Sonny Liston Record & Stats

Sonny Liston Record & Stats

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In a career spanning 16 years and 9 months, Sonny Liston fought 54 times with 50 wins and 4 losses. By his last professional fight on June 29, 1970, Liston's boxing record stood at 50-4 (39 KO wins, 3 KO losses).

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SONNYLISTON
Sand Slough, Arkansas, U.S.
“The Big Bear”
Born
May 8, 1932
Died
Dec 30, 1970 (38 years)
Debut
Sep 2, 1953
Record
50-4
Rounds
264
KOs
39 (72.2%)
Height
185 cm
Reach
213 cm
Ape Index
28 cm
Stance
Orthodox
Last Fight
WBAWBCTheRing
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www.martialbot.com/boxing/s/sonny-liston.html v0.1.3-beta 2023-02-07
Sonny Liston's record and stats
Sonny Liston's Record

      Sonny Liston (The Big Bear) was an American professional boxer. He was born in Sand Slough, Arkansas, U.S. on May 8, 1932. Liston made his professional boxing debut at the age of 21 on September 2, 1953. He was a heavyweight world champion. He died on December 30, 1970 at the age of 38 years. Liston is a Hall of Famer.

      Boxing Record

      Total Fights54
      Wins50
      Losses4
      Draws0
      No-Contests0
      KO Wins39
      Total Title Wins4
      Title Defenses1
      Title-Fight KO Wins2
      Losses via KO3
      #DateAgeOpponentResultVia
      54Jun 29, 197038 Chuck WepnerWinRTD9
      53Dec 6, 196937 Leotis MartinLossKO9
      52Sep 23, 196937Sonny MooreWinKO3
      51May 19, 196937George JohnsonWinTKO7
      50Mar 28, 196936Billy JoinerWinUD
      49Dec 10, 196836Amos LincolnWinKO2
      48Nov 12, 196836Roger RischerWinKO3
      47Nov 3, 196836Willis EarlsWinKO2
      46Oct 14, 196836Sonny MooreWinTKO3
      45Jul 6, 196836Henry ClarkWinTKO7
      44May 23, 196836Billy JoinerWinRTD7
      43Mar 16, 196835Bill McMurrayWinTKO4
      42Apr 28, 196734Elmer RushWinTKO6
      41Mar 30, 196734Dave BaileyWinKO1
      40Aug 19, 196634Amos JohnsonWinKO3
      39Jul 1, 196634Gerhard ZechWinKO7
      38May 25, 196533 Muhammad Ali LossKO1
      37Feb 25, 196431 Cassius Clay LossRTD6
      36Jul 22, 196331 Floyd Patterson WinKO1
      35Sep 25, 196230 Floyd Patterson WinKO1
      34Dec 4, 196129Albert WestphalWinKO1
      33Mar 8, 196128Howard KingWinTKO3
      32Sep 7, 196028Eddie MachenWinUD
      31Jul 18, 196028Zora FolleyWinKO3
      30Apr 25, 196027Roy HarrisWinTKO1
      29Mar 21, 196027 Cleveland WilliamsWinTKO2
      28Feb 23, 196027Howard KingWinRTD7
      27Dec 9, 195927Willi BesmanoffWinRTD6
      26Aug 5, 195927Niño ValdésWinKO3
      25Apr 15, 195926 Cleveland WilliamsWinTKO3
      24Feb 18, 195926Mike DeJohnWinTKO6
      23Nov 18, 195826Ernie CabWinRTD7
      22Oct 24, 195826Bert WhitehurstWinUD
      21Oct 7, 195826Frankie DanielsWinKO1
      20Aug 6, 195826Wayne BetheaWinTKO1
      19May 14, 195826Julio MederosWinRTD2
      18Apr 3, 195825Bert WhitehurstWinPTS
      17Mar 11, 195825Ben WiseWinTKO4
      16Jan 29, 195825Billy HunterWinTKO2
      15Mar 6, 195623Marty MarshallWinUD
      14Dec 13, 195523Larry WatsonWinTKO4
      13Sep 13, 195523Johnny GrayWinTKO6
      12May 25, 195523Calvin ButlerWinTKO2
      11May 5, 195522Emil BrtkoWinTKO5
      10Apr 21, 195522Marty MarshallWinTKO6
      9Mar 1, 195522Neal WelchWinPTS
      8Sep 7, 195422Marty MarshallLossSD
      7Aug 10, 195422Johnny SummerlinWinSD
      6Jun 29, 195422Johnny SummerlinWinUD
      5Mar 31, 195421Stanley HowlettWinPTS
      4Jan 25, 195421Martin LeeWinTKO6
      3Nov 21, 195321Bennie ThomasWinSD
      2Sep 17, 195321Ponce de LeonWinPTS
      1Sep 2, 195321Don SmithWinTKO1

      Featured Opponents

      Statistics

      Sonny Liston was 185 cm tall (6' 0.83") with a reach of 213 cm (6' 11.86"). He used to fight out of the orthodox stance and presented an ape-index of 28 cm (11.02"). Liston had a 72.2% KO rate.

      Career Summary

      Sonny Liston's professional boxing career spanned more than 16 years — from 1953 to 1970.

      Liston made his debut against Don Smith at the age of 21 on September 2, 1953, defeating Smith via 1st round TKO. He went on to win 6 more consecutive fights after the debut, which included 1 wins via stoppage.

      Liston had his first world title fight at the age of 30 on September 25, 1962 after 34 professional fights, against Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring titles. He defeated Patterson via 1st round KO to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

      He was a one-time undisputed heavyweight world champion, and won three world titles at heavyweight. For all the details about Liston's world title wins and defenses refer to "Sonny Liston World Titles".

      Some of Liston's best fights and notable victories include wins over Hall-of-Famer Floyd Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Amos Lincoln, George Johnson, Billy Joiner, Sonny Moore, and Willis Earls.

      Sonny Liston had a total of four losses in his professional boxing career — two of them in title bouts and two in non-title bouts. He suffered his first loss against Marty Marshall via 8 round split-decision on September 7, 1954. He was stopped three times and lost once via decision. For more details about these defeats, refer to "All of Sonny Liston's losses".

      His last professional fight was a non-title bout against fellow American boxer Chuck Wepner at 38 years of age, on June 29, 1970. Liston won the fight via 9th round RTD.

      He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 1991.

      Career Highlights

      Sonny Liston fought a total of 54 times during his professional career. He was among the very best of his generation and was known for his great performances. These four fights are the highlight of his career.

      • Sonny Liston vs. Cleveland Williams

        This is the first remarkable performance in Sonny Liston's career. A 26-year old Liston (23-1, 14 KO) faced Cleveland Williams on April 15, 1959. Williams was 25 years old with a record of 43-2. Williams was on a 12-fight win streak with 35 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 3 cms but Liston had a 10 cm reach advantage over Williams.

        Liston defeated Williams via 3rd round TKO.

      • Sonny Liston vs. Cleveland Williams II

        In a rematch, a 27-year old Sonny Liston (27-1, 18 KO) faced Cleveland Williams, who was now 26 years old with a record of 45-3. Williams was on a two-fight win streak with 37 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 3 cms but Liston had a 10 cm reach advantage over Williams.

        Liston defeated Williams via 2nd round TKO.

      • Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson

        A 30-year old Sonny Liston (33-1, 23 KO) faced Floyd Patterson, who was 27 years old with a record of 38-2. Patterson was on a three-fight win streak with 29 KO wins. Liston was the taller of the two by 2 cms and also had a 33 cm reach advantage.

        Liston defeated Patterson via 1st round KO to win the NYSAC, WBA, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.

      • Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson II

        In an immediate rematch, a 31-year old Sonny Liston (34-1, 24 KO) faced Floyd Patterson, who was now 28 years old with a record of 38-3 in a undisputed heavyweight championship bout. Patterson had lost to Liston in their last fight. Liston was the taller of the two by 2 cms and also had a 33 cm reach advantage.

        Liston defeated Patterson via 1st round KO to win the WBC heavyweight title and retain the NYSAC, WBA, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles.

      Sonny Liston FAQs

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