His trademark shirt during his illegal raids was yellow. The author begins appropriately at the beginning with his subject, providing more comprehensive information about Sonny's childhood than probably even Sonny himself knew. Did he need Liston's cooperation to beat the rapidly aging champion that night in February of 1964? His time at the summit was brief. Tosches is admirably objective in his presentation of Liston. Please try again. Liston was sentenced to nine months in jail. Sand Slough, Arkansas, United States of America, Sonny Liston is still regarded as the best heavyweight boxer with a taste of violence. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! Paroled in 1952, Liston quickly captured the local Golden Gloves championship. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover. - IMDb Mini Biography By: 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 was probably born in 1929, but no one knows for sure. WebAnswer (1 of 2): At anytime in their careers Clay / Ali would have been too fast and elusive for Sonny. Additional support provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council. . He was one of many childrenone account lists twenty-two siblings and half-siblings. Boxer Charles L. Sonny Liston was bornin St. Francis County, Arkansason May 8, 1932. New York: Skyhorse, 2011. Dating is to describe a stage in a persons life when he or she is actively pursuing romantic relationships with different people. Major children and living persons must directly contact the. As Toches brings out, Liston's brooding temperament can be explained in part by his insecurity. 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.". After the court case, he was sentenced to a five-year jail term in the Missouri State Prison. 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. Drinking. DAmato went on to coach another great boxer in Mike Tyson. {{ mediasCtrl.getTitle(media, true) }} Clay was no debtor to the mob. In September of 1953, he knocked out Don "Toro" Smith in two rounds in St. Louis, setting in motion a career which would span 17 years and bring Sonny to the pinnacle of success in his sport. Liston on his age: "I'm like Jack Benny, I never tell my age.". His best years were 195862 when he destroyed everyone while Patterson shamelessly ducked him. That doesn't make sense. In 1966, following his loss to Clay, Liston launched a comeback. His epitaph reads: "A Man.". Donations made to the CALS Foundation are tax-deductible for United States federal income tax purposes. He was trained by Willie Redish and later by Dick Sadler. From the time he was old enough to be useful in the fields, Sonny was a laborer for his tenant farmer father. with Cornelia Winfrey, born in April 1873 - Montgomery Co., MS, deceased. Armed robbery. His mother worked several jobs to support her children. (LogOut/ 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. Sonny Liston Wife According to our records, Sonny Liston married to Geraldine Seithel. Charles "Sonny" Liston was born into a sharecropping family who farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas. Primary Income source Boxer (profession). His ring style was the essence of simplicity; he displayed little finesse but much raw power, especially in his left hand. Family But the champ went down in a hurry: two minutes and six seconds in the first round. This project is funded in part by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant award. Robert B. Cochran As a young man in 1949, Liston left Arkansas for good and followed his mother's footsteps to St. Louis. 1932-1970 Sonny Liston was the heavyweight boxing champion from 1962 to 1964. 100 Rock Street He got little good press, even from sports columnists, and was routinely subjected to overtly racist slurs in print: in 1964, Look ran a story titled Sonny Liston: King of the Beasts. Liston moved to Las Vegas in 1966 and was found dead there on January 5, 1971, when his wife returned to their Las Vegas home from a Christmas visit with her mother. Hungry fighters eager to break free from the shackles of their own environment bring an element of savage desperation into their ring encounters. He quickly learned how to box and within three years was fighting on the amateur circuit. Thus, cloaking the heavyweight champion of the world--the epitome of masculinity and male supremacy--in a Santa Claus hat was the height of irony at the time. He compiled a career record of Sonny had to put the proper face forward to the public. Sonny Liston existed, and, Ali bouts or no Ali bouts, he was one of the greatest fighters to ever lace on a glove. No one knows how Sonny Liston died. gnalogique Dowling avec plus d'un demi-million de parents, He managed to turn his cruel past to his advantage. His parents were Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African-American sharecroppers in rural St. Francis County. He went on to win several amateur matches. George Foreman was his sparring partner from 1969 to 1970. Sonny Liston lost his title to the little known Cassius Clay in the seventh round in February 1964. His final record as a professional was 50 wins, 39 by knockout, and four losses. Liston was raised on heavy farm work, many beatings, and with virtually no schooling. Liston, who posted a career record of 50 wins and 4 losses with 39 knockouts, reveled in this role of the fighter America loved to hate. What advantage would there be to having the brash young boxer from Louisville installed as heavyweight champ in place of Liston? Sonny Liston was a violent person even outside the ring. L'arbre He became a professional fighter in 1953. Copyright 2020, ARKANSAS SOUL MEDIA. Twenty-two-year-old Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, defeated reigning world boxing champ Sonny Liston on this day in history, Feb. 25, 1964, in Miami, Florida. He became a professional fighter in 1953. Listons 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 officers gun. Ali and Liston: The Boy Who Would Be King and the Ugly Bear. The most noticeable being his win over Ed Sanders. Even as a grown up, the physical scars were still visible. . Much of what Tosches gleans about Liston's youth stem from interviews with people who lived on the Morledge Plantation in the 1930s and from Sonny's older half-brother E.B. Official Sites. Nevertheless, he had a soft spot for children. contains thousands of pictures and GeneaStars. World heavyweight boxing champion, 1962-1964. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. 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. There, he committed various muggings and robberies. Geraldine married Sonny Liston in 1950 When a tribute gift is given the honoree will receive a letter acknowledging your generosity and a bookplate will be placed in a book. The dark side is evident. Least of all, Sonny himself. He served brief prison terms and on one occasion was introduced to boxing by a prison chaplain. He earned the money being a professional Boxer. New York: Blue Rider Press, 2016. From the start, Liston was a devastating puncher. Hardly. All Rights Reserved. American professional boxer who became world heavyweight champion in 1962, Born on May 08, 1932 In his next fight he bounced back to TKO Chuck Wepner shortly before his mysterious death in 1970. Even Sonny's mother, who was called Big Hela, didn't know, though she believed him to be born during the month of January. In a short amount of time, those felonious deeds cost Sonny Liston his freedom. Introduced to boxing by Father Stevens in the St. Louis City Jail during 1950. Liston didn't find gainful employment in St. Louis. Liston was raised on heavy farm work, many beatings and with virtually no schooling. At the age of 16, Listonmore than 6 feet tall and weighing 200 poundsbecame a menacing presence in his neighborhood, occasionally working as a strike-breaking labor goon. Basically, for a guy like Liston, it meant that you either dealt with them, or you didn't deal at all. The tactic worked. We are all related! At least two sexual assaults. He had earned the title shot with an impressive string of 195960 victories over top contenders Cleveland Williams, Nino Valdes, Roy Harris, Zora Folley, and Eddie Machen (all knockouts except for Machen). When Liston died, he was rated 7th in the world heavyweight rankings by Ring Magazine. (There is some speculation about his year of Liston moved to Las Vegas in 1966 and was found dead there on Jan. 5, 1971, when his wife returned to their home from a Christmas visit with her mother. Charles L. Sonny Liston was born in St. Francis County, Arkansas, to Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. His father was 30 years older than his mother. After having his license revoked, Liston made a smart decision, as he had when he bought out Barone. 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He sold pecans from his brother-in-laws tree in order to reunite with his mother and his siblings. Or it would be history, if boxing historians would stop sweeping the legacy of Sonny Liston under the ring canvas. Touring the local hospital in a grey tweed overcoat with a black velvet collar, the intimidating, burly, 6-foot-tall, 215 lb. First World Heavyweight Boxing Champion banned from fighting in New York State by the New York Boxing Commission. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Geneastars | Facebook. Charles "Sonny" Liston's life and death began and ended in the same manner: as a mystery. Full body measurements, dress & shoe size will be updated soon. He told them that he had no education, couldn't write and worked as a child to help feed his 24 siblings. Read our Privacy Policy. From the start, it was apparent that he had a future in the ring. But there is another side. After a little while, Liston followed his mother and was reunited with his other siblings. Ironically, by the time Liston finally became champ in September of that year with his 1-round KO of Patterson, the mob was beginning to lose its iron grip on the sport and on Liston himself. Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. As most boxing fans know, it was in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City that Sonny learned to box. in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Sonny LISTON (1932), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. Liston would later claim his birth date to be May 8, 1932, but that is off by at least two years. On September 25, 1962, Liston made history by becoming the heavyweight champion. There were rumors of drug peddling, heroin use, and murder, but no answers. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us. Foes like the murderous-punching Cleveland Williams, Mike DeJohn and Nino Valdez succumbed to Liston's heavy fists. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. His father was an abusive alcoholic, and Liston eventually left the house during his teens. WebThe son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his father's 25 children. contient des milliers de photos et GeneaStars. He acted in a number of films, the most famous being "Harlow" with Carroll Baker. Pre-European Exploration, Prehistory through 1540, European Exploration and Settlement, 1541 through 1802, Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood, 1803 through 1860, Civil War through Reconstruction, 1861 through 1874, Post-Reconstruction through the Gilded Age, 1875 through 1900, Early Twentieth Century, 1901 through 1940, World War II through the Faubus Era, 1941 through 1967, Divergent Prosperity and the Arc of Reform, 19682022, World War II through the Faubus Era (1941 - 1967). The official cause of death was lung congestion and heart failure, although Liston had fresh needle marks on his arm and police discovered heroin and a syringe in the house. Some suspect foul play; others believe Liston died of a self-inflicted drug overdose. Charles Sonny Liston was a noted boxer who briefly reigned as Heavyweight Champion after a first-round knockout against Floyd Patterson. Some Thoughts on Boxing, Jake Paul, and Asking Why We Fight He is one of the Richest Boxer who was born in AR. Liston's purpose was to show the Pennylvania State Athletic Commission, and the world, that he was turning a new leaf. WebPatterson defended against Liston in Comiskey Park, Chicago, on September 25, 1962, and the rest is history. Some believed that the fight was fixed as reported in later biographical works like The Devil and Sonny Liston (2000) by Nick Tosches. Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African-American sharecroppers in rural St. Francis County. 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.
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