September 26, 1962: Sonny Liston knocks Floyd Patterson out in the 1st round at Comiskey Park in Chicago, to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Very few people are happy about this.
The State of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. Tobe and Helen Liston were both listed as living as sharecroppers on Morledge Plantation in Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas in the 1930 U.S. Census. They had several children who were listed in that Census, but a boy named Charles was not among them. Their son Charles was listed in the 1940 Census, as being 10 years old.
When the man eventually known as "Charles (Sonny) Liston" applied for a boxing license, he listed his date of birth as May 8, 1932. But, as with another great boxer, Archie Moore, rumors abounded that he was older than he said, perhaps much older. A later biographer concluded, based on the available evidence, that he was actually born on July 22, 1930.
Being sharecroppers, the family was poor. Sonny said, "The only thing my old man ever gave him was a beating," and he wasn't joking: He bore scars from whippings. At age 14, he ran away to St. Louis, turned to a life of crime, and served 2 years in prison for armed robbery. In prison, he learned how to properly box, instead of just beating people senseless.
He won a Golden Gloves title in 1953, turned pro, won his 1st 7 fights, avenged his 1st pro defeat with a ferocious technical knockout, and began to beat better fighters. He beat Cleveland Williams in 1959 and 1960; Williams would lose to Muhammad Ali in 1966. He beat Zora Folley in 1960; Folley would lose to Ali in 1967. He beat Eddie Machen in 1960; Machen never faced Ali, but lost to Floyd Patterson in 1964 and to Joe Frazier in 1966.
By the end of 1961, Liston was 33-1, with 23 fights ending in knockouts, technical knockouts, or his opponents simply quitting. Of those 23, 13 went no more than 3 rounds; 5 were in the 1st round. Liston was considered, big, bad and unbeatable. Rumors that he had been a "legbreaker" for organized crime, and that he still had the Mob warning fighters that they better not put up much of a fight against him, made him even scarier.
A lot of boxing observers didn't want him to get a shot at the Heavyweight Championship of the World, but, by the end of 1961, he could no longer be ignored. His title shot was set for September 25, 1962, at Comiskey Park.
Floyd Patterson, "The Gentleman of Boxing," had fought bigger and tougher men before, and won, due to great speed and a solid left hook. This time, Liston's size, strength and reach overcame whatever advantages Patterson may have had: Sonny backed Floyd up to the ropes, and knocked him out, just 2 minutes and 6 seconds into the fight. The man who few people wanted to be the Champ was the Champ.
A rematch was held on July 22, 1963, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This time, Patterson lasted longer: 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Liston knocked him out in the 1st round again. Liston looked unbeatable.
Well, one younger man said, "I'm young, I'm handsome, I'm fast, I'm pretty, and can't possibly be beat!" His name, at the time, was Cassius Clay. He got into Liston's head, taunting him for his appearances, calling him "that big ugly bear"; for his age, saying, "You're 40 years old, if a day! And you don't belong in the ring with Cassius Clay!"; for his ability, telling fans, "If you'd like to lose your money, be a fool and bet on Sonny!"; and for his courage, or lack thereof, saying, "The odds should be three and a half to one that you won't show up for the fight!"
Instead, going into the fight at the Miami Beach Convention Center, on February 25, 1964, the odds were 8-1 in Liston's favor. People were sure that, after all the taunting, Liston would literally kill Clay in the ring, as had happened to some prominent fighters in the last few years.
But boxing historian Bert Sugar later pointed out that there was one thing that Liston couldn't handle: People he thought were crazy. "And Clay, then his name," Sugar said, "struck Liston as a crazy person."
A lot of people thought Clay was crazy. Rumors that he was backed by the Nation of Islam (which turned out to be true) didn't help. Would the fight be followed by one between the Chicago Outfit and the NOI? (Both were based in Chicago, and both had influence in Miami.) To many people, there was no one to root for.
Clay himself was asked what percentage of the fans were coming to see him, as opposed to Liston. He said, "Well, 100 percent are coming to see me, but 99 percent are coming to see me get beat, 'cause they think I talk too much."
In the ring, Clay spoke loud and clear with his fists. Any talk that Liston threw the fight was from people who didn't see how badly Clay had messed Liston's face up. Liston didn't throw the fight, but, just before the bell rang for the 7th round, he did quit on his stool. Clay was the new Champion. Shortly thereafter, he announced his religious conversion, and his new name: Muhammad Ali.
Ali said he "saved boxing" by taking the title away from Liston. They fought again in 1965, and this time, Ali knocked Liston out in the 1st round. Did he throw that fight? More likely is that, again, he saw he wasn't going to win, and he just stayed down.
Liston moved to Las Vegas, and kept fighting. On June 29, 1970, he knocked out Chuck Wepner, who would lose to Ali in 1975. That left his record at 50-4.
He never fought again. On January 5, 1971, his wife, Geraldine, returned to their Las Vegas home from a two-week trip to a foul odor coming from the main bedroom. Upon entering the room, she saw Sonny slumped up against the bed, and a broken foot bench on the floor. Authorities theorized that he was undressing for bed when he fell over backward with such force that he broke the rail of the bench.
Officially, Liston died of lung congestion and heart failure, though a heroin overdose has been alleged. The date of death listed on his death certificate is December 30, 1970, which police estimated by judging the number of milk bottles and newspapers around the front door of the property. But he could have died after the New Year.
Charles "Sonny" Liston, Heavyweight Champion of the World from September 25, 1962 to February 25, 1964, is almost certainly the most recent famous person for whom we know neither the year of his birth nor the year of his death with any certainty.
*
September 25, 1962 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 8-3 at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford went the distance for the win. Mickey Mantle went 4-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Moose Skowron hit a home run.
* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 7-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Warren Spahn went the distance for the win. Hank Aaron hit his 297th career home run.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Bill Monbouquette pitched a 5-hit shutout. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson went 1-for-2, had an RBI on a sacrifice fly, and was hit by a pitch.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
* The Houston Colt .45s beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Al Spangler hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning for the team that would become the Houston Astros in 1965. Richard "Turk" Farrell went all 10 innings for the win.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Stan Musial went 0-for-4.
* The Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Athletics were rained out at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore. It was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The O's won the opener, 3-0. Dave McNally pitched a 2-hit shutout. The A's won the nightcap, 6-2. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 3-for-8.
* And the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The game was never made up.
No comments:
Post a Comment