Interesting read

[Greatest1942]

I read this from Sports Illustrated...The whole article is big, I am just typing the part that I found most interesting :-

"The compulsion to seek out those who are hurting has taken Patterson, over the years, to unlikely places. Sitting ringside at a cramped arena in Lewiston, Maine, and watching Liston get knocked out in the first round of a rematch with Muhammad Ali in 1965. Patterson sensed that he had witnessed the destruction of his old nemesis's core, his soul and self-respect. Unable to reach the loser in his dressing room after the fight, Patterson went to Liston's hotel room 90 minutes later and found the fighter alone, already abandoned by his entourage. "What are you doin' here?" Liston asked.

Patterson said quickly, "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. But sometimes things don't work out the way you'd like, Sonny. I fought you twice. Twice I was so miserable. But you'll come out of it. You'll see. It'll get better."

Liston said not a word. His baleful scowl had been replaced by a glazed softness; the dark eyes stared into nothingness. The man looked, thought Patterson, not there, as if he was thinking about the end. "I said a little more," Patterson remembers, "and he still hadn't said a damn thing. Then I started thinking, Maybe he doesn't appreciate this. Maybe I should get the hell out of here. Because Sonny did have a quick temper, you know. Truth is, you never knew with him. So I wished him the best of luck, turned around and headed for the door."

"Floyd," Liston called.

Patterson turned back and saw Liston smiling wanly. "Thanks, Floyd," Sonny mumbled, and Patterson walked into the night."

[The Surgeon]

Sad to think of Liston like that and what was to come of him....


Boxing really is a brutal business

[Greatest1942]

Sad to think of Liston like that and what was to come of him....


Boxing really is a brutal business

I do think Liston had a great sense of humour...Read this

"The only thing I'd have to do with Clay is a lot of roadwork—because he's gonna run like a thief." Clay had first predicted that Liston would fall in six should they meet, but Liston said, "By the time of the sixth round, I'll be halfway through the victory party. Clay! Let me tell you a story. Once I was in the country on a very cold day. Very cold. It was snowin', it was snowin' hard. I was out in a field. The snow was about four feet deep. And there was a little bird shiverin' up on a branch in a tree. It was cold, and he had no food. Up above in the sky was a hawk circlin' around. Just circlin'. All of a sudden a big white horse comes along, and he puts some manure under the tree. The little bird sees this, and he flies down from the branch and has himself a good meal. He's so happy! He flies back up to the branch, where he starts singing', 'Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet.' And the big hawk circlin' up in the sky hears him, and he swoops down and eats him! And the moral of the story is don't get too frisky when you're full of manure."

[Rockin']

fighters will beat the **** out of eachother at one moment and be friends or aquaintances when its all said and done.

The boxing crowd is small and if you've earned the respect from your peers they will be your "brothers" for life.

"He who bleeds with me in the ring is my brother"......Rockin'

[The Surgeon]

I do think Liston had a great sense of humour...Read this

"The only thing I'd have to do with Clay is a lot of roadwork—because he's gonna run like a thief." Clay had first predicted that Liston would fall in six should they meet, but Liston said, "By the time of the sixth round, I'll be halfway through the victory party. Clay! Let me tell you a story. Once I was in the country on a very cold day. Very cold. It was snowin', it was snowin' hard. I was out in a field. The snow was about four feet deep. And there was a little bird shiverin' up on a branch in a tree. It was cold, and he had no food. Up above in the sky was a hawk circlin' around. Just circlin'. All of a sudden a big white horse comes along, and he puts some manure under the tree. The little bird sees this, and he flies down from the branch and has himself a good meal. He's so happy! He flies back up to the branch, where he starts singing', 'Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet.' And the big hawk circlin' up in the sky hears him, and he swoops down and eats him! And the moral of the story is don't get too frisky when you're full of manure."

I think Liston was very misunderstood, i like him both as a fighter and a guy, very dry sense of humour

[The Surgeon]

fighters will beat the **** out of eachother at one moment and be friends or aquaintances when its all said and done.

The boxing crowd is small and if you've earned the respect from your peers they will be your "brothers" for life.

"He who bleeds with me in the ring is my brother"......Rockin'

The Best Sport there is Period

[Greatest1942]

The Best Sport there is Period

Agreed...with you and Rockin too...I have a puzzle of Liston for all you guys out there:-

Liston: "If there were two birds sittin' on a wire and one took a notion to jump off, how many birds would be left?"

Can anyone answer please? I will post later the answer (Also given by Mr Liston)

[The Surgeon]

Agreed...with you and Rockin too...I have a puzzle of Liston for all you guys out there:-

Liston: "If there were two birds sittin' on a wire and one took a notion to jump off, how many birds would be left?"

Can anyone answer please? I will post later the answer (Also given by Mr Liston)

Love puzzles and riddles! Havent heard Sonny say this but my guess is 2. Because u said it took a notion, and not that he did jump off?

[Greatest1942]

Love puzzles and riddles! Havent heard Sonny say this but my guess is 2. Because u said it took a notion, and not that he did jump off?

Mr Liston gave the same answer...and by the way I didnot say this Liston did...

[Greatest1942]

Love puzzles and riddles! Havent heard Sonny say this but my guess is 2. Because u said it took a notion, and not that he did jump off?

Since you like it...I thought I will give you another:-

Liston: "It a plane crashed between Mexico and California, where would they bury the survivors"

By the way do you think Liston can be pulled by the ear to do a covershoot? Well hell yea...it was done...

"If he had no respect for Clay, Liston was like a child around the radio hero of his boyhood, Joe Louis. When George Lois, then an art director at Esquire, decided to try the black-Santa cover, he asked his friend Louis to approach Liston. Liston grudgingly agreed to do the shoot in Las Vegas. Photographer Carl Fischer snapped one photograph, whereupon Liston rose, took off the cap and said, "That's it." He started out the door. Lois grabbed Liston's arm. The fighter stopped and stared at the art director. "I let his arm go," Lois recalls.

While Liston returned to the craps tables, Lois was in a panic. "One picture!" Lois says. "You need to take 50, 100 pictures to make sure you get it right." He ran to Louis, who understood Lois's dilemma. Louis found Liston shooting craps, walked up behind him, reached up, grabbed him by an ear and marched him out of the casino. Bent over like a puppy on a leash, Liston followed Louis to the elevator, with Louis muttering, "Come on, git!" The cover shoot resumed."