Floyd Patterson vs Sonny Liston (1st meeting). Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Флойд Паттерсон против Санни Листона (первая встреча), 25 сентября 1962 г., победа Листона 1-ом раунде (KO)
This was a fight that my Father was well aware that odds were stacked way high against him. Nonetheless he took the fight when no one else regarded Liston worthy of a chance. His logic was, what good is it being a champion if you re gonna run from the most worthy of contenders ?. Liston did have a shady past but was still the number 1 contender for a title shot. What most don't know is that, at different times, both Dad and Liston had visited each others dressing rooms to offer support at different times. Liston was well aware of the deep depression my Father endured after his embarrassing losses. And reached out to him. My Father was also supportive of Liston when he kept getting bad raps and wasn't regarded as the celebrated champion that he deserved to be. My Father passed away in May of 2006 from Alzheimers. In the hospital barely knowing who I was, I remember the last thing I said to him was: " Dad we need to get another fight with Liston. We gotta start training again". He actually lit up and said " yeah". Then he drifted off and passed away 2 weeks later. Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend a lot of time getting to know my Father because of my parents' divorce. But the memories and knowledge I do have of him, I cherish and have no problem sharing it. Always a Champion in my book.
Interesting that Liston didn't celebrate, raise his arms, leap up and down and shout his own praises. The first thing he did was to come over to Patterson and speak a few words of commiseration. People say a lot of things about Sonny Liston. They ought to remember this aspect as well.
Floyd deserves a lot of respect here. His management didn't want him to fight Sonny, JFK even said "don't give Liston a shot". But Floyd had a troubled youth like Sonny. He said the guy has earned a shot, so he gave it to him. I respect Floyd Patterson, he could've ducked Liston but showed courage instead. 25 lb weight disadvantage and a 13" reach disadvantage. What kind of outcome would on expect? The difference in strength is obvious in the clinches, Patterson couldn't budge Sonny. People called Liston a thug, but his childhood was a nightmare, a serious nightmare. He never had a chance.
Making stuff up? Actually JFK said "When are you fighting Sonny Liston?" and he told Cus D'Amato that he had to fight him because the President expected it.
People say Patterson had a 'glass jaw' he didn't. It took big punchers to stop him inside the distance, Liston and Johansson. If there had been a cruiserweight division back then, we would all be saying what a great champion he was.
@@christianthornbury6192 yeah because Liston had 25 pounds on him and if most fighters he went up against had 25 pounds on him I wouldn't be surprised if he got beat every time
Calling Liston "inarticulate in victory" is a real cheap shot by Chric Schenkel. Liston was stoic and a man of few words but he was hardly inarticulate.
Yes, he was inarticulate, in and out of the ring. Whenever his wife went out of town, he fell apart and started drinking and getting into trouble. He would practically be in tears. But at least in the ring, he had plan and purpose. Not knocking him, just saying.
@@slimdudeDJC He was also the 1st guy to put his arm around Floyd in consolation. Sonny never caught any kind of break in life, except maybe his nose. He always said the only thing his father ever gave him was a beating......
@@slimdudeDJC THIS COMMENT IS INARTICULATE. you fail to prove your assertion and worse use a totally incoherent statement....that has zero support for it...fool butt
If you put Liston in the 80’s and 90’s, with those generations’ training techniques, he would have beaten everyone including Mike Tyson. The Man is the prototypical Heavyweight Champion. Massive, long reach, insane power and a solid chin.
The same could be said for Joe Louis. Joe was the only fighter that had other guys have to be carried into the ring to face him. There were literally 2 or 3 guys who had to be physically forced into the ring to face Louis in his prime. He was killing folks
I've always thought that if Patterson had shed some weight and moved down to light-heavy he could have been one of the greatest ever. He was just too small for the likes of Liston and Ali.
Sonny showed respect for Floyd before and after the fight. Floyd had a checkered upbringing as a youth like Sonny. Floyd showed a lot of courage and integrity by giving Liston a shot. Sonny's childhood was a tragedy. Much respect to both of these men.
"Floyd vs Sonny (long version)" 11 min... 😂. I think that if Sonny didn't die he'd probably would have been a very likeable old man, talking about his career
Rubbish he was not liked sadly and to controled by the mob.. they killed him.. so fantasy stories would never have been.. his only good friend was the amazing Joe Luis
@@sooke54 I always thought that George Foreman was a version of Sonny Liston that was able to conquer his demons and live the rest of his life in peace
Howard Cosell, was good and exciting, with an innate sense when a fight was about to turn. Boxing was his best sport. Bob Sheridan (Ali vs Foreman, Zaire ) was very good. Jim Lampley was about the worst. IMO. In anything.
@@georgevincent1834 No they wouldn't have hahaha. Sonny was a very Conservative boxer puncher. He didn't go for knockouts, just took them as they came. Sonny threw more hooks and uppercuts than any of those fighters. Don't be ridiculous, China chinned Wlad beat Sonny? It would last 2 or 3 rounds, only because Wlad is big enough to tie up Sonny and break his momentum for a while. Vitali, that would be a tough fight as Vitali can take a punch, but liston was a lot tougher on the inside than Lennox and would've ripped him to pieces. Liston and Lennox would be a thriller fight, but considering certain variables I'd still favour Sonny because, like Ray Mercer he was a boxer puncher. Except he was much much better than Mercer.
@@cormacmcquillan828 No way....lol. Liston had no heart. He was kayo'd by an off balance right hand "love tap" by Ali in their second fight, and out and out QUIT in their first fight when it wasn't going his way. In fact Liston didn't even know how to cut off the ring.... Something every amateur fighter learns his very first week. Liston pretty much made his entire reputation by beating glass jawed little Floyd Patterson in two fights. In fact most of the guys Liston beat were in the cruiserweight size range. He was used to mauling smaller guys. It would be a whole new ballgame for him if he tried the bullying tactics against 245 pound Lewis or EITHER Klitchko. He won't be able to manhandle guys that size the way he did against his much smaller opposition. Vitaly definitely knocks him out or has Liston quit on his stool in frustration. No way did Liston ever see the likes of Vitali. Wlad is a more interesting but much duller fight. Wlad knows he has a glass chin but is smart enough to jab and clinch his way to a super boring UD. I think even second tier fighters like Tua and Ibebuchi beat Liston.
@@georgevincent1834 you don't know shit about boxing if you think tua and Ike beats any version of sonny. The fact that you only brought up the worse version of sonny (injured untrained sonny) against argueable the greatest heavyweight just show how narrow minded you are. Seriously, educated yourself since when being knockedout by one of the hardest punchers is considered a weak chin? With that logic joe frazier had a weak chin too because lasted a total of 7 rounds against foreman. Wladimir or his brother isn't beating the sonny not even the old sonny, his jab alone would knock Wladimir and cut Vitali to a stoppage. And saying sonny has no heart is stupid. His shoulder blew out by round 4 and from there he was just a sitting duck just hoping for a punch. With thus logic Ali has no heart because he quit in his corner against larry but I bet you got excuses for him though
I remember Ali used to call Patterson 'The Rabbit'. Those kidney punches by Liston had a big time affect on Floyd Patterson. Liston was working the body like a surgeon. Sonny came out like a real gentleman to check on Patterson after the win.
I have noticed that Sonny was the first person in the ring to check on all his beaten opponents. I think there was no animosity towards opponents by Sonny.They were just an opponent to be beaten as quickly as possible with the least damage to him or Sonny .It was just a payday to him.
Floyd was a gentleman and a credit to boxing. The last of the small heavyweights he was a skillful boxer and had talent but Liston was to strong for him
Actually, media portrayed him as a villian. In reality, he was very gracious and always showed class with his opponents. There's also multiple testimonies of people close to him descrbining him as a gentle and caring man. Yes, he had ties to organised crime... but that wasn't too uncommon in segregated black ghetto kids in the 30s/40s, which in fairness, resorted to anything that could bring them food to the table. Sadly, the contemporary media seemed too fixated with the this, and refused to acknowledge the more humane side of his. Great champ, all time favourite.
When Sonny finally gets his due he will be regarded as in the top 5 HTH heavyweights of all time. Late '50's Liston was pure horror for his opponents. It was almost obscene. Phil.
@@luisantonioduarteah-hoy9663 Sonny Liston's greatest achievement was to become (what-they-called-then) "heavyweight world champion" by beating cruiser Floyd Patterson 189 lbs and then losing it approximately 1 year later to Cassius Clay (aka Cassius X aka Muhammad Ali) by retiring on the stool (RTD). Floyd Patterson at the time of the bout (and later in his whole career) had not a single real heavyweight fight: He started at 160+ lbs and his median winning weight was 178 lbs (= barely a cruiser). The fight against Liston was Patterson's highest being-outweighed fight (by 24 lbs) at that time and he had no business in the ring with a real heavyweight. The fight ended as the 3rd fastest KO of all time. Their 2nd encounter lasted 4 seconds longer.
Looking at Liston's speed, footwork and ability to punch hard at angles, he would easily knock out any heavyweight of the current era. I would have loved to have seen him in his prime during the 70's against Frazier, an older Ali, Foreman and Norton.
@@Damiana362, yes, this is what people with brains and eyes tend to do. We watch sports and then make comments. It used to be sitting around with friends, at outings and other social gatherings. Nowadays, we've added social media and RU-vid. What's your point?
Floyd looked terrified from the outset.He could not even look Sonny in the face at the referee 's instructions.Beaten before he starts. Two minutes later,everybody in the world found out why !
Back when fighters actually used to break on instruction from the ref. Last few Fury fights the ref had to physically prise him apart from his opponent AFTER yelling multiple times to break.
you could see what a mismatch this was when they stepped into the ring. Liston was much larger, hit harder. Floyd was really a lt heavyweight, and while he was fast and had a good punch of his own, had a glass jaw. Bad weakness to have going against Sonny!
“Glass jaw” you know he’s only been knocked out for a count of 10 once in his career... and that was by Sonny Liston. Even then, he got back up more than once. Most people that get floored by Liston don’t get back up. Also, three of his ‘losses’ are biased decisions especially when he destroyed Jimmy Ellis
What happened to Patterson's speed and lightning combinations? When they got close, I saw Patterson slipping most of Liston's punches but not throwing many of his own. Mike Tyson in his prime slipped punches but also threw many of his own. Patterson was giving up 25 pounds. He should've known he couldn't take out Liston with one punch and concentrated on quick combinations. Liston threw many more punches than Patterson.
@@jameswalker5260 And don't confuse your stupidity with anything else..And put the pipe down..It only further cripples your ability to form rational though..
@@floydpattersonii4996 I listened live on the radio when Floyd fought Cassius Clay (his name at the time)...My Dad and I both were pulling for Floyd)...I think if he would have fought at light heavyweight, his record would be even stronger. I was and still am a big fan of Floyd Patterson....Again, I witnessed both a great champion, as well as a stellar human being during that golden age of boxing. Guys like Floyd, Rocky Marciano and the like, brought a demeanor seldom seen today..No foul language or antics...Rather true gentleman that had mastered their craft...( The sweet science)....Happy trails...
@@JackPeters-yk9wg Thanks for such nice words. Marciano's family lived about 2 hours from where Iam. Marciano lived in Brockton, Ma. In 2009 the city of Brockton erected a long overdue statue of him.. 49-0 Undefeated. You can't beat that....and no one has
Patterson and Archie Moore were two of the best light heavyweights. I think both would have beaten Billy Conn. Conn almost beat Joe Louis with quick hand speed and movement. Louis had very little foot speed in my opinion..just saying. Schenkel's cheap shot at Liston being inarticulate was inaccurate.
Although Chris Schenkel's commentary is added after the fight--I prefer live commentary --the sound is excellent in this film, a scary realism. You hear the referee's commands to them during the bout, the thudding of both men's blows.
Floyd was very elusive and it's clear that Sonny had difficulty in reaching him but that Left Hand did the damage against the ropes; Floyd didn't see it and Sonny closed out the contest. Thanks for posting.
It is true that Sonny missed often in the beginning but that was the feeling out process. If the fight had gone further, his landed punches percentage would have gone up.
Patterson had a weak chin. After the first Johansson fight, Patterson learned to keep his chin tucked. Liston caught that chin and Patterson never saw it coming
Every time I see Sonny fight, I get so fixated on the size of those gloves. It had to be unsettling for your opponent to be chasing you around swinging cynderblocks at your head.
Liston's reach and weight advantage was too much for Floyd to overcome. I've heard said Floyd would have been the greatest Light Heavyweight of all time.
It was that sweeping right uppercut at 5:38 that hurt Floyd. Ali proved that the only strategy that worked against Sonny was running and jabbing. You can only bob and slip so much.....
@@przemek5664 Yeah D'MATO one of the WORST trainers EVER! Trained the Two MOST Knocked Out Heavyweight Champs of All Times - Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson!
Liston was always going to destroy Patterson the size differential is unlike no other just the fists alone where miles apart , Patterson is a light heavy compared to liston even Pattersons trainer never wanted any part of liston ,Liston was a monster even out his prime Ali was lucky he got a fragile broken liston ruled by the mob otherwise Ali would of been killed inside that ring , the way he demolishes a polished excellent fundamentally built fighter in Patterson is remarkable just sonny’s jab would put any normal man to sleep.
I agree. A heavyweight champion weighing in at 189 lbs? Wtf!?? It looked like two different weight classes. Floyd had no chance. I believe it was Muhammad Ali that said Sonny Liston was the hardest puncher he ever fought.
TheBatugan77 You don’t have to be so snitty, my friend. All Ronald Darby was saying is that Patterson had the physical dimensions of a light heavyweight. Translation: Patterson wasn’t a TRUE heavyweight. It is to his credit that he was able to fight & defeat opponents who WERE true heavyweights.
Bad ref, Liston got away with some low shots and held Patterson while punching. Still...Liston wasn't bothered by anything Patterson hit him with. Patterson didn't look afraid as some people have said and moved well defensively, but Liston was just too big, strong and tough to overcome.
i remember hearing about this fight but i was only 12 yrs old so it's nice to see it now on video. i was aware of the fighters because my dad followed them. liston was so much bigger than patterson.
I remember, growing up on the Southside, listening to this bout on the radio with my dad. He had to explain to seven year old me why people who paid for tickets would be upset.
"28 year old Sonny Liston?" Hell, Liston was at least 33 if he was day and probably older than that. Patterson enters the ring looking like a man about to ascend the scaffold. He ducked Liston for two or three years but once he got in the ring with him, he could not duck, he could not run and he could not bob and weave - all he could do was pray.
Yeah Liston was for sure in his early 30's,The guy had no birth date. Floyd can stick and move really nice but for this fight he needed a way harder hit.
According to Wikipedia Sonny Liston once gave an age indicating that he was born in 1928, and it appears he wasn't sure when he was born. If Liston was born in 1928 that makes him around 34 years old in this fight. Sonny Liston certainly has power punches in this fight!
+Reemus Boxing Do you feel Sergio K. Ward`s last opponent could have used his jab against Paterson in the same way Liston did if they fought at the same weight because I see a comparison Sergio has a reach and powerful jab like Liston and also has reach and awesome power also Floyd fought at light heavy before moving up. I would have also like to have seen a bout at light heavy between Ward and Floyd, interesting?!
That was a dirty shot by Liston. He pulled Pattersons head down with his right and gave him a nasty left hook/uppercut, as he was holding Patterson's head down with his right. You can't do that.
That staredown from liston while the ref addresses both fighters is enough to scare anyone...also throughout the fight..not once did the ref have to step in to break up both fighters a simple "ok boys break it up" and they separated themselves...nowadays the ref has to force his way in between both boxers and pry them apart it just goes to show that discipline has totally gone out the window in today's world of boxing
Liston was the baddest man on the planet Tyson was just playing at it. Liston is a top ten heavyweight of all time. A man of his time and in his prime very very few would have beaten him . He would have had Marciano on toast for breakfast
Liston never beat anybody. Marciano would have scrambled Liston's brains. See, Liston didn't like getting hit, and it showed against Clay. Marciano beats Liston by TKO. Liston never saw the day he beats Rocky. Ezzard Charles, who Rocky beat, was a better fighter than Liston. You don't know boxing. You are too easily impressed by big ugly guys.
Of course Patterson got knocked out...look who his trainer was...Cus D'mato..trainer of the TWO most Knocked Out Heavyweight Champs of All Times, Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson!
Patterson was a gutsy fighter, but he was way too light to be boxing as a heavyweight at this time in history. He was a perfect example of why the cruiserweight class was developed. As for this fight, his style was all wrong for Liston.
Poor Patterson! Apparently, he met with President Kennedy at the White House and the Prez asked him, "So, when are you going to fight Sonny Liston?". Patterson had refused to fight Liston for years on the pretext that Sonny was a bad character and controlled by the Mob. But after Kennedy asked him that question, he felt obliged to fight Sonny even though his trainer, cus D'Amato told him flat out - "You can't beat Sonny Liston!". Of course, Cus knew what he was talking about but Patterson went and fought him anyway and got flattened like a fly hit by a sledge hammer.
+Steven Yourke I feel Sergio K. the light heavy crusher could have beat Paterson if they came in at the same weight. (Paterson fought at light heavy before moving up) I feel Sergio powerful jab would be effective in the same way Liston`s was, I feel his reach would have been too much for Floyd had they been born in the same year.
Liston was still fighting 6 round fights when Marciano was champ. He was a nobody. His first big fight with a rated contender was in 1959, Mike DeJohn. You obviously don't know what you're taking about. I will say this, if Ali could put Liston down with a patty-cake phantom punch, Liston could never handle Marciano's power.
al cerillo Marciano made a living fighting old men and puffed up light heavy weights. Joe Louis was not just over the hill, he was under it. Ezzard Charles was a light heavy weight who could not punch. Archie Moore was a 50 year old light heavyweight who had Marciano down and the gave Marciano a tough fight. He got beat up by a 40 year old Jersey Joe before knocking a 40 year old guy cold. Marciano would have lasted one or two rounds longer than the Rabbit Floyd Patterson! Marciano was a super fighter when it came to beating up old men!!!!
@@Kinlow54 Not so sure. If Liston went down with that patty-cake phantom punch that Ali threw, I'd say Marciano had a good chance to take apart Sonny. You're confused, Moore was 48 years old when he fought Ali. He was 38, and won 21 in a row before when he fought Rocky. Rocky has never been dazed. I've seen Ali clobbered and dazed several times. Since Rocky only beats "old men" that means he'd have clean 45 year old George Foreman's clock too. Don Turner said Marciano was the hardest puncher he ever saw. Harder than Liston, Foreman, Shavers, etc. If you don't know who Don Turner is, educate yourself. It's never too late.
If Floyd Patterson were just a little bigger and had a jaw that was stronger, would he always have won? I wonder. Ali said Floyd Patterson was the most skilled boxer he ever fought.
@@tomtraphagen1906 We do indeed agree. Floyd Patterson was an exciting fighter to watch and to root for. As a man he always seemed thoughtful and complex, in a profession that's generally portrayed as primitive and barbaric. It really wasn't his fault that Cus D'Amato as his manager refused to allow Floyd to fight the top competition during his championship reigns- until Liston. He was brave and he was proud. And he got up when knocked down. He didn't just lie there and count the money. He never threw a fight, and he never quit.
Sonny Liston showed true sportsmanship and concern for Floyd Patterson. Still kept looking at him when they pulled him away. Didn’t showboat just got it done professionally. Floyd was a great fighter but should have fought in a lighter weight class but the big paydays in those days were the heavyweights
rickyt43515 I too was about your age and remember going to the theater with my father to watch the fight. In those days, the fights were shown via closed-circuit TV at selected movie theaters across the country. Ah, such memories. Has it really been 50+ years......
In 1965 Floyd fought a bigger, younger and stronger George Chuvalo.He jabbed moved, countered ina masterful way.Floyd win a tough but unanimous decision.
When Liston lost to Ali (I was 10 years old but a knowledgeable sports fan) I was shocked like everyone else. I thought Liston would knock Ali out cold. Even in the 2nd fight I thought Liston would win. Liston & myself came from the same background. Raised in the rural poor south and migrated to the city. He could've been a twin brother to my uncle.They had the same demeanor..scary!
Don't be too disappointed, both fights were fixed, I know this with absolute certainty. Had they really fought, I would give Ali 2 or 3 rounds the most before he went down and out.
@@MrMarco855 Sorry, Marco, not buying it. Ali's hands were just too quick for the camera and the human eye to see. I know this is hard to accept but it's true..
@@harrisonmccorkle6481 It's not hard to accept it's hard to believe. Your saying that you don't see Ali's hands when he punches because they're so fast? You're on another level in terms of exaggerating Ali's abilities. I see every punch he throws and I'm not blinded by emotion. The fact is I've done much research looking for evidence and I found a lot. I don't need evidence for my sake, my eyes have informed me that Liston wasn't fighting at all in the 1st fight, in the 2nd fight he did a poor acting job and it's very easy to see a fix again. 2 fights, both ordered fixes by the mob. Liston otherwise was the best HW that ever lived.
@@MrMarco855 The Ali-Liston fights being fixed is about as wild of a conspiracy theory as the moon landings being fake. They have no proof and they have no evidence. Any evidence is selective or half hearted. The anchor punch also was seen on camera; it genuinely was so fast that you had to slow it down to see it. So, no, it was indeed a thrown punch that landed. Rocky Marciano & Joe Louis, two of the best punchers of all time, both said the punch had the power to knock Liston out (as Liston was moving directly into the punch, and was hit in the side of the head by it). Liston got unlucky and got knocked out. Maybe he could’ve gotten up, but he had no heart to do so. He was too prideful to accept a knockout unless he truly felt defeated. He was knocked down by the Louisville Lip in the first round, and simply lost all heart to continue, and stayed down. There wasn’t any fix. If it was fixed, there’d be more open evidence about it 60 years after the fight had occurred, but there isn’t. Only fringe conspiracies.
I actually think Floyd became an improved fighter after losing his title to Liston. His bouts with Ellis and Quarry produced better performances than in his days as champion. Those two guys would have walked right through the Floyd Patterson of 1956-62.
I watched this on "pay T.V.". Beforehand, there was a documentary on Floyd showing one knock out after another, certainly to build Floyd's image. By the time the bell rang, I didn't think Sonny had much of a chance. That's how convincing the Floyd clips were. Besides, I was a big Floyd fan. When Floyd went down, I was sure he'd get up. After all, he always did. When it was all over, I smelled fix. I didn't see the punch that finally put Floyd to sleep and there were no instant replays back then. It took the after fight films (and the return debacle) for me to understand what the obvious truth was. Floyd never had a chance.
Sonny had a 13 inch reach and 30 pound weight as well as a height advantage on top of massive punching power. Too many advantages over Floyd. I think Sonny's when the real heavyweight division began.
I was not born when this fight happen. However, your story remind me when I watched Tyson fight against Lennox Lewis on PPV as I was fan of Tyson thinking he is GOAT and I was waiting for Tyson to knock out Lennox Lewis which never happen . After all Tyson got knocked out miserably .
