There's maybe like 3-4 heavyweights ever that I would pick to beat Liston and it's neither Frazier or Norton.
Ali obviously
Larry holmes
Maybe foreman
Maybe Lewis and wlad but one flush liston punch.....
I think liston stops louis, frazier, marciano, tyson, etc.
(Liston)......"had an 86 inch reach"........seriously 86?
Liston had more skills than Kenny and Joe but they had more love for the sport than Sonny did.
As to Liston "throwing" the first Ali fight you need to watch the fight closely!
If you want to say he quit you could but the reality of the out come was that Ali whipped his butt!
Ray
Sonny Liston would have beaten both Norton and Fraizer. I would have picked him against Foreman too. It's a shame he doesn't get the same recognition as the other Ali opponents when he was the best one.
Liston had an upper torso of a 6'6 defensive end when he was only about 6 feet. He knew how to fight on the inside so well, and his reach was longer than Lennox Lewis'. His domination of a somewhat prime Cleveland Williams shows me how he'd dismantle Norton with relative ease.
I don't think people realise how good Liston was. His inside fighting was devastating for a guy who had an 86 inch reach, and arguably the best jab of all time.
I think Liston has a better resume.
It's arguable, Frazier obviously has the best win between them in Ali but outside of that Liston's is better.
Really? I think Frazier's is distinctly better.
Ali
Quarry twice
Ellis twice
Mathis
Bonavena twice
Chuvalo
Machen
Even Joe Bugner was ranked 4-5 if I remember correctly and add in Bob Foster too, though at heavyweight.
Liston's best imo are:
Patterson twice
Machen
Williams twice
Folley
How would you rank these fighters, from top to bottom? My point of view:
1: Norton
2: Frazier
3: Liston
WT...:pat:
How have you got Liston 3rd and Norton 1st? Did you accidentally swap them?
Anyway, I think Liston and Frazier could arguably be interchangeable, but I think I'd go for...
Frazier
Liston
Norton
I think Liston has a better resume.
It's arguable, Frazier obviously has the best win between them in Ali but outside of that Liston's is better.
Ali had such a long lay off when Frazier beat him and wasn't as good as the Ali that Liston fought.
Not this one!
Frazier
Liston
Norton
imo.
Frazier has a much better resume than Liston I think.
I think Liston has a better resume.
It's arguable, Frazier obviously has the best win between them in Ali but outside of that Liston's is better.
Did he? Good 411.
Either way it was a meaningless loss. He was barely a year into his career and he avenged it by ko a few months later.
Head to head liston beats Joe and ken. Probably both by ko. Ken didn't have the best chin and Joe would come in straight into sonny power.
Resume, Legacy wise Joe and Ken was never feared or seemed invincible like liston was.
Yeah sure did. If I'm not mistaken he beat Marshall a few more times after that aswell.
Agree with you entirelt, he knocks out both IMO.
In what world is he above Liston either?
Not this one!
For me;
Liston
Frazier
Norton
Frazier
Liston
Norton
imo.
Frazier has a much better resume than Liston I think.
The early loss to Marty Marshall, he had his jaw broken in one of the early rounds.
Did he? Good 411.
Either way it was a meaningless loss. He was barely a year into his career and he avenged it by ko a few months later.
Head to head liston beats Joe and ken. Probably both by ko. Ken didn't have the best chin and Joe would come in straight into sonny power.
Resume, Legacy wise Joe and Ken was never feared or seemed invincible like liston was.
Let me polish my boxrec skills.
Liston had 4 losses in his career.
2 to ali. 1 split decision loss at the start of his career which he avenged by ko in the rematch a few months later . Last loss was when he was almost 40 yrs old.
Stopped Cleveland Williams twice.
Koed zora folley.
Stopped Wayne bethea, Nino valdez, Mike dejohn, Eddie machen, roy harris. All top 10 heavyweights.
Koed floyd patterson twice at a time when patterson was considered the best heavyweight in the world.
If deontay wilder or Anthony joshua kod 6-7 of the top 10 guys like liston did, you'd all cream your pants.
So would i.
The early loss to Marty Marshall, he had his jaw broken in one of the early rounds.
I don't think these dummies know who the f liston is tbh.
Liston was a monster. What Tyson in the 80s, foreman in the 70s.
That was what liston was.
Liston was scarier than Tyson.
Tyson talked about robbing old ladies purses, Liston used to beat up policemen.
Norton was that dude but he ranks 3rd here. You should've just made a Ken Norton appreciation thread. Very good fighter and I see a little bit of him when I watch Andre Ward.
Some people might disagree with me putting Liston as number 3, but I'm thinking about their showings against Ali, that did say something about their differences in quality.
I'd say basing it on how they faired against Ali mostly tells us about how their styles matched up not their overall quality.
Norton caused Ali fits as we know but I don't see him lasting the distance against Liston. Would he have coped with Frazier's perpetual motion? . . . It's a stretch. I don't see it myself.
Posterity will have it Frazier - Liston - Norton.
You could make a spirited case for Sonny I guess. If I did so myself I'd be trying to confirm my own bias more than anything. It isn't something I'd attempt though. Frazier isn't a fighter you can take anything away from. Though I'm sure head-to-head Foreman would put Liston top of the list. Again, that's partly a style matchup. Frazier's resume speaks for itself.
Let me polish my boxrec skills.
Liston had 4 losses in his career.
2 to ali. 1 split decision loss at the start of his career which he avenged by ko in the rematch a few months later . Last loss was when he was almost 40 yrs old.
Stopped Cleveland Williams twice.
Koed zora folley.
Stopped Wayne bethea, Nino valdez, Mike dejohn, Eddie machen, roy harris. All top 10 heavyweights.
Koed floyd patterson twice at a time when patterson was considered the best heavyweight in the world.
If deontay wilder or Anthony joshua kod 6-7 of the top 10 guys like liston did, you'd all cream your pants.
So would i.
In what world is he above Liston either?
I don't think these dummies know who the f liston is tbh.
Liston was a monster. What Tyson in the 80s, foreman in the 70s.
That was what liston was.