For the next several there was civil strife, resulting in 100,000 deaths, as Congolese political parties fought for power. Roy Cohn. Surprisingly, 600,000 rock fans showed up, making it the biggest rock concert ever held. He talked of a fight with Joe Frazier, claiming, "It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel." Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin wrote that "that final left hook crashed into Patterson's cheek like a diesel rig going downhill, no brakes." [60] The extent to which Liston's heavy drinking and possible drug use may have contributed to his surprisingly poor performances against Ali is not known.[15]. He became a popular figure in the later years of his life. He also took his gun. Ellis vs Patterson In a shot at Jimmy Ellis for the WBA Heavyweight Championship Floyd was robbed of a decision after fifteen rounds. Liston angrily responded by questioning whether Dempsey's failure to serve in World War I qualified him to moralize. When he tried to muscle in for a bigger share, Conrad thinks his employers got him very drunk, took him home and stuck him with a needle. Liston retired in his corner due to an inflamed shoulder. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was "no phantom punch." It was called Red China by the United States to indicate they were Communists. [50] Sept. 25, 1962 - With an arrest record as long as his list of knockout victims, Sonny Liston was . Two more arrestsfor disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and another for impersonating a copled to Liston being suspended by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission on July 14, 1961. "A blues song just for fighters: The legend of Sonny Liston. He also had a reputation for bullying people such as porters and waitresses. TV celebrities would also display their skills with the hoop. Of the 10,000 children born with birth defects, only 5000 lived beyond childhood. Boston: Little, Brown. Three members for the Nation of Islam were arrested and convicted of the murder. The victim sought out the executioner." At that point, the fight was scored as even on the official scorecards. Malcolm X. British Politician Sex. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. The dance was responsible for popularizing "fast dancing" or rock-and-roll among adults. The Bridge on the River Kwai was a 1957 Academy Award winning movie about a World War II Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. The film was based on the life of T. E. Lawrence, a British military officer who performed intelligence and led troops in engagements during the Arab Revolt of 1916 against the Ottoman empire. Each hired musicians to promote their drink. Sonny was one of 25 children of a sharecropper in Arkansas. "I didn't know what the heck was going on", Angelo Dundee, Clay's trainer, recalled on an NBC special 25 years later. Coke hired Paula Abdul, while Pepsi had Michael Jackson. Palestinians protested unfair treatment by the Israelis. [108] The book suggests that Sonny Liston may have been murdered and a possibility that the crime was never investigated. A grateful Liston found there was no need to give chase. He is credited with advising singer Elvis Presley to also wear "fancy clothes" during his performances. The contract for the first fight said that if Liston beat Patterson, Patterson could ask for a rematch later that year. Liston was the twenty-fourth of twenty-five children born to an Arkansas sharecropper. [16] Listonaged around 13, according to his later reckoningsremained in Arkansas with his father. Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was the most prolific Russian composer, pianist and conductor of the twentieth century. In that same book Liston was quoted two years after the fight: "Ali knocked me down with a sharp punch. Ham was not really a monkey, but a chimpanzee. "[35], U.S. President John F. Kennedy also did not want Patterson to fight Liston. In 1960, the Eisenhower Administration created a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba. However, David Remnick, for his book King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero, interviewed one of Liston's cornermen, who told him that Liston could have continued: "[The shoulder] was all BS. He was called "Elvis the Pelvis" because of the way he shook his hips while dancing. The torn tendon had bled down into the mass of the biceps, swelling and numbing the arm. [8], Liston turned to crime and led a gang of thugs who committed muggings and armed robberies. After Liston arose, Walcott wiped off his gloves. I know!" While investigating possible communists in the U.S. Army, the Army's attorney general Joseph Welch responded to McCarthy's interrogation of a young soldier. Birth Control became an issue with the advent of the birth control pill. Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson Pope Paul, Malcolm X, J.F.K. [5][6] Alfie Potts Harmer in The Sportster also ranked him the third greatest heavyweight and the sixth greatest boxer at any weight. His wife was gone for a holiday, and when she came home, Liston had already been dead for several days. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform. In 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea, starting the Korean War. Liston vs Patterson is a boxing match to remember. It's an easy win for Liston and his 14 inch fists and he's extraordinary to watch. Liston won his final fight, a tough but one-sided match against future world title challenger Chuck Wepner in June 1970. Each episode, a new lyric and a fresh subject, all presented by Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce. "[40][41], Upon winning the world heavyweight title, Liston had a speech prepared for the crowd that friends had assured him would meet him at the Philadelphia airport. Clay confessed later he had been hurt by the punch, but Liston was unable to press his advantage home. Ironically, the Afghan rebels later used the arms supplied by the U.S. to fight the Americans. "[59], Liston is ranked second in the ESPN.com list of "The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History. Liston biographer Paul Gallender claims that Liston fathered several children, though none with his wife. "[82] Johnny Tocco, a trainer who worked with George Foreman and Mike Tyson as well as Liston, said Liston was the hardest hitter of the three. Rebels were supported by the United States, and finally after a long, costly war, the Soviets were forced to withdraw from the country. University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) admitted its first black or African-American student, James Meredith, with U.S. In 1963, he commented that he was not sad that President Kennedy was assassinated. He won by a seventh-round technical knockout, and seemed on the verge of making a comeback to the big time. DiMaggio married actress Marilyn Monroe in 1954, but the marriage lasted only 9 months. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c.1930 December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. Sit down!' Have you no sense of decency, sir? He became the first pope to visit six continents, but he also known to be an indecisive leader. [12], Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed three meals every day. [39] Leading up to the fight, Liston was an 85 betting favorite, although many picked Patterson to win. [100] A successful racehorse which won the Irish St Leger classic race in 2021 was named Sonnyboyliston. On September 7, 1954, Liston suffered defeat for the first time in his eighth professional fight, losing to Marty Marshall, a journeyman with an awkward style. Roy Cohn was the advisor to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the McCarthy Hearings on Communists in the movie industry and government. Governor John H. Reed of Maine stepped forward, and within a few hours the promoters had a new site: Lewiston, Maine, a mill town with a population of about 41,000 located 140 miles (230km) north of Boston. Ho Chi-Minh was the leader of the Communist North Vietnamese, who first fought the French and then the Americans. "[78] While much has been written about the effectiveness of his left jab, others have commented favorably on Liston's wide range of boxing skills. [51], Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by technical knockout. He had the whole package. Liston was the subject of a 2008 feature film based upon his life titled Phantom Punch. She was then arrested for her act of defiance. Liston was the subject of a 1995 HBO documentary titled Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. According to Liston's trainer, Willie Reddish, Liston cancelled a planned tour to Africa in 1963 because he refused to get the required inoculations. "[42], Liston made his second title defense on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). He later went on to be nicknamed "The King" as the most popular singer ever. Jack Kerouac was the author of the best-selling book On the Road, which epitomized the Beat Generation of the late 1940s and early 1950s. The case brought about the debate as to whether people have the right to take the law into their own hands. He returned with four consecutive knockout victories in Sweden between July 1966 and April 1967, all four co-promoted by former world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson. Then he shot one of the youths again, as he lay on the floor, severing the spinal cord and paralyzing him. Supporters and staff of U.S. President Richard Nixon were accused of breaking into the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate hotel. [48] The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run! In an Associated Press poll, 64 of 102 reporters picked Patterson. Singer Chubby Checker came out with the song The Twist, which started a national dance sensation. He was paroled after serving six months of a nine-month sentence, and was not prohibited from boxing during 1957. But he was the legal heir to an enormous financial empire. Skeptics called the knockout blow "the phantom punch." Several of his staff members were sent to prison as a result of the affair. Dr. Alexander Robbins, chief physician for the Miami Beach Boxing Commission, diagnosed Liston with a torn tendon in his left shoulder. Pinterest | Charles Starkweather was a serial killer who made the news 1958 because of his gruesome murders. Liston's criminal record, compounded by a personal association with a notorious labor racketeer, led to the police's stopping him on sight, and he began to avoid main streets. Chubby Checker's name was a spin-off of the name of the popular rock singer Fats Domino. Fidel Castro had been a wealthy lawyer, advocating social justice and protesting the influence of the United States in Cuba. Marshals enforcing the rules to integrate the school. His wife Evita was known for helping the poor. With Clay quickly ducking his head left, right or away, Liston's leading left jabs largely failed to land. Former movie actor Ronald Reagan became President of the United States. But upon arrival, Liston was met by only a handful of reporters and public-relations staff. [7] Liston was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. Chorus. The pilot Francis Gary Powers was taken prisoner and later released in an exchange for a Soviet spy who had been arrested in the U.S. An interesting note is that Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was stationed at the military base where Powers' U-2 took off for the flight. Between 1957 and 1962, children of women who took the drug thalidomide during pregnancy were born with severe deformities, including only stubs for arms. The interference of ringside reporters regarding interpretation of the rules, the fight stoppage and the controversy after the fight had not been seen since The Long Count Fight between champion Gene Tunney and challenger Jack Dempsey in 1927. In 1962, Liston defeated Patterson in the world heavyweight championship. And he does not like to be hit in the gut." When Liston managed to get clear, McCarter says, he timed the jab and beat Sonny to the punch. He received an Academy Award for his role in On the Waterfront that brought him to be a top box-office draw. On May 7, backers of the rematch ended the court battle by pulling the fight out of Boston. He rolled over, got to his right knee and then fell on his back again. In these feckless clinches he only managed to tie up one of Liston's arms. [61] The new date was set for May 25, 1965. In his own words in Thomas Hauser's 1991 biography: "The punch jarred him. Liston beats Patterson. It's because they think it's a fix, that the mob's somehow involves. Since the boycott was costing downtown stores and white businesses considerable money, negotiations were made to stop the action. He is raised by Martians, and when he arrived on Earth he had no knowledge of anything about the planet or its cultures. The United Nations entered the war to defend South Korea. Patterson and Liston had a rematch clause in their contract, so they met again on July 22, 1963, this time in Las Vegas So that was ~ 10 months after their first meeting. [76][77] Foreman stated: "There wasn't anything missing from Sonny Liston. He was 6ft 1in (1.85m), and had an exceptionally powerful physique, with a disproportionately long reach at 84 inches (2.13m). Tocco left the house before the police did. Gallender claimed, "A lot of officers knew Sonny was dead before Geraldine returned home on January 5, but they chose to let him rot. The NAACP had urged Patterson not to fight Liston, fearing that a Liston victory would hurt the civil rights movement. Pepsi and Coke battle for supremacy in the marketplace. [67] Some felt the knockdown was real but the knockout was fake. This brought outrage from most of the white public. He said they found Liston lying on his bed with a needle sticking out of his arm. The United States landed the first man on the moon. The Shah of Iranwho was supported by the United Stateswas overthrown and Ayatollah Khomeini took over the country. and "Nobody will believe this!"[63]. And Tex Maule of Sports Illustrated wrote, "The blow had so much force it lifted Liston's left foot, upon which most of his weight was resting, well off the canvas. 9, 1 March 2018, p. 8, New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, "Photographic image of 'Tale of the Tape', "Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson (Tale of the tape)", "From THE RING: The greatest heavyweight of all time", "25 Greatest Fighters of All Time (Heavyweight)", "ESPN Classic - Liston was trouble in and out of ring", "Jacob's Beach by Kevin Mitchell: review", "Hard Times, Good Times: Charles "Sonny" Liston - Boxing.com", "Dismayed D'Amato Is Expecting To Get Back Manager's License", "Esquire covers commemorate boxing's prime", "Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston I: 50 Years Later", "Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay (1st meeting) - BoxRec", "1964 Clay vs. Liston Judges' Scorecards from Miami Beach Bout. | Lot #80073 | Heritage Auctions", "Muhammad Ali's Toughest Fight Wasn't Against Joe Frazier", "Fifty Years Later: The Mystery of Muhammad Ali's 'Phantom Punch', "I WAS THERE: George Chuvalo Watches Sonny Liston Take a Dive - YouTube", "Fifty Years Later: The Mystery of Muhammad Ali's 'Phantom Punch' | Boxing News", "Daytona Beach Morning Journal - Google News Archive Search", "Sonny Liston the most talented Heavyweight in history", "George Foreman Discusses Friendship With Sonny Liston", "Sonny Liston: Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy Boxing News", "LOTIERZO'S LOWDOWN Sonny Liston: The Most Underrated Heavyweight Champ In History", "The Most Feared Fighter in Boxing History: Charles 'Sonny' Liston remembered", "Liston KO'd Popular Patterson for Title", "O Unlucky Man: Fortune never smiled on Sonny Liston", "Sonny Liston Meets the Press - Boxing.com", "Like Fights Against Ali, Liston Death a Mystery", "December 30, 1970: Mysterious Death of Sonny Liston", "19 YEARS LATER: Liston Death Remains Mystery to His Friends". In 1953, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Nelson as chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Government Organization. Nixon later became Vice-President under President Dwight Eisenhower. Liston KO'd popular Patterson for title. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. He won eight fights that year, six by knockout. During the fourth round Liston appeared dominant as Clay coasted, keeping his distance. Midway through the first round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former champion down. Teens often marked the "good parts" in the book, as they passed it among each other. He cited Liston's inability to lift his arm: "There is no doubt that Liston's arm was damaged. "[57] Those findings were confirmed in a formal investigation immediately after the fight by Florida State Attorney Richard Gerstein, who also noted that there was little doubt that Liston went into the fight with a sore or lame shoulder. One interesting thing he did was to be a guest on the popular television comedy show Laugh-In. Larry Merchant, then a writer with the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote: "A celebration for Philadelphia's first heavyweight champ is now in order. "[94], A bronze copy of a marble statue of Liston sculpted by Alfred Hrdlicka in 1964 was erected in 2008 between Old Castle and Karlsplatz in Stuttgart, Germany. This was a tactical nuclear recoilless gun, intended to fire at enemy troops in the case of war with the Soviet Union. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' Mark Knopfler's tribute to Liston, "Song for Sonny Liston", appeared on his 2004 album Shangri-La. After he won the title, Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia. Many young rebels of the 1960s selected Stranger as their counterculture bible. For confetti we can use torn-up arrest warrants." He is best known in the West for his monumental novel on Soviet Russia, Doctor Zhivago. "He told me in the strictest confidence, but it was like he wanted to get it off his chest." When Walcott got back to Liston and looked at the knockdown timekeeper, Francis McDonough, to pick up the count, Liston had fallen back on the canvas. But former Las Vegas police Sgt. Walcott never began a count in the ring because of Ali's non-compliance and his physical struggle with getting Ali to go to that neutral corner. It was the theme music for the popular movie Blackboard Jungle. Shaun Assael wrote "The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights", published in 2016. ", Ali clearly did not think he knocked Liston out. The bout would need to be delayed by six months. Learn more about your . It's an easy win for Liston and his 14 inch fists and he's extraordinary to watch.