NO. 5 SONNY LISTON
Years active: 1953-70
Record: 50-4
KOs: 39
KO percentage (of wins): 78
KOs inside 3 rounds: 22
Notable KO victims: Zora Folley, Floyd Patterson (twice), Nino Valdes, Chuck Wepner, Cleveland Williams (twice)
Background: Liston might be one of the most underappreciated boxers in history, in part because of the meek manner in which he lost back to back fights against a young Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay in the first fight). Make no mistake: He was his generation’s George Foreman or Mike Tyson. He was terrifying. He wasn’t huge (6-foot-1, around 220 pounds) but he was thick and oh-so strong. His legendary jab had the impact of some fighters’ power punches. And his own power shots? There was a reason Cus D’Amato, Floyd Patterson’s manager, didn’t want his fighter to defend the heavyweight title against Liston. He knew what would happen. And it did. Liston stopped the talented, but relatively small Patterson in the first round in each of two consecutive fights to take firm control of the sport’s glamour division. At that point, he had the same aura that Foreman and Tyson would later have – that of someone who was invincible and downright scary. Of course, we know better now. Liston had the misfortune of crossing paths with the greatest heavyweight ever as he was approaching his peak. Ali was just too fast, too clever and too good for the biggest puncher of the era. Liston would fight another five years but, approaching 40, never had quite the same reputation. He died in 1970, officially the result of a drug overdose. Today we can look back on Liston’s career in totality. Before Ali, Liston was as dangerous as all but a few heavyweights in history, a menacing, brooding figure who perfected the strategy of seek and destroy.
More quotes: Patterson: “I have no knowledge of it. It couldn’t have been me. It must have been somebody who looked like me, possibly my brother. You’re sure I was hit?” … Foreman, who sparred with Liston: “Sparring with Sonny Liston is the most dangerous thing that I ever did in my entire life. Nobody other than Sonny Liston in sparring stood and punched it out with me with any success. He was the only man I ever faced who could force me backwards.” … Henry Cooper: “I don’t even want to see him walking down the street, let alone in a gym!”