He, however, won in the subsequent rematch. Gallender, Paul. Lets take a look at Sonny Liston past relationships, ex-girlfriends and previous hookups. (There is some speculation about his year of 1932-1970 Sonny Liston was the heavyweight boxing champion from 1962 to 1964. Paroled in 1952, he had a brief amateur career, winning several Golden Gloves championships and defeating 1952 Olympic heavyweight champion Ed Sanders. Liston won 13 of his first 14 bouts before trouble with the law cost him his freedom a second time. His opponent abandoned the match midway. Tired of being exploited as a manual laborer, Sonny Liston turned to crime. The dark side is evident. From the start, it was apparent that he had a future in the ring. {{ mediasCtrl.getTitle(media, true) }} Early Life. Foes like the murderous-punching Cleveland Williams, Mike DeJohn and Nino Valdez succumbed to Liston's heavy fists. The son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his father's 25 children. Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. WebThe son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his father's 25 children. Time magazine photograph of Ali standing over Liston, taunting him, is one of the most popularly published in boxing. Jack Dempsey and Roberto Duran are two cases in point. His last fight was against Chuck Wepner. Paroled in 1952, Liston quickly captured the local Golden Gloves championship. He was accused of stealing an officers gun. After being unable to reach Liston for 12 days, his wife Geraldine returned to their Nevada home on January 5, 1971, at which time she discovered Liston's dead body. Sonny Liston prefers not to tell the details of marital status & divorce. Liston, one of 25 children by his father, is reputed to have been born in May 1932, yet prison records show various birth dates, among them 1928. After a rough upbringing, with little formal education, Liston found himself in trouble with the law. The official cause of death was lung congestion and heart failure, although Liston had fresh needle marks on his arm and police discovered heroin and a syringe in the house. The second was a boy. New York: Blue Rider Press, 2016. Robert B. Cochran Apart from his demeanor, Liston was a charming man with a captivating smile. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover. Eddie 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. Sonny had to put the proper face forward to the public. Liston celebrated the speedy reinstatement of his license with an impressive 1-round knockout of German baker Albert Westphal, who was ranked No. He earned the money being a professional Boxer. Deceased persons are not concerned by this provision. His father physically molested him. His father was an abusive alcoholic, and Liston eventually left the house during his teens. When he won the heavyweight title in 1962 at age 30, he had a daughter age 25. Tosches is admirably objective in his presentation of Liston. Even as champion, Liston was never able to escape his prison beginnings or the allegations of mob connections. An error has occured while loading the map. At the age of 13, he ran away to St. Louis, following his mother who had left earlier. The rematch in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 22 1963, was another first-round knockout, with Patterson counted out in two minutes, twenty-three seconds. Relationship with Timothy Michael Dowling (Sosa/Ahnentafel #1), Relationship with Geraldine Clark (spouse), Browse using this individual as Sosa/Ahnentafel #1, , born in1872 - Choctaw Co., MS, deceased, , born inApril1873 - Montgomery Co., MS, deceased, Sources: Dowling Family Tree - Tim Dowling - rootsweb, 2001-2015 - - electronic - I435533, Marriage (with Geraldine Clark) - St. Louis, MO, List of all individuals in the family tree, {{ 'gw_downgraded_access_back_to_max'|translate }}, Born 8May1932 - Sand Lough, St. Francis Co., AR, Deceased 30December1970 - Las Vegas, Clark Co., NV, In prison, encouraged by Catholic chaplains, Liston took up boxing, where he was an immediate and spectacular success. Due to the poverty in the family, Sonny never went to school. He was trained by Willie Redish and later by Dick Sadler. Two Catholic priests who served as chaplains, Father Edward Schlattmann and Father Alois Stevens, helped to direct Liston toward the controlled violence of the ring. Steen, Rob. There were rumors of drug peddling, heroin use, and murder, but no answers. Tosches' explanation, of course, is that Liston was again dutifully following orders given by the mob. Sonny was probably born in 1929, but no one knows for sure. Tosches here betrays an ignorance of boxing that no doubt hurts his credibility with those know know the sport. However, his career was marred by criminal activity and, later, accusations of mob connections and throwing fights, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2000. As Toches brings out, Liston's brooding temperament can be explained in part by his insecurity. In 1956, he found himself on the wrong side of the law again. WebHis parents were Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. He quickly learned how to box and within three years was fighting on the amateur circuit. Nine years of steady fighting later, and following additional scrapes with the law (fourteen arrests between 1953 and 1958 and a conviction in 1956 for assaulting a police officer), Liston finally fought Floyd Patterson for the Heavyweight Championship. Liston claimed he was born in Full body measurements, dress & shoe size will be updated soon. Official Sites. Creating an account gives you access to all these features. But there is another side. William Friedkin was intended to direct his biopic "Night Train" with Ving Rhames as Sonny Liston. Along with his many siblings, Liston grew up working in the local cotton fields. If you can, provide 1-2 sources of information backing up this correction. Joe Louis rated Liston's jab one of the best in boxing history. Tosches does a nice piece of reporting on the incident that led to Liston's arrest, objectively revealing all available viewpoints. That inbred struggle for survival often produces champions. Won his last fight on June 29, 1970, at the Jersey City Armory, stopping. In October 1952, Liston was released on parole. Sonny Liston was introduced to boxing by Reverend Father Alois Stevens. Sonny, who was known by his proper name Charles while growing up, rarely attended school and never learned to read or write, a fact that haunted him as an adult and fed a lifelong problem with insecurity. On this date in 1964, a heavily favored Liston lost his title to upstart Cassius Clay, soon to be Muhammad Ali. After the court case, he was sentenced to a five-year jail term in the Missouri State Prison. He served brief prison terms and on one occasion was introduced to boxing by a prison chaplain. He died circa December 30, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the age of 16, Listonmore than 6 feet tall and weighing 200 poundsbecame a menacing presence in his neighborhood, occasionally working as a strike-breaking labor goon. His epitaph reads: A Man.. WebIn 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. Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Sonny Liston, Birth Year: 1932, Birth date: May 8, 1932, Birth State: Arkansas, Birth City: St Francis County, Birth Country: United States. He was caught and charged with first-degree robbery and larceny, and was sentenced in 1950 to 5 years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. contient des milliers de photos et GeneaStars. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Hungry fighters eager to break free from the shackles of their own environment bring an element of savage desperation into their ring encounters. gnalogique Dowling avec plus d'un demi-million de parents, In Michael Mann's Ali, Liston was portrayed by famous boxer Michael Bentt, with whom he shares a strong resemblance. Liston, who was viewed as nearly invincible before the fight, was unable to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay (soon to take the nameMuhammad Ali) was named champion on February 25, 1964. 72201. He also has a position among the list of Most popular Boxer. In 1957, he was sentenced to nine months in the St. Louis workhouse for assaulting a police officer. Sonny Liston, hard-luck son of Arkansas sharecroppers, was champion of the world. To give back to society, he supported many children. As a young man in 1949, Liston left Arkansas for good and followed his mother's footsteps to St. Louis. Little Rock, AR. In St. Louis, he quickly encountered problems with the local police. If two unmarried celebrities are seen in public together, they are often described as dating which means they were seen in public together, and it is not clear whether they are merely friends, exploring a more intimate relationship, or are romantically involved. Early Life and Family: Before he was famous, He sold pecans from his brother-in-laws tree in order to reunite with his mother and his siblings. Sonny was probably born in 1929, but no one knows for sure. Liston was sentenced to nine months in jail. Liston 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. Sonny Liston had a controversial boxing career, winning 54 of 58 bouts from 1953 to 1970. With the help of a farsighted, black St. Louis businessman and some other backers who were aware of Sonny's potential, Liston pursued a ring career after leaving the joint and rejoining society at large. General 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. Major support provided through a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. Clay, later to be known as Muhammad Ali, may have had the fastest hands of any heavyweight ever to lace on a pair of gloves. Liston continued fighting following the loss of his title, mainly because it was the only legal way he knew how to make a buck. Nous sommes tous Known for his powerful punch, the majority of his victories were knockouts. During his two-plus years in the state penitentiary, Liston attained a new nickname, "Sonny," and a new vocation, boxing. Family (1) Spouse Sonny Liston went from boxing champion and national anti-hero to a Las Vegas thug who drove around in a pink Cadillac and sold drugs. in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Sonny LISTON (1932), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, 1990. Reverend Stevens was both the prisons chaplain and sports director. Liston, in fact, had great respect for Father Murphy and behaved admirably around him. Liston lost his rematch to Ali in May 1965. His trademark shirt during his illegal raids was yellow. Liston excelled in his newfound love, boxing, and, after a short amateur career, turned professional. contient des milliers de photos et GeneaStars. Served 7 months in jail for beating up a police officer over a parking ticket in St. Louis in the mid-1950s. Tobe was mean to his children, and especially to Sonny. Sonny Liston was introduced to boxing while serving time in a Missouri State Penitentiary. Before he was 18, Liston was convicted of six muggings. Former World Heavyweight Champion who learned to fight while in jail. His 17-year ring log was an impressive 50-4 with 39 knockouts. The Dowling Family Tree with over half a million relatives, Lets check, How Rich is Sonny Liston in 2019-2020? According to Wikipedia, Forbes, IMDb & Various Online resources, famous Boxer Sonny Listons net worth is $82 Million before He died. He earned the money being a professional Boxer. He is from AR. Known for scowling at opponents, he combined an intimidating ring presence with awesome power. That hurt him deeply, though he instinctively hid the scars behind a scowl. The match was held in Miami Baech, Florida. Ironically, by the time Liston finally became champ in September of that year with his 1-round KO of Patterson, the mob was beginning to lose its iron grip on the sport and on Liston himself. It was a defense mechanism designed to keep people from getting too close. Liston was born in St. Francis County, Arkansas, around 1932. Sonny Liston was born in Sand Slough, AR on May 8, 1932. Additional support provided by the Arkansas Community Foundation. Nevertheless, he had a soft spot for children. Family Liston and Geraldine had no children, but Liston loved kids and enjoyed being in their company. He knocked out Floyd Patterson in 1962 to become world heavyweight champion. His sporting agility was electrifying to watch. During the years that Liston was champ, the mob was in retreat. Biography, Net Worth, Gossips, Salary, News & Much More. His mother separated from his father and went to St. Louis in Missouri. His dad was an abusive alcoholic and at the age of 13, Sonny left to live with his aunt in Liston was the 12th of 13 children born to Tobe and Helen Liston (and one of 25 children sired by Tobe). 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Instead, he and some friends took to robbing people on the street and robbing gas stations with a loaded pistol. Liston was arrested more than 20 times. L'arbre (Which isn't to say that Liston took advantage of Father Murphy, or that he had a disregard for what Father Murphy had to say. He got little good press, even from sports columnists, and was routinely subjected to overtly racist slurs in print: in 1964, Look ran a story titled Sonny Liston: King of the Beasts. Liston moved to Las Vegas in 1966 and was found dead there on January 5, 1971, when his wife returned to their Las Vegas home from a Christmas visit with her mother. in rural St. Francis County. Drinking. In prison, encouraged by Catholic chaplains, Liston took up boxing, where he was an immediate and spectacular success. Helen Liston Former World Heavyweight Champion who learned to fight while in jail. Pre-European Exploration, Prehistory through 1540, European Exploration and Settlement, 1541 through 1802, Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood, 1803 through 1860, Civil War through Reconstruction, 1861 through 1874, Post-Reconstruction through the Gilded Age, 1875 through 1900, Early Twentieth Century, 1901 through 1940, World War II through the Faubus Era, 1941 through 1967, Divergent Prosperity and the Arc of Reform, 19682022, World War II through the Faubus Era (1941 - 1967). | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us. Liston was buried in Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas, Nevada, beneath a simple gravestone. This is how Tosches describes Liston's birth place: "It was in the sector of Morledge Plantation that lay in Johnson Township, St. Francis County, that Tobe Liston and his family came to live and farm, on a low patch where a rill of muddy water, a mile and a half or so long, dribbled dead to its end in a slough of sandy dirt where nothing could grow. Why he died remains one of sport's most enduring mysteries. He had earned the title shot with an impressive string of 195960 victories over top contenders Cleveland Williams, Nino Valdes, Roy Harris, Zora Folley, and Eddie Machen (all knockouts except for Machen). He maintained a winning streak in eight matches. Some suspect foul play; others believe Liston died of a self-inflicted drug overdose. There's no question that the hard-scrabble existence of youth prepared Liston for the success he would later enjoy as a prizefighter. The son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his fathers 25 children. The official date of Charles L. Liston is given as May 8, 1932. Tosches insists that films of Liston losing to Clay reveal that Liston was missing punches intentionally. Soon caught (his crimes were inept, spur-of-the-moment, strong arm jobs) and charged with first-degree robbery and larceny, he was sentenced in 1950 to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. He continued fighting until June 29, 1970, when he knocked out Chuck Wepner, but he never got another title shot. Armed robbery. There, he committed various muggings and robberies. Liston scored another knockout in a rematch with Patterson, but his 17-month reign as heavyweight champion ended at the hands of a brash fighter named Cassius Clay. He managed to turn his cruel past to his advantage. Listons career was interrupted for nine months beginning in December 1956, when he was sent to the St. Louis workhouse for assaulting a policeman and stealing the officers gun. It was scandal on top of scandal; Listons reputation, already tainted by prison time, allegations of mob connections, and charges of sexual assault, never recovered. The official cause of his death was given as cardiac arrest and lung congestion. At the age of thirteen, he ran away to St. Louis, Missouri, following his mother, who had left earlier. Reverend Stevens arranged the match for him. Served time in prison for robbery and later for assaulting a police officer. New York: Skyhorse, 2011. He is from AR. Sonny Liston has been died on Dec 30, 1970 ( age 38). The coroner picked December 30, 1970, as the date of death, and Liston was buried in the Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas under the simplest of epitaphs: A MAN.. His relationship status is single. Or it would be history, if boxing historians would stop sweeping the legacy of Sonny Liston under the ring canvas. His alcoholic and violent father was thirty years older than Sonnys Sonny Liston was born on May 8, probably 1932, to Tobe and Helen (Baskin) Liston, African-American sharecroppers in rural St. Francis County. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! Hardly. 4 among heavyweights, on Dec. 4, 1961. Liston won 26 consecutive bouts, moving inexorably toward the heavyweight championship. TM & 2023 BoxingScene.All Rights Reserved. His death was as mysterious as his birth. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Copyright 2020, ARKANSAS SOUL MEDIA. He married Geraldine Chambers on June 10, 1950. Tosches believes the latter. He was sired by Lawman out of the Galileo mare Stars In Your Eyes.