Sonny Liston

Sonny Liston was a dominant American heavyweight who won and briefly defended the world title before two controversial losses to Muhammad Ali.

Charles L. "Sonny" Liston was born around 1930 in Sand Slough, Arkansas — even Liston himself was never certain of the exact date — one of 25 children of sharecropper Tobe Liston and his wife Helen. Raised in poverty and subjected to frequent beatings by his father, Liston fled to St. Louis as a young teenager, where he turned to petty crime and was eventually sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary for armed robbery, learning to box behind bars under the encouragement of a prison chaplain. Liston turned professional after his 1952 parole and developed into one of the most intimidating heavyweights in boxing history, standing over six feet tall with a devastating jab and an 84-inch reach. His career was complicated by ties to organized crime figures who purchased a stake in his contract, and a further prison term for assaulting a police officer. Liston won the world heavyweight championship on 25 September 1962, knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, becoming, at the time, one of the most feared and reviled champions in the sport's history. He lost the title in a stunning upset to a young Cassius Clay in February 1964, retiring on his stool, and was knocked out in the first round of their 1965 rematch by the fighter who had become Muhammad Ali. Liston continued fighting for several more years, finishing with a record of 50 wins and four losses, before being found dead at his Las Vegas home on 5 January 1971. His official cause of death was heart failure, though the presence of needle marks and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his passing have fuelled decades of speculation and conspiracy theories that remain unresolved.

Intimidating puncher with powerful left hook and strong jab

Intimidating heavyweight champion whose career was overshadowed by controversy

• International Boxing Hall of Fame
• Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 1962