Do you think he did anything other than calisthenics to get those muscles or was he just naturally built. I’ve heard rumours that even young George Foreman did a little weight work in his arms which makes sense considering their size.

@@viperfanaccount688 With Sonny I heard he would push a heavy barrel up and down hills... something like that.. that's the closest I heard of him weight lifting

He was 32 when he fought clay

He did so Many different exercises. He invented hittin the tire with a sledge hammer

There is no concrete evidence that he was that old. Just stupid speculation

His physical development was very impressive but was it really working for the best? Those famously super long arms of his were great for reach but his arms were also heavily muscular, and I feel it made his handspeed quite lacking. That is usually considered to be his weakness is his lack of handspeed.

@@VCthaGOATdunker I guess there's always a trade-off. Considering speed is one of the first things to go with age probably the reach and strength suited Liston better. Comeback Foreman was in a similar situation in that he never had relied on speed to begin with but his strength and power were still there so could continue into later years.

Bro what?😭u guys are saying some stupid thing, it isn’t underrated Liston just had no head movement

Brilliant corner man ;; mYbe best ever

I AGREE, CAMERON, ALSO REMINDS ME TOMMY HEARNS...THEY BAD NO BULK ON THEIR LEGS!!!

Babe Ruth also had skinny legs. It was all in their upper body. But they sure could hit.

Yo clown quit hallucinating

Liston expert, Paul Gallender, has solved the five major mysteries surrounding The Bear in his 2012 biography, 'Sonny Liston - The Real Story Behind the Ali-Liston Fights'. The author's 40+ years of research provide boxing fans with definitive answers to the five most asked questions about The Bear’s life and career: 1) When was Sonny born? 2) Was he murdered? If so, who did it, how, and why? 3) Was the Liston/Clay fight on the level? 4) Why did Sonny throw the Ali fight? 5) Was Sonny Liston as bad a person as the media said he was? The short answers are: 1) 1919 or earlier. 2) Yes, by mobsters, with a heroin overdose, because he didn’t throw the Wepner fight. 3) Yes. Footage from the event shows Ali in the ring asking his entourage, 'Did I hit him?' . Ali also told Nation of Islam minister Abdul Rahman that Liston 'laid down'. 4) So his wife and son wouldn’t be killed. 5) No. Sonny was a good man. In meticulous detail, the author reveals what caused Liston’s precipitous fall from the pinnacle of the sports world, and why the outcomes of his two fights with Muhammad Ali had far more to do with what took place outside of the ring than in it. When Sonny was forced to throw the Ali rematch, his reputation and legacy went down with him. A predominantly white, racist media always feared and hated Liston, and were only too happy to humiliate him after that bout, and forget about him after he died. "For the record, I have evidence to back up all of the assertions I made about Sonny Liston in my biography of him. That he fought in 1934 is no secret - even the Encyclopedia Britannica acknowledges it." -- by Paul Gallender Encyclopedia Britannica says word for word: "Liston, the son of a tenant farmer, served two long terms in prison, where he is said to have learned to box. Although he gave his birth year as 1932, there is evidence that he might have begun his ring career as early as 1934, at the age of 17, under the name of Charles (“Sailor”) Liston. If that is true, he was 45 years old when he won the championship." His sister, who he was extremely close to, and who remembered his birth - he was much younger than she was - said he was born the year after the "Great War" (WW1) which would have made him 44 when he fought Ali the first time. On top of all that, Sonny was out of boxing for almost two years between 1956 and 1958 while he was incarcerated again. So he was exiled during his best years when he was just starting to really shine. Most fighters enter their Prime in their late 20’s - Sonny was just starting to learn his craft at that age.

Chuck Wepner who fought both Liston and Foreman said that compared to Liston, Foreman was Mr. Friendly. He said that getting hit by George was like getting hit by an incredibly strong man, getting hit by Sonny was like getting hit by a baseball bat. Wepner left the ring of the Liston fight looking like he had just been in a horrific car accident. The fight was stopped by ring doctor after the 9th round, Wepner had 6 massive cuts to his face that required the most ever 338 stitches[1] and was pouring blood everywhere, his left eye was swollen completely shut, his cheek as well as nose were broken. 1. Chuck describes his record 338 stitches -- 'Chuck Wepner interview with Tony Polito' @14:20 ...Liston expert, Paul Gallender said, "Sonny Liston was killed by the mobsters, with a heroin overdose, because he didn’t throw the Wepner fight."

George said in an interview with Ring Magazine: “Sparring with Liston is the most dangerous thing that I ever did in my entire life. No matter what I tried against him, it was me who had to revert back to boxing. Nobody made me box like Sonny Liston did and that happened every time we worked together. He taught me many things, including the importance of the jab.” A good example of Sonny's sheer strength was an exercise he devised in training camp of loading an industrial sized wheelbarrow full of rocks, and wheeling it up and down a hill. Foreman, 19, and training with "the old man," could only carry one wheelbarrow for every 3 for Sonny: “His strength," said Foreman, "you just can't believe how strong he was!"

Ali fought both Foreman and Liston, and he said that when it came to George he just had to take the hits and wear big George down, in the case of Liston, he simply did not want to get hit at all. So for Ali it was certainly Sonny that hit harder. Foreman trained with Liston after the Olympics, preparing him for pro boxing. George said Sonny was the only man that had ever pushed him backwards with sheer strength alone. He also said that you were always really careful not to make Sonny mad! I think it is pretty safe to say that Sonny Liston hit harder than George Foreman.

Hall of Fame Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston was a muscular 6′2″ powerhouse weighing 220 lbs of pure brick. He had iron in either fist and could put an opponent on the mat quickly with either. Sonny was the most ducked fighter of all time. Even Joe Frazier’s team refused to fight him. Liston in his prime was the real deal. He was a great fighter.

"Probably because"Clay" was 17 years old that year.

@@joekavanagh7171 no. You know zip

I don't think so. I think Clay/Ali's style was just all wrong for Sonny. Liston was never good at cutting off the ring and just stalked his opponents. Guys who didn't come at Liston looking to trade and moved well were harder for him to deal with. See his fight with the smaller Eddie Machen from less than a year after this one where Machen went the full 12 and Sonny couldn't put him away.

I'd pick Foreman over Liston too, but watching Liston's two fights with Cleveland Williams better show Liston's resilience and fighting heart than this one as Williams was a big strong guy and a very powerful puncher, much like Foreman. So I think it would be a close and competitive fight.

Liston had a stronger punch longer reach slightly better speed that foreman he could knock george out