Apart from Ali, who else do you think could beat Sonny Liston.

[DarkTerror88]

Louis and Johnson.
If anyone could trade with Liston it's prime Dempsey. If it was humanly possible dempsey would frothing at the mouth after a few rounds, wanting to decapitate Liston then eat the head. I'd still favor Liston though.

[Scott9945]

Liston was one of the biggest X factors in heavyweight history. No champions reputation took as big of a tumble as his did between pre Clay and post Ali. You have to give to him a chance against anyone (except Ali) ever. But he looked so beatable in the Ali fights that you can't dismiss a number of top heavyweights chances of beating Sonny.

[BennyST]

Hmmmm, what about Leotis Martin and Marty Marshall?

[Wild Blue Yonda]

Who would I make a favourite against him? Ali & Louis --- no one else. He was simply that devastating at the height of his powers.

That said, there are a good four or five legends at HW in with a good, or even great, shot at toppling him...

Larry Holmes (Great shot, narrow favouritism for Liston)

George Foreman (See Holmes)

Jack Dempsey (A swing fight. May well depends on who lands hard & first)

Lennox Lewis (On his best night, a legitimate chance)

Jim Jeffries (Difficult to say with conviction, but if it turns out
he can take Liston's best punch, it's a hell of a fight)

The rest, I give Liston solid favouritism over. A lot of people mention Holyfield, but I have to say, I see that as just horrible stylistically. Liston would beat him decisively.

The HW all-timers (arguably top-10, that is) Liston would have the least trouble taking on would be Marciano, Frazier, & Tyson. The first two just could not cope with Liston's jab & the vast deficits in style & range, while Tyson would completely lose his bottle in this fight.

An honourable mention should go to Gene Tunney --- if the odds were right (& they may well've been), Tunney could provide a sneaky win for the adventurous gambler. He'd be in with a much better shout, IMO, than the bookies would probably install him as.

[Wild Blue Yonda]

Hmmmm, what about Leotis Martin and Marty Marshall?

At the beginning & end of his career?

Harsh judgement, being fair. Liston hung tough to lose on points to Marshall, before avenging the defeat twice, all before his peak had been reached. Martin had the inside-running on Liston, having been his sparring partner, & was getting the worst of it in stages before he landed the best punch of his career --- & this, against an all but spent Liston, who was pushing God-knows-what in age. Martin never fought again, relating to an injury sustained against Liston, BTW.

[RetroGamer]

not sure not sure

[BennyST]

At the beginning & end of his career?

Harsh judgement, being fair. Liston hung tough to lose on points to Marshall, before avenging the defeat twice, all before his peak had been reached. Martin had the inside-running on Liston, having been his sparring partner, & was getting the worst of it in stages before he landed the best punch of his career --- & this, against an all but spent Liston, who was pushing God-knows-what in age. Martin never fought again, relating to an injury sustained against Liston, BTW.

Yeah.....it was a joke.

[sonnyboyx2]

Who would I make a favourite against him? Ali & Louis --- no one else. He was simply that devastating at the height of his powers.

That said, there are a good four or five legends at HW in with a good, or even great, shot at toppling him...

Larry Holmes (Great shot, narrow favouritism for Liston)

George Foreman (See Holmes)

Jack Dempsey (A swing fight. May well depends on who lands hard & first)

Lennox Lewis (On his best night, a legitimate chance)

Jim Jeffries (Difficult to say with conviction, but if it turns out
he can take Liston's best punch, it's a hell of a fight)

The rest, I give Liston solid favouritism over. A lot of people mention Holyfield, but I have to say, I see that as just horrible stylistically. Liston would beat him decisively.

The HW all-timers (arguably top-10, that is) Liston would have the least trouble taking on would be Marciano, Frazier, & Tyson. The first two just could not cope with Liston's jab & the vast deficits in style & range, while Tyson would completely lose his bottle in this fight.

An honourable mention should go to Gene Tunney --- if the odds were right (& they may well've been), Tunney could provide a sneaky win for the adventurous gambler. He'd be in with a much better shout, IMO, than the bookies would probably install him as.

Liston would break Larry Holmes in half, Holmes always struggled with big punchers (Tyson, Shavers, Isaacs, Weaver) and fighters with a very good jab (Smith, Williams,Witherspoon, Spinks) Sonny Liston had an incredible jab and right hand.

Liston was far superior to Foreman in every department.

Liston vs Lewis is a miss-match, Liston is ten McCall & Rahman's.

Dempsey would destroy Liston

Liston v Jeffries would be a great tussle a 50/50 fight.

[TBear]

Guess I'm going to go against the flow here but I believe Liston would never catch Larry Holmes. I feel Louis could box well enough to befuddle Liston too.

And this will really raise eyebrows but I believe a prime Foreman would stop him.

[SBleeder]

Besides Joe Louis and Ali, I wouldn't bet on anyone to beat Liston. But since you asked who could beat him-

Holmes: I'd give him the best chance of anyone not named Louis or Ali, due to his style and his long, sharp jab.

Johnson: Similarly, I'd give him a shot because of his great footwork and defensive skills.

Foreman: I'd make Liston a big favorite in this fight, but it's not completely inconceivable that Foreman could win this fight.


No one else.