Sonny Liston

CTL-E-7085 · Person · other · c. 1930–1970

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07957 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7085.

Charles 'Sonny' Liston was born in Arkansas; no official record of his birth exists, and the year is uncertain — Liston himself used May 8, 1932, the date the International Boxing Hall of Fame lists, while BoxRec's review of census evidence and family statements places his birth around 1930. The Hall records that he learned boxing while serving prison time for armed robbery, turned professional in 1953, and beat leading contenders Cleveland Williams, Nino Valdes, Zora Folley and Eddie Machen before knocking out Floyd Patterson in one round on September 25, 1962, to win the heavyweight championship, repeating the result in the rematch. He lost the title to Cassius Clay in 1964, quitting on his stool, and was knocked out in the first round of the 1965 rematch, a result the Hall notes some attributed to a 'phantom punch.' His death is disputed in the sources: his wife Geraldine found him dead in their Las Vegas home on January 5, 1971, BoxRec records, while his death certificate carries December 30, 1970, a date police estimated; Las Vegas police declared a heroin overdose, the coroner found only traces of heroin byproducts insufficient to have caused death, the official listing was lung congestion and heart failure, and friends who said Liston feared needles maintained he was forcibly overdosed — no account is settled here. The Hall gives his totals as 50 wins, 4 losses and 39 knockouts in 54 bouts.

The record

• Also known as: Charles Liston, Charles L. Liston

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0461. Death disposition (disputed, all accounts attributed, never settled): (1) discovery — BoxRec records Geraldine Liston found him dead on January 5, 1971; the Hall's page compresses this to 'found dead December 30, 1970,' which is the death-certificate date police estimated, and the two are carried separately. (2) Cause — Las Vegas police declared a heroin overdose; the coroner found heroin byproducts only in amounts he said could not have caused death; the official listing was lung congestion and heart failure; the alternative account, attributed to his wife, friends and later writers, is a forced overdose by others. This record asserts none of them. Birth-year disposition: no official birth record exists; Liston's own used date was May 8, 1932 (the Hall's listing), while census-based research supports c. 1930 — the era field carries 'c. 1930' accordingly. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Liston's record pairs the most intimidating heavyweight reign of its era with the packet's least settled ending, and the file keeps both facts visible rather than resolving either. Photo: CLEARED, Public domain, 1968 press photograph whose Commons file description names Sonny Liston.

Sources

• International Boxing Hall of Fame. "Sonny Liston." IBHOF.com. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• BoxRec. "Sonny Liston." BoxRec Wiki. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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