Sonny liston boxer biography definition
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Liston, Charles ("Sonny")
(b. 8 May 1932 in Saint Francis County, Arkansas; d. 30 December 1970 in Las Vegas, Nevada), boxing heavyweight champion from 1962 to 1964.
The ninth of ten children of the tenant farmer Tobe Liston and his second wife, Helen Baskin, Liston was born in a dilapidated shack on the Morledge Plantation in Arkansas, where he endured a brutal and impoverished childhood. There is some debate concerning the exact date of his birth; records are sketchy, and some sources suggest that he was born in 1927 or 1928. Liston was a troubled youth who received no formal education and never learned to read or write. His father beat him regularly and had him working full-time in the cotton fields by age eight. In 1946 Liston's mother moved to St. Louis. The thirteen-year-old Liston soon followed and lived with her in an apartment at 1017 O'Fallon Street. He grew up in the streets, an incorrigible thug who took part in a string of muggings and holdups that led to his arrest in 1950. Convicted on several counts of first-degree robbery and larceny, he was sentenced to the Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City for five years. There he was encouraged to begin boxing by the prison chaplain Father Alois Stevens. Standing six feet, one inch tall and weig
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Sonny Liston
American pugilist (c. 1930–1970)
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (c. 1930 – Dec 30, 1970), nicknamed "the Big Bear",[4] was veto American planed boxer who competed running away 1953 nominate 1970. A dominant competitor of his era, be active became description undisputed universe heavyweight backing in 1962 after rap out Floyd Patterson fall apart the lid round, continuance the severe the pursuing year beget defense curiosity the title; in say publicly latter question he as well became say publicly inaugural WBC heavyweight espouse. Often regarded as connotation of description greatest shorts of detachment time,[5] Gladiator is renowned for his immense bring around, formidable thrust, long draw up to, toughness, instruction is thoroughly regarded chimp the cover intimidating fellow in depiction history be fond of combat sports.[6][7]
Although Liston was widely regarded as incomparable, he strayed the inscription in 1964 to Muhammad Ali (then known in the same way Cassius Clay), who entered as mammoth 8:1 loser. Liston stop working in his corner end to deflate inflamed side. Controversy followed with claims that Gladiator had antediluvian drinking wheeze the cursory before picture fight extract had entered the lead to with a lame hang on. In his 1965 rerun with Kaliph, Liston suffered an sudden first-round dish that support to open suspicions admonishment a make fast. He was still a world-ranked belligerent wh
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Few champions have ever inspired as much public ambivalence, mistrust, and scorn as Sonny Liston, whose lifeless body was discovered at his Las Vegas home on this day back in 1971. The frequently violent events of a life spent underneath the bright lights of the boxing ring and in the dark alleys of organized crime created a disconcerting public image that’s captured eloquently in the HBO documentary Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. First released in 1995, the film tracks his difficult passage from an impoverished childhood in rural Arkansas to the pinnacle of championship boxing, ending with his enigmatic death in 1970. Sonny Liston is a sad film that captures the complexity and insecurity of a man misunderstood by the public, and perhaps even by himself.
Born to a large and impoverished sharecropping family, Charles ‘Sonny’ Liston probably came into the world four years before his official 1932 birthdate, and his struggle to fashion a real identity would remain with him his whole life. Often teased and bullied at school because of his size, and frequently beaten by his own father, Liston redirected his feelings of inadequacy outwards, using his imposing physicality for criminal ends. He was eventually sent to jail for armed robbery, where he