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Sonny Liston is one of those fighters who I believe get extremely underrated when you bring up some of the greatest boxers who ever lived. He was slick, great power, great athlete, great chin, and a killer instinct second to none. But looking at the giants of this era like Wilder, Fury, and AJ how good would he do in today's HW division? He is more skilled than all three( it's debateable between him and Fury) but he would be a really small HW in this era. Would his skills see him through a bout against all three. Or would they be too big and strong for him? I really do not know.
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He'd be the dominant champion. I think he's just inside the top 10 all-time at heavyweight but in head-to-head mythical matches he's probably top 5. Great power, great jab, good skills and his intimidation was such he'd have so many beat before a bell rang. -
I don't even think he could rule cruiser.Comment
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he would be fighting tom little for the southern area belt.Comment
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In my opinion a prime Sonny Liston would beat and likely KO every heavyweight fighting today. Liston would have been champion a few years earlier but Patterson's manager kept the fight from happening until Patterson insisted on fighting Liston. Liston was already past prime when he finally got his long over due title shot and destroyed Patterson in the first round twice. Liston had great punching power in both hands and an iron jaw. His left jab was so hard he often knocked guys down with it. He was the total package with good stamina and boxing skills as well as a killer mentality. He was an underrated and often overlooked champion because he ran into Ali and only was champion for a short time. Between being denied his well earned title shot for years and then running into the great Ali in his first defense after the the Patterson wins he never got as much credit as he deserved.Comment
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He would be undisputed champion. He is the most underrated HW champion.Comment
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Liston KOed feared KO artist Cleveland Williams twice in a few rounds. Williams was 6 ft. 4 inches and 218 pounds of pure muscle and no fat. In other words he was just as big as most of today's blubbery fat overweight 250 pound heavyweights if you are going by muscular bodyweight. In those days most heavyweights came to fight in top condition and lean like a light heavyweight.Comment
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I think you are confusing big and strong with fat and overweight. AJ is a true 240 pounder with no excess fat. Wilder is a true 215 pounder with no excess fat. If Ortiz was as lean as Wilder he would weigh about 210 and not 240. Fury at 258 pounds had rolls of blubber hanging off of him. If Fury was as lean and ripped as Wilder or AJ he would probably weigh about 225 pounds. Many have become so used to fat heavyweights that they are in awe of the high number of pounds these guys weigh and forget how much of that weight is excess fat that doesn't make them stronger or punch harder. All that extra fat does is slow them down and hurt their stamina. They are really not so much bigger than earlier heavyweights just mainly fatter. So far in boxing history there has never been a 250 pound heavyweight who was considered a great heavyweight. All of the heavyweights who were considered great weighed between 184 and 245 pounds in their prime.Comment
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