Sonny Liston Net Worth

#Fact1When Sonny KO'd Floyd Patterson in 1962 for The World Heavyweight Championship,he became the only challenger to win that title by a first round KO. In 1996 when Mike Tyson KO'd Bruce Seldon in one round for the WBA Heavyweight Championship, Tyson had won the WBC Heavyweight Championship six months earlier and was seeking to unify the title.2Time magazine photograph of Ali standing over Liston, taunting him, is one of the most popularly published in boxing.3Is mentioned in the song "Swinging" by Tom Petty.4Appeared in a Santa Claus hat on the cover of the December 1963 edition of Esquire Magazine. The cover was one of the most famous images of the early 1960s, as Liston embodied the fears of White America during the days when Southern police officials had attacked the burgeoning civil rights movement with violence, a violence white Americans feared might be returned onto them. Thus, cloaking the heavyweight champion of the world--the epitome of masculinity and male supremacy--in a Santa Claus hat was the height of irony at the time.5Served 7 months in jail for beating up a police officer over a parking ticket in St. Louis in the mid-1950s.6Introduced to boxing by Father Stevens in the St. Louis City Jail during 1950.7Liston claimed he was born in 1932, yet his rap sheet for his 1950 arrest for armed robbery listed his age as 22, making him born in 1928.8In 1950, Liston was arrested at his apartment at 1006 O'Fallon Street for robbing the Unique Cafe on 1502 Market Street in St. Louis for 37 dollars.9Eddie Dooley, chairman of the New York Boxing Commission in the 1960s, said that as long as he was chairman of the commission Sonny Liston would never be granted a license to box in New York State.10General Melvin Krulewitch, chairman of the New York Boxing Commission in the 1950s, refused to issue Liston a license to fight in New York because he was guilty of associating with "questionable" characters.11When Liston died, he was rated 7th in the world heavyweight rankings by Ring Magazine.12Won his last fight on June 29, 1970, at the Jersey City Armory, stopping Chuck Wepner in 9 bloody rounds. Wepner, "The Bayonne Bleeder" who inspired Sylvester Stallone to create the character Rocky Balboa, said that the 38-year-old (or 42-year-old, depending on the source) Liston hit harder than did the 33-year-old Muhammad Ali, whom Wepner fought for the heavyweight title in 1975.13Survived by his wife Geraldine and a step-daughter.14Served a prison sentence at Missouri State Penitentiary for robbing a gas station at age 18.15Before he was 18, Liston was convicted of six muggings.16Liston was the youngest heavyweight boxing champion to die (age 38).17Lived in a $50,000 Las Vegas home.18First World Heavyweight Boxing Champion banned from fighting in New York State by the New York Boxing Commission.19First heavyweight title challenger to earn a purse of $1,000,000.20Made over $4,000,000 in his career.21He defeated heavyweight contenders Roy Harris, Zora Folley, Eddie Machen, Cleveland Williams, Mike DeJohn, Henry Clark, and Chuck Wepner.22Knocked out #2-rated heavyweight contender Roy Harris (27-1) in one round.23George Foreman was his sparring partner from 1969 to 1970.24He was trained by Willie Redish and later by Dick Sadler.25Joe Louis rated Liston's jab one of the best in boxing history.26Served time in prison for robbery and later for assaulting a police officer.27He had no children of his own.28When he won the heavyweight title in 1962 at age 30, he had a daughter age 25. However, it turned out to be his stepdaughter, the daughter of his wife.29Birth and death both remain mysteries.30Made a comeback in 1968-1969 and won 14 straight before losing to Leotis Martin. In his next fight he bounced back to TKO Chuck Wepner shortly before his mysterious death in 1970.31Was 35-1 going into the first Ali fight.32Fought in three decades.33He had the biggest fist of any heavyweight champion: 15 inches. He was officially knocked out by Muhammad Ali in one minute for the fastest KO in heavyweight history up to that time. Later, films of the fight showed the bout ended at the 1:25 mark.34William Friedkin was intended to direct his biopic "Night Train" with Ving Rhames as Sonny Liston.35James Ellroy portrayed Sonny Liston as a fight loser, a heroin addict, a black racist, and a Mafia jawbreaker in his novel "The Cold Six Thousand.".36In Michael Mann's Ali, Liston was portrayed by famous boxer Michael Bentt, with whom he shares a strong resemblance.37"Night Train" was his favorite song.38Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, 1990.39World heavyweight boxing champion, 1962-1964. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, 1991.40Was the favorite fighter of the famous Fab Four, the Beatles, and he appears on their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover.

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