many of his opponents were taller, aside from Ali?

The doc does offer some "highlight reel" Liston KO's, which, along with remarks from Mike Tyson and several boxing writers, should remind people that he wiped out everyone in his path, up until Ali.

If you're expecting a final answer to how Liston died, you don't get it...you get several theories and you can pick which one might make the most sense. They interviewed relatives of a few of the "suspects," and one guy who was named a suspect (surprise, he denies he did it).

The guy who produced this documentary sees it as just a good, dramatic story of a boxer's choices and conflicts, triumphs and tragedies. I guess he picked Liston because of the recent book about him. So who's next to get a sympathetic treatment? Floyd Patterson? In some ways his story has pretty interesting dramatic elements to it. He too had a tough upbringing and a lot of conflicts. He was also pretty brave in facing a man that (according to this documentary) even Cus D'Amato said he couldn't defeat. And he came back for a re-match.

[OctoberRed]

Good stuff there.

[a.rihn]

So who's next to get a sympathetic treatment? Floyd Patterson? In some ways his story has pretty interesting dramatic elements to it. He too had a tough upbringing and a lot of conflicts. He was also pretty brave in facing a man that (according to this documentary) even Cus D'Amato said he couldn't defeat. And he came back for a re-match.

I'd love to see more docs or books on Patterson. And I think Chuvalo would be a great subject for a biopic (in his autobiography, he claims himself as partial inspiration for Stallone's Rocky).

Liston would make for a cool biopic as well, but I feel like his life was so murky, no one wants to claim to have "the" definitive line on him.

[GhostofDempsey]

Most people don't realize he was actually smaller than Ali. For all of the hype of him being labeled a bully, he was smaller than Ali, Cleveland Williams and several of his other opponents. When I was at the IBHOF I saw the bust they have of his fist, it looks like a small turkey! Would not want to get hit by Sonny. I still believe his fights against Ali were both fixes. Liston is highly underrated and is in my top 5 HWs list.

[The Old LefHook]

Liston is a perfect example of Billy's large man theories, one of the better theories presented on the forum in a while.. He was a giant in every way but height. No one had bigger hands, longer arms, more massive muscles or bones of a larger cross section than Sonny. He was a giant in disguise. His disguise consisted of his normal height.

[Anthony342]

What did you guys think of the recent Showtime documentary on Liston?