Was Sonny Liston an ATG?

[Panthershock]

Liston cleaned up the fighters who were considered the best contenders before he got to Patterson.

Machen and Foley were the top 2 ranked heavy's in 1958, the Ingemar Johansson KO of Machen was considered a fluke at the time.

Patterson reigned over carefully selected opponents, while Liston fought the consensus top contenders of the time. That helps explain why Liston was the favorite going into the 1st Patterson fight.

So while he only made 1 defense of the title, Liston clearly established himself as the premier fighter of the era between Marciano and Ali.

[KO'er]

ATG in general? No.

ATG Heavyweight? Of course.

What is the difference?

When I say ATG great, I mean "an" ATG, not an ATG of only heavyweights or of only in general.

[Scott9945]

What is the difference?

When I say ATG great, I mean "an" ATG, not an ATG of only heavyweights or of only in general.

Obviously the heavyweight pool is a lot smaller than the entire sport of boxing pool. While you can make a case for Liston being an all time top 10 heavyweight, he wouldn't be anywhere close to that if you consider all weights.

[StarshipTrooper]

What is the difference?

When I say ATG great, I mean "an" ATG, not an ATG of only heavyweights or of only in general.

When I say "ATG" I mean within a weight class. I don't really play the p4p game that seems to be all the rage right now.

Poet

[kiDynamite92]

i have him sitting inside my top 5 for heavyweights, and for the ret@rds judging him based off his performance against Ali, you do know he was close to 40 right?

[GeneralZod]

i have him sitting inside my top 5 for heavyweights, and for the ret@rds judging him based off his performance against Ali, you do know he was close to 40 right?

I have Sonny in my top ten, but the "Phantom Punch" took place in 1965, and Liston died in 1970 at about 38, making him around 33 at the time of the rematch.

[Ray Corso]

The best guess is 1930 as his birth year! Ray.

[IronDanHamza]

What is the difference?

When I say ATG great, I mean "an" ATG, not an ATG of only heavyweights or of only in general.

The difference is, I have Liston amongst my Top 10 HW's and in result is a ATG HW.

However, I wouldn't have him in a list of ATG's accross all weight classes.

[SBleeder]

The difference is, I have Liston amongst my Top 10 HW's and in result is a ATG HW.

However, I wouldn't have him in a list of ATG's accross all weight classes.

Not even a top 100 P4P list?

[IronDanHamza]

Not even a top 100 P4P list?

I would doubt it.

Off the top of my head, that is.