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Liston believed his date of birth to be May 8, 1932, and used this for official purposes but by the time he won the world title an aged appearance added credence to rumors that he was actually several years older. It has been suggested Liston himself may not have known what year he was born, as he was not precise on the matter. His family, but not one Charles (or Sonny) Liston, can be found in the 1930 census, and in the 1940 census he was listed as 10 years old. His family's home state of Arkansas did not make birth certificates mandatory until 1965. There is no official record of Liston's birth. Tobe and Helen had 12 children together Sonny was the second youngest child. Helen had one child before she married Tobe, and Tobe had 13 children with his first wife.

His father, Tobe Liston, was in his mid 40s when he and his wife, Helen Baskin, who was almost 30 years younger than Tobe, moved to Arkansas from Mississippi in 1916. 1930 into a sharecropping family that farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas. Liston was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.Ĭharles "Sonny" Liston was born c. Alfie Potts Harmer in The Sportster also ranked him the third greatest heavyweight and the sixth greatest boxer at any weight. The Ring magazine ranks Liston as the tenth greatest heavyweight of all time, while boxing writer Herb Goldman ranked him second and Richard O'Brien, Senior Editor of Sports Illustrated, placed him third. Underworld connections and his unrecorded dates of birth and death added to the enigma.

He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died under mysterious circumstances in 1970. In his 1965 rematch with Ali, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix.

Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight and had entered the bout with a lame shoulder. Liston retired in his corner due to an inflamed shoulder. Īlthough Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), who entered as a 7–1 underdog. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time Liston was particularly known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and is widely regarded as the most intimidating man in the history of the sport. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. " Sonny" Liston ( c. 1930 – December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970.