Sonny Liston vs. Joe Frazier

[mickey malone]

Wake up fella's!... Liston was an overrated bully & relied too much on intimidation tactics.. He's around 12 or 13 on my list.. Frazier's far too brave & lively, & would plunder him, b4 unleashing the left hook around the 13th..

[fight_professor]

Liston was a marvellous HW Malone. If not for Ali, who is clearly HW GOAT, Sonny would have dominated the 60's. His jab was superb, excellent power in both hands, tons of heart (Marty Marshall fight foughton with a broken jaw) and skill.

I love Smoke, but he gets broken down behind the jab, and then executed like so many against Liston.

Liston by late stoppage for me.

[mickey malone]

Liston was a marvellous HW Malone. If not for Ali, who is clearly HW GOAT, Sonny would have dominated the 60's. His jab was superb, excellent power in both hands, tons of heart (Marty Marshall fight foughton with a broken jaw) and skill.

I love Smoke, but he gets broken down behind the jab, and then executed like so many against Liston.

Liston by late stoppage for me.

Opposites attract old boy.. I disagree...

[TheGreatA]

Wake up fella's!... Liston was an overrated bully & relied too much on intimidation tactics.. He's around 12 or 13 on my list.. Frazier's far too brave & lively, & would plunder him, b4 unleashing the left hook around the 13th..

I just don't see how he was a "bully". If Liston was a bully then so was Foreman, since they both were stopped by Ali (except Liston was past his prime against a prime Ali).

Frazier coming right at Liston would simply make it easier for him. He didn't struggle against fighters who took it to him, a lot of people did, he struggled with movers. Ali beat him that way, Machen troubled him, Whitehurst went the distance.


3:40

Old Liston giving a beating to the tough journeyman "Scrap Iron" Johnson whom Frazier said gave him one of his toughest fights:

[GJC]

I think that Frazier would do better than against Foreman but still fancy Liston for this match up.
One thing no one has mentioned is Liston's freakish reach which was actually longer than Foreman's.
That jab and that reach got to go with Liston.

[mickey malone]

I'll never be converted to Listenism.. This is a guy who was backed by hoods to do a job.. Against mainly bums, he excelled & got a shot at the title.. Spends nearly 7 rounds punching air & then pops his shoulder (reputedly).. Then he gets a rematch, & gets flopped in the first by a punch that was practised in a swimming pool.. With the exception of Patterson, I really can't think of what's significant about him.. He certainly didn't have much heart did he? And it definitely sees Ali as more than just 'the goat'..

[TheGreatA]

I'll never be converted to Listenism.. This is a guy who was backed by hoods to do a job.. Against mainly bums, he excelled & got a shot at the title.. Spends nearly 7 rounds punching air & then pops his shoulder (reputedly).. Then he gets a rematch, & gets flopped in the first by a punch that was practised in a swimming pool.. With the exception of Patterson, I really can't think of what's significant about him.. He certainly didn't have much heart did he? And it definitely sees Ali as more than just 'the goat'..

He cleaned out the heavyweight division before fighting Ali who is usually recognized as the greatest heavyweight of all time.

I've seen film of Eddie Machen, Zora Folley, Cleveland Williams and they certainly do not seem to be bums to me. Even fighters like Roy Harris, Nino Valdes, Mike DeJohn, Johnny Summerlin, Wayne Bethea, Henry Clark were all top 10 ranked contenders.



Liston had his nose broken in the first round.



Rematch:

[Squabbles94806]

Would this be a duplicate of the Forman-Frazier fights?

Or would Smokin' Joe Frazier find Sonny Liston an easier opponent?

What are your thoughts?

Thank You

I'd give it to Frazier, but Liston would definitely hurt him. I don't think it'll be a replica of the Foreman fight, Liston's shorter than Foreman.

[boxingbuff]

Styles make fights and Joe Frazier was made for Sonny Liston.

Liston would use his jab,which was powerfull enough to knock out some fighters teeth.Liston would uppercut Frazier in the same manner as Foreman.

Joe was a slow starter,and Liston would hurt Joe early and often.Joe's style of keep coming forward no matter what.....Like after being knocked down twice by Oscar Bonevena,but got up and came right back into him.The same as he did against Foreman.Liston had awesome punching power in both hands,and would jab,hook,uppercut Frazier.

Also,Sonny Liston had a great chin...Nobody talks about this.

I say Liston in 3 short brutal rounds.Frazier would never get started.

[fight_professor]

Yeah Liston had the dimensions of a super heavy in terms of reach, fist size etc.

He was a great HW. In a who beats who list, primes, I rank him only behind Ali and Holmes for certain, possibly Louis, Tyson and Foreman too.