who did liston beat to be so highly regarded as good??

[moondog0]

I think you were right in the first place Mystal! Liston didn't fight anyone!!!! No boxing ability, just a lot of hype with knockout ability, aka, Jerry Cooney.....

[Verstyle]

I think you were right in the first place Mystal! Liston didn't fight anyone!!!! No boxing ability, just a lot of hype with knockout ability, aka, Jerry Cooney.....

TRUE TRUE TRUE i think his aoera of invincibility was his stare and his jab. but thats all he did. i think he's overrated in my eyes

[Kid Achilles]

No offense but that fact that you don't know who Cleveland Williams or Eddie Machen are doesn't amount to much in terms of how good they actually were. Take my word that they were a lot better and more well rounded than a lot of the guys Tyson was knocking out on his way up.

Liston is alot like Dempsey in that they both cleaned up their divisions on the way up, and so there was no one impressive left to defend against.

[Verstyle]

No offense but that fact that you don't know who Cleveland Williams or Eddie Machen are doesn't amount to much in terms of how good they actually were. Take my word that they were a lot better and more well rounded than a lot of the guys Tyson was knocking out on his way up.

Liston is alot like Dempsey in that they both cleaned up their divisions on the way up, and so there was no one impressive left to defend against.

but still tyson fought fall of famers ppl that cleaned up there own divisions, champions, former champions, and 2 gold medalist. now liston did what


p.s. im not tryin to be a smart ass im jus alittle confused on why he's always hyped like he is

[The_One77]

Tyson was a better heavyweight than Liston.

Liston was overhyped, and got exposed by Ali.

Liston competition was overrated too, Zorra Foley and Cleveland William's records are padded with bums to make them look good.
I dont see why they really belong in the HOF

[The Noose]

Id say its easy to look back at a fighter from 50 years ago and say "Who did he fight?"

Many boxing experts, who were around to see him fight and all the champions since then still consider Liston to be without question an all time great.

His record is great and the manner of his victories speak for themselves.http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=009031

Tyson himself regards Liston as an incredible heavyweight.

[Yogi]

they're all HOF hw's, though.

And what HOF are Williams, Machen and Folley a part of again, because they certainly aren't in the IBHOF?

But regardless of that, those fighters were still top notch Heavyweights in their era, and like Kid said Liston basically cleaned out the division in devastating fashion before he finally got Patterson in the ring...Machen, Folley, Williams, DeJohn, Valdes, Harris, etc., were all very highly ranked at around the time they faced Liston, and I personally think Liston's pre-title winning opposition was friggin excellant!

[Heckler]

Who did Marciano fight? He fought three good fighters far beyond their prime, although walcott put up a real good performance. Would Marciano be so highly regarded if he had one loss on his resume? But when the competiton is crap, you should be able to see past this and look at the fighters capability... Rocky was still a great and so was Liston. Liston beat machen, williams etc good fighters whom are underrated and most know little about them. Liston had good very good boxing skills, was powerful, and smart in the ring... he cleaned up an entire division before loosing to clay and he is rightfully considered a great.

[butterfly1964]

but still tyson fought fall of famers ppl that cleaned up there own divisions, champions, former champions, and 2 gold medalist. now liston did what


p.s. im not tryin to be a smart ass im jus alittle confused on why he's always hyped like he is

holmes was 37, and spinks is a lhw. no way they compare to a prime williams, and a prime patterson.

[butterfly1964]

I think you were right in the first place Mystal! Liston didn't fight anyone!!!! No boxing ability, just a lot of hype with knockout ability, aka, Jerry Cooney.....

well, we all know you're a moron, so enough said.