Auspiciously, the massive man is known as The Bear then won his first nine fights before dropping an eight-round decision to Marty Marshall. The subsequent rematch with Clay on May 25, 1965, included the infamous "phantom punch." There, he became a thug, committing various muggings and robbery. Clay was no debtor to the mob. Liston lost his rematch to Ali in May 1965. Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. If you can, provide 1-2 sources of information backing up this correction. WebHe was the 12th of 13 children born to Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin, and he endured frequent beatings as a child. Sonny Liston was born in Sand Slough, AR on May 8, 1932. In 1996 when Mike Tyson KO'd Bruce Seldon in one round for the WBA Heavyweight Championship, Tyson had won the WBC Heavyweight Championship six months earlier and was seeking to unify the title. Tired of being exploited as a manual laborer, Sonny Liston turned to crime. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. His heavyweight title-winning victory on September 25, 1962, was indicative of his powerful style: After a mere two minutes, he knocked out Floyd Patterson, which marked the first time in history that a reigning heavyweight champion was counted out in the first round. The tactic worked. Those dark forces were also at work when Liston willingly placed himself in the hands of the mob that ran the fight game during the time of Liston's ascendancy to the crown. Sonny Liston was featured in a novel "Girl Fighter" with a brief reference to his early life, his rise to WBC heavyweight champion and his eventual losses to Clay/Ali. In St. Louis, he quickly encountered problems with the local police. He compiled a career record of 50-4, competing against such boxing legends as Muhammad Ali and Floyd Patterson. The title fight was in Chicago, Illinois, on September 25, 1962, with a wide public pulling for the champ (including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and authors James Baldwin and Norman Mailer). He started boxing in prison and was likely over 30 then. The Dowling Family Tree with over half a million relatives, He became a professional fighter in 1953. Liston won 26 consecutive bouts, moving inexorably toward the heavyweight championship. in Sand Slough, Arkansas, USA , United States, Died on December 30, 1970 After the court case, he was sentenced to a five-year jail term in the Missouri State Prison. On the side of Tobe Liston, born in 1872 - Choctaw Co., MS, deceased. Liston had a huge physique. Tosches, Nick. The second was a boy. He supported many in his life. Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. (Which isn't to say that Liston took advantage of Father Murphy, or that he had a disregard for what Father Murphy had to say. Liston won 26 consecutive bouts, moving inexorably toward the heavyweight championship. Eddie Dooley, chairman of the New York Boxing Commission in the 1960s, said that as long as he was chairman of the commission Sonny Liston would never be granted a license to box in New York State. Charles Sonny Liston was a noted boxer who briefly reigned as Heavyweight Champion after a first-round knockout against Floyd Patterson. From the time he was old enough to be useful in the fields, Sonny was a laborer for his tenant farmer father. His father physically molested him. In 1957, he was sentenced to nine months in the St. Louis workhouse for assaulting a police officer. Liston, in fact, had great respect for Father Murphy and behaved admirably around him. That hurt him deeply, though he instinctively hid the scars behind a scowl. Liston had a rough and violent childhood. In October 1952, Liston was released on parole. During the years that Liston was champ, the mob was in retreat. WebTogether with his 24 siblings and half siblings, Sonny grew up in the local cotton fields. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, 1991. His alcoholic and violent father was thirty years older than Sonnys Liston was the 12th of 13 children born to Tobe and Helen Liston (and one of 25 children sired by Tobe). At the age of 14, he was almost 6 feet tall. He had been dead for some time, an ending every bit as murky as the Clay/Ali fights. He rose from poverty in the rural south to become one of the most dominant and feared professional fighters of the 20th century. Maybe Liston was concerned about the death threats that had been made against Ali in the wake of the assassination of Malcolm X and Liston just wanted to get out of the ring that night as quickly as possible. Liston won 13 of his first 14 bouts before trouble with the law cost him his freedom a second time. Read our Privacy Policy. Sonny never really had a Prime. aged 38years old. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2000. Major support provided through a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. At the age of thirteen, he ran away to St. Louis, Missouri, following his mother, who had left earlier. He defeated heavyweight contenders Roy Harris, Zora Folley, Eddie Machen, Cleveland Williams, Mike DeJohn, Henry Clark, and Chuck Wepner. Assael, Shaun. An error has occured while loading the map. He had his first competitive match in prison. As Liston made himself a serious challenger to Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight title, Liston made his alliance with the Devil, as Tosches refers to the mob. Touring the local hospital in a grey tweed overcoat with a black velvet collar, the intimidating, burly, 6-foot-tall, 215 lb. Before his sentencing, Liston had been arrested more than twenty times. Liston was raised on heavy farm work, many beatings and with virtually no schooling. His mother worked several jobs to support her children. He died circa December 30, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Liston emptied his pockets of bills and returned to the car with all of the women's pencils. He was thirty-eight years. Education: Sonny Liston Net Worth: Sonny Liston net worth or net income is estimated to be between $1 Million $5 Million dollars. Family Some believed that the fight was fixed as reported in later biographical works likeThe Devil and Sonny Liston(2000)by Nick Tosches. Liston was the second last in a family of twenty-five siblings. Cox, who was interviewed extensively by Tosches, went as far as to say that Liston would still be alive if he had "spent more time with Father Murphy."). Liston's career was interrupted for nine months beginning in December 1956, when he was sent to the St. Louis workhouse for assaulting a policeman and stealing the officer's gun. New York: Skyhorse, 2011. Known for scowling at opponents, he combined an intimidating ring presence with awesome power. He was sired by Lawman out of the Galileo mare Stars In Your Eyes. As with the date of Liston's birth, no one knows for sure. London: Aurum Press, 2008. He never shied away from street fights. According to Wikipedia, Forbes, IMDb & Various Online resources, famous Boxer Sonny Listons net worth is $82 Million before He died. Carbo was in prison and Palmermo would soon follow. By that time, Liston had already attracted the attention of organized crime. Reverend Stevens was both the prisons chaplain and sports director. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 orcalsfoundation@cals.org. Liston was raised on heavy farm work, many beatings and with virtually no schooling. Liston was raised on heavy farm work, many beatings, and with virtually no schooling. After having his license revoked, Liston made a smart decision, as he had when he bought out Barone. Liston was buried in Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada, beneath a simple gravestone. Hungry fighters eager to break free from the shackles of their own environment bring an element of savage desperation into their ring encounters. Sanders was the reigning Olympic heavyweight champion. . He was one of many children one account lists 22 siblings and half-siblings. Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African-American sharecroppers in rural St. Francis County. Liston continued to fight in the ring until June 1970. He earned the money being a professional Boxer. In prison, encouraged by Catholic chaplains, Liston took up boxing, where he was an immediate and spectacular success. WebPatterson defended against Liston in Comiskey Park, Chicago, on September 25, 1962, and the rest is history. WebParents and Siblings Charles L. "Sonny" Liston 19321970 Geraldine Chamber 19252005 Spouse and Children Charles L. "Sonny" Liston Male19321970 Male Charles "Sonny" Liston's life and death began and ended in the same manner: as a mystery. For additional information: In 1956, he found himself on the wrong side of the law again. Perhaps no keener insight can be gained from those early years, though, than from what Sonny himself was quoted as saying: "The only thing my old man ever gave me was a whipping.". In 1950, he was convicted of two counts of larceny and two counts of first-degree robbery and spent more than two years in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. Gambling. Sonny Liston was introduced to boxing while serving time in a Missouri State Penitentiary. Did he need Liston's cooperation to beat the rapidly aging champion that night in February of 1964? Clay, later to be known as Muhammad Ali, may have had the fastest hands of any heavyweight ever to lace on a pair of gloves. Pressure resulting from appearing before the committee, and from the diatribes of Patterson's manager Cus D'Amato, caused Liston to buy out the contract of his manager, Pep Barone, who was considered to be an undesirable, and name old-time Philadelphia political hack George Katz as his manager. His dad was an abusive alcoholic and at the age of 13, Sonny left to live with his aunt in Former World Heavyweight Champion who learned to fight while in jail. The Devil and Sonny Liston. Liston was the second last in a family of twenty-five siblings. He won 11 consecutive fights by knockout in 1968 and added three more wins in 1969 before losing a brutal bout to Leotis Martin. Before he was 18, Liston was convicted of six muggings. To give back to society, he supported many children. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Survived by his wife Geraldine and a step-daughter. It was just a matter of semantics, though. While Liston was incarcerated, prison athletic director Father Alois Stevens introduced him to the sport of boxing. Wrong username or password. At the age of 13, he ran away to St. Louis, following his mother who had left earlier. 1932-1970 Sonny Liston was the heavyweight boxing champion from 1962 to 1964. Sonny Liston was born in Sand Slough, AR on May 8, 1932. In 1950, Liston was arrested at his apartment at 1006 O'Fallon Street for robbing the Unique Cafe on 1502 Market Street in St. Louis for 37 dollars. Clay later changed his name to Muhammad Ali. His father was an abusive alcoholic, and Liston eventually left the house during his teens. He continued fighting until June 29, 1970, when he knocked out Chuck Wepner, but he never got another title shot. In prison, encouraged by Catholic chaplains, Liston took up boxing, where he was an immediate and spectacular success. Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African-American sharecroppers in rural St. Francis County. Least of all, Sonny himself. Biography, Net Worth, Gossips, Salary, News & Much More. He told them that he had no education, couldn't write and worked as a child to help feed his 24 siblings. A story is told of Liston ordering his driver to stop on a busy highway, so that Liston could go and buy some pencils from an obviously poor, old, white women whom he had observed. His epitaph reads: "A Man.". When he won the heavyweight title in 1962 at age 30, he had a daughter age 25. First heavyweight title challenger to earn a purse of $1,000,000. The official cause of his death was given as cardiac arrest and lung congestion. Apart from his demeanor, Liston was a charming man with a captivating smile.