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During the years that Liston was champ, the mob was in retreat. .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. Before Fame He sold pecans from his brother-in-law's tree in order to reunite with his mother and his siblings. He died circa December 30, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1957, he was sentenced to nine months in the St. Louis workhouse for assaulting a police officer. The son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his fathers 25 children. The Devil and Sonny Liston. Liston scored another knockout in a rematch with Patterson, but his 17-month reign as heavyweight champion ended at the hands of a brash fighter named Cassius Clay. He sold pecans from his brother-in-laws tree in order to reunite with his mother and his siblings. (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. L'arbre Read our Privacy Policy. In a short amount of time, those felonious deeds cost Sonny Liston his freedom. He compiled a career record of 50-4, competing against such boxing legends as Muhammad Ali and Floyd Patterson. with Cornelia Winfrey, born in April 1873 - Montgomery Co., MS, deceased. However, his career was marred by criminal activity and, later, accusations of mob connections and throwing fights, according to the. Sonny Liston was introduced to boxing by Reverend Father Alois Stevens. Encyclopedia of Arkansas Sonny Liston had a controversial boxing career, winning 54 of 58 bouts from 1953 to 1970. That inbred struggle for survival often produces champions. As the top fighter in the world, Liston became an easy target for sports columnists who remarked frequently on not only his menacing demeanor and vicious punching power but also his criminal background. He served brief prison terms and on one occasion was introduced to boxing by a prison chaplain. Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African-American sharecroppersin rural St. Francis County. Let's check, How Rich is Mario, Ben Villaflor estimated Net Worth, Biography, Age, Height, Dating, Relationship Records, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below. QUICK FACTS. . Donations made to the CALS Foundation are tax-deductible for United States federal income tax purposes. Owing to his many siblings and a brutal, hardscrabble Arkansas childhood with an abusive father (excruciatingly detailed in the movie and book), Liston had an affinity for needy children. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, 1991. Liston went down in the first round, felled by a punch few saw. In 1956, he found himself on the wrong side of the law again. Sonny was probably born in 1929, but no one knows for sure. 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. For all his womanizing, Liston had a respect for his wife Geraldine and was faithful to her in his own way. Sonny Liston prefers not to tell the details of marital status & divorce. He was referred to as the man with the steel punch and an iron chin.. The first time you log in to our catalog you will need to create an account. Username and password are case sensitive. His relationship status is single. Instead, he and some friends took to robbing people on the street and robbing gas stations with a loaded pistol. Sonny Liston Wife According to our records, Sonny Liston married to Geraldine Seithel. At 6 feet 1 inch and 217 pounds, Liston had devastating punching power, an iron chin, and lightning reflexes, along with a powerful jab. When Liston became the top challenger to champion Floyd Patterson by 1960, it was a Please try again. It was there in Sand Slough that Charles L. Liston was born, on the 50 acres that Tobe rented from the Man.". Liston claimed he was born in 1932, yet his rap sheet for his 1950 arrest for armed robbery listed his age as 22, making him born in 1928. Sanders was the reigning Olympic heavyweight champion. His father was an abusive alcoholic, and Liston eventually left the house during his teens. gnalogique Dowling avec plus d'un demi-million de parents, 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. During his two-plus years in the state penitentiary, Liston attained a new nickname, "Sonny," and a new vocation, boxing. Liston emptied his pockets of bills and returned to the car with all of the women's pencils. gnalogique Dowling avec plus d'un demi-million de parents, While Liston was incarcerated, prison athletic director Father Alois Stevens introduced him to the sport of boxing. On the same night at a different location, but on the same closed-circuit broadcast, Patterson defeated unheralded Tom McNeeley in four rounds in what would be the final successful defense of his crown. He became a professional fighter in 1953. Liston didn't find gainful employment in St. Louis. L'arbre From the start, it was apparent that he had a future in the ring. The coroner picked December 30, 1970, as the date of death, and Liston was buried in the Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas under the simplest of epitaphs: A MAN.. This is how Tosches describes Liston's birth place: "It was in the sector of Morledge Plantation that lay in Johnson Township, St. Francis County, that Tobe Liston and his family came to live and farm, on a low patch where a rill of muddy water, a mile and a half or so long, dribbled dead to its end in a slough of sandy dirt where nothing could grow. 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. Womanizing. This project is funded in part by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant award. Following his release from the workhouse, Liston quickly returned to the ring against Hunter and got his career back on track. Before his sentencing, Liston had been arrested more than twenty times. After a rough upbringing, with little formal education, Liston found himself in trouble with the law. The rematch in Las Vegas on July 22, 1963, was another first-round knockout. His dad was an abusive alcoholic and at the age of 13, Sonny left to live with his aunt in 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. He never shied away from street fights. WebAnswer (1 of 2): At anytime in their careers Clay / Ali would have been too fast and elusive for Sonny. 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. In 1966, following his loss to Clay, Liston launched a comeback. Liston was raised on heavy farm work, many beatings and with virtually no schooling. He acted in a number of films, the most famous being "Harlow" with Carroll Baker. In prison, encouraged by Catholic chaplains, Liston took up boxing, where he was an immediate and spectacular success. WebSonny Liston Photo Gallery. For additional information: Former World Heavyweight Champion who learned to fight while in jail. lis! In October 1952, Liston was released on parole. Sonny Liston: His Life, Strife, and the Phantom Punch. 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 best years were 195862 when he destroyed everyone while Patterson shamelessly ducked him. Two Catholic priests who served as chaplains, Father Edward Schlattmann and Father Alois Stevens, helped to direct Liston toward the controlled violence of the ring. At the age of thirteen, he ran away to St. Louis, Missouri, following his mother, who had left earlier. Paroled in 1952, he had a brief amateur career, winning several Golden Gloves championships and defeating 1952 Olympic heavyweight champion Ed Sanders. Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, 1990. Assael, Shaun. Along with his many siblings, Liston grew up working in the local cotton fields. Knocked out #2-rated heavyweight contender Roy Harris (27-1) in one round. 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. He earned the money being a professional Boxer. He was still a fringe contender at the age of 40 or so when he died under mysterious circumstances in December of 1970 at his house in Las Vegas. Nine years of steady fighting later, and following additional scrapes with the law (fourteen arrests between 1953 and 1958 and a conviction in 1956 for assaulting a police officer), Liston finally fought Floyd Patterson for the Heavyweight Championship. On September 25, 1962, Liston made history by becoming the heavyweight champion. Drinking. The continual conflicts with the police. 2023 Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Boxer Charles L. Sonny Liston was bornin St. Francis County, Arkansason May 8, 1932. Some believed that the fight was fixed as reported in later biographical works like The Devil and Sonny Liston (2000) by Nick Tosches. The cover was one of the most famous images of the early 1960s, as Liston embodied the fears of White America during the days when Southern police officials had attacked the burgeoning civil rights movement with violence, a violence white Americans feared might be returned onto them. The local police classified him as the yellow shirt bandit.. He climbed back into the ring on June 29, 1970, registering a 10th-round technical knockout against "Bayonne Bleeder" Chuck Wepner. William Friedkin was intended to direct his biopic "Night Train" with Ving Rhames as Sonny Liston. DAmato went on to coach another great boxer in Mike Tyson. Liston won 26 consecutive bouts, moving inexorably toward the heavyweight championship. Liston was an excellent boxer. WebThe son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his father's 25 children. Sonny Liston existed, and, Ali bouts or no Ali bouts, he was one of the greatest fighters to ever lace on a glove. When Sonny KO'd Floyd Patterson in 1962 for The World Heavyweight Championship,he became the only challenger to win that title by a first round KO. Liston was buried in Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada, beneath a simple gravestone. Why he died remains one of sport's most enduring mysteries. Tosches, Nick. Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African-American sharecroppers in rural St. Francis County. His epitaph reads: A Man.. He died circa December 30, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada. As for the rematch between the two fighters in an ice rink in Lewiston, Maine, in May of 1965, there are a lot of possible explanations for Liston's bizarre actions that night. After his release, Liston relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his career quickly flourished again. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). Just three months after Sonny's move to Denver, his license was reinstated. Made a comeback in 1968-1969 and won 14 straight before losing to Leotis Martin. Wrong username or password. Liston was the second last in a family of twenty-five siblings. Liston was the 12th of 13 children born to Tobe and Helen Liston (and one of 25 children sired by Tobe). Former World Heavyweight Champion who learned to fight while in jail. . 4 among heavyweights, on Dec. 4, 1961. Tosches insists that films of Liston losing to Clay reveal that Liston was missing punches intentionally. His father physically molested him. He was adopted when the couple was together. The subsequent rematch with Clay on May 25, 1965, included the infamous "phantom punch." Liston would later claim his birth date to be May 8, 1932, but that is off by at least two years. | Tosches believes the latter. (adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({}); Ivn Popoca estimated Net Worth, Biography, Age, Height, Dating, Relationship Records, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below. After having his license revoked, Liston made a smart decision, as he had when he bought out Barone. Was the favorite fighter of the famous Fab Four, the Beatles, and he appears on their "Sgt. 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. At the age of 14, he was almost 6 feet tall. All Rights Reserved. Sonny had to put the proper face forward to the public. He had earned the title shot with an impressive string of 195960 victories over top contenders. 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. He put himself under the care of still another Catholic priest, Father Edward P. Murphy, a kindly Jesuit who was the pastor of a predominantly black church in Denver. Auspiciously, the massive man is known as "The Bear" then won his first nine fights before dropping an eight-round decision to Marty Marshall. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. His parents were Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. WebParents and Siblings Charles L. "Sonny" Liston 19321970 Geraldine Chamber 19252005 Spouse and Children Charles L. "Sonny" Liston Male19321970 Male Liston claimed he was born in Official Sites. Boxer Charles L. "Sonny" Liston was born in St. Francis County, Arkansas on May 8, 1932. He knocked out Floyd Patterson in 1962 to become world heavyweight champion. Did he need Liston's cooperation to beat the rapidly aging champion that night in February of 1964? Gallender, Paul. Very little is known about his birth and his 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. Deceased persons are not concerned by this provision. At the age of 13, he ran away to St. Louis, following his mother who had left earlier. Relationship with Timothy Michael Dowling (Sosa/Ahnentafel #1), Relationship with Geraldine Clark (spouse), Browse using this individual as Sosa/Ahnentafel #1, , born in1872 - Choctaw Co., MS, deceased, , born inApril1873 - Montgomery Co., MS, deceased, Sources: Dowling Family Tree - Tim Dowling - rootsweb, 2001-2015 - - electronic - I435533, Marriage (with Geraldine Clark) - St. Louis, MO, List of all individuals in the family tree, {{ 'gw_downgraded_access_back_to_max'|translate }}, Born 8May1932 - Sand Lough, St. Francis Co., AR, Deceased 30December1970 - Las Vegas, Clark Co., NV, He was a victim before he was ever a brute. Or it would be history, if boxing historians would stop sweeping the legacy of Sonny Liston under the ring canvas. 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. They called it Sand Slough. He won in the first round against Don Smith. His time at the summit was brief. Served time in prison for robbery and later for assaulting a police officer. He has ranked on the list of those famous people who were born on May 8, 1932. After winning most of his matches by knockout, he turned pro in 1951. All Rights Reserved. He went on to win several amateur matches. . WebHe had seven siblings. His alcoholic and violent father was thirty years older than Sonnys mother. Known for scowling at opponents, he combined an intimidating ring presence with awesome power. However, it turned out to be his stepdaughter, the daughter of his wife. The map below shows the places where the ancestors of the famous person lived. This enabled him to get hired as a manual laborer in the farms. contient des milliers de photos et GeneaStars. In St. Louis, he quickly encountered problems with the local police. In the same interval, he had gotten married (in 1957 to Geraldine Clark), moved from St. Louis to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1958, and been questioned by a congressional committee about the takeover of his management by mob elements in 1960. New York: Skyhorse, 2011. (There is some speculation about his year of Liston was beholdin' to the mob and everybody knew it. 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. He became a professional fighter in 1953. If there is a flaw in Tosches' book, it's that the author seems bent on carrying the theme of Liston and the mob beyond its logical parameters. In a short amount of time, he rose to prominence as a contender in the heavyweight division. Big Hela had moved there in 1946. Liston turned professional in September 1953, earning his first paycheck in St. Louis with a first-round knockout of Don Smith. Paroled in 1952, he had a brief amateur career, winning several Golden Gloves championships and defeating 1952 Olympic heavyweight champion Ed Sanders. 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. WebIn 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. In 1950, he was arrested by the police. Because of his arrest and prison term, Liston didn't have a fight between March of 1956, when he decisioned Marty Marshall in Pittsburgh, to January of 1958, when he knocked out Bill Hunter in two rounds in Chicago. Best Known For: Sonny Liston was introduced to boxing while serving time in a Missouri State Penitentiary. He is one of the Richest Boxer who was born in AR. Charles Sonny Liston was a noted boxer who briefly reigned as Heavyweight Champion after a first-round knockout against Floyd Patterson. James Ellroy portrayed Sonny Liston as a fight loser, a heroin addict, a black racist, and a Mafia jawbreaker in his novel "The Cold Six Thousand.". Liston relocated to Denver with his wife Geraldine and friend/sparring partner Foneda Cox and underwent extensive counseling with Father Murphy. Sonny never really had a Prime. American professional boxer who became world heavyweight champion in 1962, Born on May 08, 1932 In prison, encouraged by Catholic chaplains, Liston took up boxing, where he was an immediate and spectacular success. Liston destroyed the champion in one round and destroyed him again in the rematch. Charles "Sonny" Liston was born into a sharecropping family who farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas. Sonny Liston: The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights. He managed to turn his cruel past to his advantage. Boxer Charles L. "Sonny" Liston was born in St. Francis County, Arkansas on May 8, 1932. Armed robbery. He started boxing in prison and was likely over 30 then. In 1966, following his loss to Clay, Liston launched a comeback.