Why is Liston held in such a high regard when the best guy he beat was Patterson?

[Pugilist89]

So he’s fought two Hall of Famers and went 1-1

he’s also 6-0 (6) against opponents who also faced Ali.

what a bum.

He never had a tough champion caliber rival that he actually beat. It was a strong era for sure.

[Pugilist89]

It states in his bio that he could have probably beaten anyone but Ali.

There's nothing to support that.. He decisioned Machen.

[Cypocryphy]

Liston is held in high regard because he was a specimen and possibly the scariest boxer to ever live. Pattern crapped himself before getting in the ring with him. Everyone was terrified of this guy and no one wanted to fight him. The only guy to call him out was Ali, and he was the only guy (as far as I can remember) to beat Liston.

To put it simply: Liston was THE MAN for a period of time, and that's why he's held in such high regard.

(Now next time, post in the appropriate section. I know you post this here because you don't think anyone would respond to it if you didn't, but there's plenty of people in the history section, more knowledgable than myself, who can answer your question much better.)