Sonny Liston (50-4, 39) was born in Sand Slough, Arkansas, U.S. on May 8, 1932. At the age of 21 years on September 2, 1953, he made his professional boxing debut against Don Smith, winning the fight via 1st-round TKO.
On his 35th career fight at 30 years old, Liston became a heavyweight world champion on September 25, 1962 after defeating Floyd Patterson via 1st-round KO to win the WBA and The Ring titles.
Liston's last fight was a 9th-round retirement win against Chuck Wepner at age 38 on June 29, 1970. He was on a 1-fight winning streak by his last fight.
Some of Sonny Liston's best fights have been against Floyd Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Zora Folley and Chuck Wepner. For details about these fights refer to "Best fights of Sonny Liston".
Liston has 4 losses on his boxing record. For details about these losses refer to "Sonny Liston Losses".
| # | Date | Opponent | Weight | Round | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
54  | Jun 29, 1970 38 years, 1 months 50-4 (39) | 31 years, 4 months 21-5-2 (7) | 9 | RTD | Win | |
53  | Dec 6, 1969 37 years, 6 months 49-4 (38) | 30 years, 8 months 30-5 (18) | HW | 9 | KO | Loss |
52 | Sep 23, 1969 37 years, 4 months 49-3 (38) | Sonny Moore | 3 | KO | Win | |
51 | May 19, 1969 37 years 48-3 (37) | George Johnson | 7 | TKO | Win | |
50 | Mar 28, 1969 36 years, 10 months 47-3 (36) | Billy Joiner | 10 | UD | Win | |
49 | Dec 10, 1968 36 years, 7 months 46-3 (36) | Amos Lincoln | 2 | KO | Win | |
48 | Nov 12, 1968 36 years, 6 months 45-3 (35) | Roger Rischer | 3 | KO | Win | |
47 | Nov 3, 1968 36 years, 5 months 44-3 (34) | Willis Earls | 2 | KO | Win | |
46 | Oct 14, 1968 36 years, 5 months 43-3 (33) | Sonny Moore | 3 | TKO | Win | |
45 | Jul 6, 1968 36 years, 1 months 42-3 (32) | Henry Clark | 7 | TKO | Win | |
44 | May 23, 1968 36 years 41-3 (31) | Billy Joiner | 7 | RTD | Win | |
43 | Mar 16, 1968 35 years, 10 months 40-3 (30) | Bill McMurray | 4 | TKO | Win | |
42 | Apr 28, 1967 34 years, 11 months 39-3 (29) | Elmer Rush | 6 | TKO | Win | |
41 | Mar 30, 1967 34 years, 10 months 38-3 (28) | Dave Bailey | 1 | KO | Win | |
40 | Aug 19, 1966 34 years, 3 months 37-3 (27) | Amos Johnson | 3 | KO | Win | |
39 | Jul 1, 1966 34 years, 1 months 36-3 (26) | Gerhard Zech | 7 | KO | Win | |
38  | May 25, 1965 33 years 35-3 (25) | 23 years, 4 months 20-0 (16) | HW | 1 | KO | Loss For WBC, The Ring |
37 | Feb 25, 1964 31 years, 9 months 35-2 (25) | 22 years, 1 month 19-0 (15) | HW | 6 | RTD | Loss Lost WBA, WBC, The Ring |
36  | Jul 22, 1963 31 years, 2 months 35-1 (25) | 28 years, 6 months 38-3 (29) | HW | 1 | KO | Win Won WBC Defended WBA, The Ring |
35 | Sep 25, 1962 30 years, 4 months 34-1 (24) | 27 years, 8 months 38-2 (29) | HW | 1 | KO | Win Won WBA, The Ring |
34 | Dec 4, 1961 29 years, 6 months 33-1 (23) | Albert Westphal | 1 | KO | Win | |
33 | Mar 8, 1961 28 years, 10 months 32-1 (22) | Howard King | 3 | TKO | Win | |
32 | Sep 7, 1960 28 years, 3 months 31-1 (21) | Eddie Machen | 12 | UD | Win | |
31  | Jul 18, 1960 28 years, 2 months 30-1 (21) | 29 years, 1 month 51-3-2 (29) | 3 | KO | Win | |
30 | Apr 25, 1960 27 years, 11 months 29-1 (20) | Roy Harris | 1 | TKO | Win | |
29  | Mar 21, 1960 27 years, 10 months 28-1 (19) | 26 years, 8 months 45-3 (37) | 2 | TKO | Win | |
28 | Feb 23, 1960 27 years, 9 months 27-1 (18) | Howard King | 7 | RTD | Win | |
27 | Dec 9, 1959 27 years, 7 months 26-1 (17) | Willi Besmanoff | 6 | RTD | Win | |
26 | Aug 5, 1959 27 years, 2 months 25-1 (16) | Niño Valdés | 3 | KO | Win | |
25 | Apr 15, 1959 26 years, 11 months 24-1 (15) | 25 years, 9 months 43-2 (35) | 3 | TKO | Win | |
24 | Feb 18, 1959 26 years, 9 months 23-1 (14) | Mike DeJohn | 6 | TKO | Win | |
23 | Nov 18, 1958 26 years, 6 months 22-1 (13) | Ernie Cab | 7 | RTD | Win | |
22 | Oct 24, 1958 26 years, 5 months 21-1 (12) | Bert Whitehurst | 10 | UD | Win | |
21 | Oct 7, 1958 26 years, 4 months 20-1 (12) | Frankie Daniels | 1 | KO | Win | |
20 | Aug 6, 1958 26 years, 2 months 19-1 (11) | Wayne Bethea | 1 | TKO | Win | |
19 | May 14, 1958 26 years 18-1 (10) | Julio Mederos | 2 | RTD | Win | |
18 | Apr 3, 1958 25 years, 10 months 17-1 (9) | Bert Whitehurst | 10 | PTS | Win | |
17 | Mar 11, 1958 25 years, 10 months 16-1 (9) | Ben Wise | 4 | TKO | Win | |
16 | Jan 29, 1958 25 years, 8 months 15-1 (8) | Billy Hunter | 2 | TKO | Win | |
15 | Mar 6, 1956 23 years, 9 months 14-1 (7) | Marty Marshall | 10 | UD | Win | |
14 | Dec 13, 1955 23 years, 7 months 13-1 (7) | Larry Watson | 4 | TKO | Win | |
13 | Sep 13, 1955 23 years, 4 months 12-1 (6) | Johnny Gray | 6 | TKO | Win | |
12 | May 25, 1955 23 years 11-1 (5) | Calvin Butler | 2 | TKO | Win | |
11 | May 5, 1955 22 years, 11 months 10-1 (4) | Emil Brtko | 5 | TKO | Win | |
10 | Apr 21, 1955 22 years, 11 months 9-1 (3) | Marty Marshall | 6 | TKO | Win | |
9 | Mar 1, 1955 22 years, 9 months 8-1 (2) | Neal Welch | 8 | PTS | Win | |
8 | Sep 7, 1954 22 years, 3 months 7-1 (2) | Marty Marshall | 8 | SD | Loss | |
7 | Aug 10, 1954 22 years, 3 months 7-0 (2) | Johnny Summerlin | 8 | SD | Win | |
6 | Jun 29, 1954 22 years, 1 months 6-0 (2) | Johnny Summerlin | 8 | UD | Win | |
5 | Mar 31, 1954 21 years, 10 months 5-0 (2) | Stanley Howlett | 6 | PTS | Win | |
4 | Jan 25, 1954 21 years, 8 months 4-0 (2) | Martin Lee | 6 | TKO | Win | |
3 | Nov 21, 1953 21 years, 6 months 3-0 (1) | Bennie Thomas | 6 | SD | Win | |
2 | Sep 17, 1953 21 years, 4 months 2-0 (1) | Ponce de Leon | 4 | PTS | Win | |
1 | Sep 2, 1953 21 years, 3 months 1-0 (1) | Don Smith | 1 | TKO | Win |
