BOXING: The Night Train

By Jake "The Truth" Wilson Boxinginsider.com Author

Sonny Liston was born on May 8th, 1932, he was one of 25 brothers and sisters. Liston had a very troubled life early on, and was well on his way to becoming just another statistic. He got into many minor troubles with the law, then an armed robbery conviction landed him in prison.

It was there in prison that he learned the game of boxing. He worked on his ring skills, and became a very dangerous beast. He got out of prison, and turned pro in 1953. He was slugging his way through the heavyweight ranks, leaving a stream of knockout victims in his wake. He had not only found a way to keep himself out of trouble, but he had found a way to make a name for himself. The ruthless Sonny Liston could beat people to a bloody pulp, and not get arrested for it, it was truly what he loved to do.

Liston was a multi-talented fighter, with an unusually powerful jab, and strength in both hands. He was a slugger, that could fight smart, and under control. Many people don't realize that Sonny Liston had the biggest fist size in the history of heavyweight champions, and he used those to pumble opponents to oblivion.

He was a finely tuned fighting machine, but his best trait might not have been his boxing skills, but maybe his huge stonecold eyes. He used those eyes to make an opponents knees quiver in fear. He looked like some sort of animalistic killer, made in a Hollywood flic. Liston often times won the fight before the fight even had occurred.

He pounded respected contenders such as Cleveland Williams, Nino Valdez, Zara Folley, and Eddie Machen. That earned the Night Train a well deserved title fight against the legendary Floyd Patterson on September 25, 1962.

Sonny easily finished the respected champion with a flawless one round knockout. A rematch was made to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and sure enough Liston demolished Patterson with yet another one round knockout.

Liston was feared by all contenders, and seemed unbeatable until his fight against a young enthusiastic Cassius Clay in 1964. He quit the fight on his stool in between round 7 and 8. It was a shock to the boxing world, and a rematch was set. Everyone believed Sonny would pounce on this lippy kid from Kentucky. But this fight Clay one round KO'd Liston in which many people believed was a "phantom punch". That tarnished Liston's reputation all the way until his death.

Sonny Liston fought his last fight in 1970, that also marked the year of his death, which was caused by a drug overdose. The Truth about Liston is that he never really had a prime, even when he knocked out Floyd Patterson his prime had passed him. His life was shrouded in controversy that his second fight against Clay was fixed, but if it was, he took it to his grave with him. Sonny Liston overcame the street life, and made a name for himself. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, which is a great honor for a kid who spent much of his youth life in prison. His death unfortunately occured too early in his life, but not before he captured all of our imaginations with his great battles. He is truly one to remember.

Article courtesy of BoxingInsider.com