Sonny Liston was one of the most dominant world champions in history and began his reign with a win over a man whose career was ended by Muhammad Ali.
Outside of a rare loss in his eighth career fight, Sonny Liston was unbeatable leading up to his first clash with Floyd Patterson in 1962.
The 37-year-old Patterson was the world Heavyweight champion and a legend in the boxing world, having held the title since defeating Archie Moore six years prior.
The legendary champion looked up to the challenge of the young up-and-coming Sonny Liston, but he would quickly learn what made Liston one of the all-time great Heavyweight boxers.
Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in back-to-back title fights
After racking up 33 wins in the Heavyweight division, Liston earned a title shot against Patterson on September 25, 1962, which ended very badly for the defending champion.
Patterson immediately felt the full force of Liston’s legendary punches to cement himself as a seemingly unbeatable monster in the ring.
It took him just two minutes to finish off the champion in a quick-fire bout. Liston was relentless, battering Patterson with punches from the get-go, not giving him a moment’s rest in their title fight.
A series of huge left hands sent Patterson crashing to the canvas, knocking him out and taking home the victory in a spectacular, if brief, title fight.
The rematch didn’t go much better. Patterson lasted four seconds longer in this Las Vegas clash, but Liston looked even more impressive this time.
He unleashed blow after blow to the challenger, knocking him down three times in quick succession for an easy, dominant victory to retain his world title.
While Muhammad Ali would take the belt from Liston in his first title defense, the “People’s Champion” has his own history with Patterson as well.
10 years later, Muhammad Ali finished Floyd Patterson to send him crashing into retirement
The loss to Liston didn’t stop Patterson, who continued to fight for another decade at the top Heavyweight level.
In 1965, he even challenged Ali for the world title, the same belt Ali had beaten Liston for. Ali dispatched him in 12 rounds, but their rematch seven years after would spell the end for Patterson’s career.
The 1972 rematch was Patterson’s last professional fight, retiring after taking one hell of a beating from “The Greatest”.
Ali’s barrage of punches opened up swelling above Patterson’s left eye, so much so that he could hardly see out of it by the seventh round.
That is when his corner threw in the towel, refusing to allow him to continue and ending Patterson’s career with a whimper.