"Liston was the Devil"
Charles ‘Sonny’ Liston is one of the most perplexing characters in the history of boxing. One of twenty-five children, Sonny was working in the fields by the time he could walk, and in jail by the time he turned twenty. No one knows the day Liston was born, or the day he died, and it is said that Liston himself spent his whole life searching for identity. Through his short, turbulent career, Liston was a man heralded as a greater fighter than Joe Louis, and then denounced as the shame of boxing. Sometimes he is cast as the victim of a group of powerful mobsters and of his circumstances, and in other tellings - as Muhammad Ali put it, years later - “Liston was the devil.”
Apologies that the acoustics are a bit worse in the second half of this episode. I'm hoping to tidy it up when I get back to my desktop!
Thank you once again for supporting the Fights Gone By Podcast, I couldn't do this without you and I'll have some fun stuff coming up soon to kick off the New Year.
Cheers,
Jack
"Liston was the Devil" - The Fight Primer (The Fight Primer)
Comments (10)
Also a latecomer to the history episodes, would love to see more made, either a continuation of the heavyweight lineal title series or on another weight class. An episode on Harry Greb would also be a favourite.
Jack these historical episodes are the best! What are the chances we will see a full Ali episode? A Rise and Fall of Iron Mike Tyson episode? Or literally any other combat history you feel warrants a deep dive! You know it makes sense
New patreon boi here and didnt realize Id be getting access to gems like this as well as recent fight break downs! Tremendous! Huge fan. About to have a blast catching up on the backlog. Thanks for your amazing work!
Bit late on this one , but what a quality story you covered. You went to crazy lengths of effort on this. Love all your content man! Big fan from Australia.
Jack, it's been a while.. when will the next content be released?
You teased us with that giant clitted Queen, then just leave us all blue balled, come on Slackie Boy.
Really enjoyed this episode, thank you. I am not familiar with much boxing history but I find it fascinating.
Fascinating character, great episode.
amazing podcast again, when you mentioned what you should next i would love to hear about Roberto Duran, or Willie Pep vs Sandy Sadler that would be amazing
Brilliant. I've been excited for this episode since your first patreon lecture Jack, it did not disappoint! Always been fascinated by Liston, thanks a lot for putting the work in!