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Early lifeThere is considerable uncertainty about when Liston was actually born. He gave his birth year as 1932. Many believe he was born in 1927, though there is no son named Charles listed with the family in the 1930 census. [1] Liston was born the son of a sharecropper in Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas. He was one of 17 children born to Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. Liston endured frequent beatings as a child. He started to work early as his father's opinion was, "If he can sit at the table, he can work."[citation needed] This quote is also mentioned in David Remnick's book King of the World
When the teenage Liston was sentenced to prison for taking part in the robbery of a gas station, his boxing talent was discovered by a Roman Catholic priest. Boxing helped him leave jail early. [1] On Halloween night in 1952, he was paroled, and during a brief amateur career that spanned less than a year, he won several amateur tournaments, including Golden Gloves. Professional boxing careerListon made his professional debut on September 2, 1953, knocking out Don Smith in the first round in St. Louis, where he campaigned for the first five fights of his career. In his sixth bout, in Detroit, Michigan, he faced John Summerlin, who was 22-0, on national television. Liston won an eight round decision.
In 1955, he won six fights, five by knockout, including a rematch with Marshall, whom he knocked out in six rounds. A rubber match with Marshall in 1956 saw him the winner by a ten round decision, but in May of that year, he ran afoul of the law once again, when he beat up a police officer in an incident that was unclear, many rumors and allegations of how it happened coming into the public light. He was forced to stay away from boxing during 1957 while serving a nine month sentence. He was paroled after six months in jail. In 1958, he returned to boxing, winning eight fights that year. 1959 was a banner year for Liston. He knocked out Mike DeJohn in six, number one rated challenger Cleveland Williams in three and Nino Valdez in three. In total, he fought four times, winning all by knockout. In 1960, Liston won five more fights, including a rematch with Williams, who only lasted two this time, with knockout wins over Roy Harris in one round and top contender Zora Folley in three rounds. Eddie Machen was the only contender not knocked out by Liston, with Liston beating him on a lopsided twelve round decision. But Liston had difficulty getting a deserved shot at Floyd Patterson whose handlers tried to use Liston's links with the mob as an excuse against the fight. In 1962, Liston finally signed to meet world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson for the title. The fight was going to be held in New York until the New York commission denied him a license. As a result, the fight moved to Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois. Liston and Patterson met on September 25 of that year, and Liston became world champion by knocking out Patterson in the first round. He was not a popular champion, and Liston was very disappointed that on his return to his hometown of Philadelphia, the fans did not come to cheer him. Patterson and Liston signed for a rematch, held on the evening of July 22, 1963, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This fight lasted exactly two seconds longer than their first fight, with Liston once again knocking Patterson out in the first round. Ali versus ListonListon did not box again that year, and in 1964, he met a young contender named Cassius Clay on the evening of February 25 in Miami, Fla.. Liston lost his title when he quit in his corner before the start of the seventh round, claiming he had hurt his shoulder. Some believed the fight was fixed, and doubted that Liston's shoulder injury was real. Image:AliListonSI.jpg Special Issue Sports Illustrated cover, end of the fight On May 25, 1965, Liston again encountered Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali. The bout was originally scheduled for Boston, Massachusetts, but Ali, a week before the fight, was hospitalized with a hernia. The rescheduled match was in the town of Lewiston, Maine. Less than two minutes into the fight, it was over. While he was pulling away from Liston, Ali hit Liston with what looked to be a phantom punch which was so fast that under super slow motion technology could only see the start and end of the punch but nothing in between, and Liston, who had never been knocked off his feet, went down. In the chaos that followed, referee (and former heavyweight champion) Jersey Joe Walcott never began his count over Liston and instead followed after Ali to make him go to a neutral corner, while Ali bounded around the ring yelling hysterically at Liston. The photograph of the conclusion of the fight is one of the most heavily promoted photos in the history of the media, and was even chosen as the cover of the Sports Illustrated special issue, "The Century's Greatest Sports Photos". Contrary to popular belief the Ali didn't knock Liston out, the end of the fight came after Liston got back up and Ali threw a barrage of combinations at him and Liston couldn't defend himself, the referee stopped the fight and Ali won by TKO. Many believed the fight was fixed. George Chuvalo, who sat in the fourth row at ringside and later fought Ali twice, said, "It was a phony." Floyd Patterson also said he did not believe the fight was on the level, as did former heavyweight champions Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney and Joe Louis. [1], however physicist today believe that the punch would have enough momentum and force to knockdown Liston (force is calculated as "acceleration * mass" and momentum is is calculated as "speed * mass" it would take only 16 lbs of pressure to compress the brain and as a reflex to relieve compression the person falls down, therefore 16 lbs of pressure would knockdown any man alive, the punch is estimated to have a force of higher than 16 lbs) Subsequent fightsListon took one year off from boxing, returning in 1966 and 1967, winning four bouts in a row in Sweden, including one over Amos Johnson. In 1968, he won seven fights, all by knockout, including one in Mexico. In 1969, he had three wins and one loss. Among his wins was a 10-round decision over Billy Joiner at St. Louis, but in his last bout that year, he lost by a knockout in nine rounds to Leotis Martin at Las Vegas. Martin's career ended after the fight because of a detached retina. Liston won his last fight by knockout in 1970, against Chuck Wepner. DeathListon was at the end of his fighting career when, on January 5, 1971 he was found dead by his wife in their Las Vegas home. The time of death has been placed as six to eight days prior to that, and several sources list December 30, 1970 as his date of passing. He was believed to have been 38 years old. In the course of an obviously flawed investigation, Las Vegas police claimed they found no signs of foul play. Many believed the police investigation was a sham. [1] The precise cause of Liston's death is mysterious; the police declared it a heroin overdose, yet Liston was well known to have a phobia of needles. After winning the title, Liston at first refused to go on an exhibition tour of Europe when he was told he would have to get shots before he could travel overseas. All this prompted rumors that he could have been murdered by some of his underworld contacts. The case of Liston's death remains unsolved. [1] This death was documented on the show Unsolved Mysteries. Liston is interred in Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trivia
See also
Liston is referenced in the song "Love Love Love" by the Mountain Goats. References
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