Sonny Liston's Power

[Russell]

I've heard from some sources, like Wepner, that no one ever hit him like Sonny.

A 40 something year old Liston breaking his nose, cheekbone, and giving Wepner 70 something stitches in his face is a testament to that.

What fighter said that his entire body seized up when he was hit by Liston?

I see Liston usually fall a bit short of the hardest hitting Heavies of all time when the discussion comes up, but his knockout of the German Albert Westphal is one of the cleanest and most violent I've ever seen.

Thoughts?

[AnthonyJ74]

I've heard from some sources, like Wepner, that no one ever hit him like Sonny.

A 40 something year old Liston breaking his nose, cheekbone, and giving Wepner 70 something stitches in his face is a testament to that.

What fighter said that his entire body seized up when he was hit by Liston?

I see Liston usually fall a bit short of the hardest hitting Heavies of all time when the discussion comes up, but his knockout of the German Albert Westphal is one of the cleanest and most violent I've ever seen.

Thoughts?

I heard an interview with the legendary trainer Johnny Tocco that out of all the heavyweights that trained at his gym - Foreman, Tyson, Frazier, e.t.c. - nobody hit the bag like Sonny Liston did. Tocco felt that Liston was just about tops among the most powerful punching heavyweights of all time.

[JohnThomas1]

I think Liston hits as hard as Foreman, not to mention everyone else. His power really does impress me.

[rekcutnevets]

I believe his power to be on par with Foreman, with Liston being the more composite puncher.

[mcvey]

I've heard from some sources, like Wepner, that no one ever hit him like Sonny.

A 40 something year old Liston breaking his nose, cheekbone, and giving Wepner 70 something stitches in his face is a testament to that.

What fighter said that his entire body seized up when he was hit by Liston?

I see Liston usually fall a bit short of the hardest hitting Heavies of all time when the discussion comes up, but his knockout of the German Albert Westphal is one of the cleanest and most violent I've ever seen.

Thoughts?
In an interview I saw ,Wepner said Liston hit him harder than Foreman,and Sonny was 40 when he fought Chuck.

[Longhhorn71]

In 1966 I saw Liston vs Gerhard Zech on home TV.

Liston just pounded the guy.

One of those fights that was just not competitive......and you wished afterwards that you had never even seen it.

[AnthonyJ74]

Liston's punches just don't seem to be as spectacular or explosive as were Tyson's or Foreman's....Granted, it's often hard to compare punching power based solely on tape, but guys like Tyson and Foreman seemed to be on another level.

[CottoDaBodykill]

it wasn't how hard he hit ..it was the way he hit ...he was so deadly with his shots..he'd pick them and really rail road into you ... where as foreman it was all brute force comming down

[markedwardscott]

I remember Ali saying, "Liston was a harder puncher, better boxer, and had a longer reach" than George.

[Quickhands21]

i watched a video and his sparring partner said liston use to knock the stitching out the head gear..n sppedbags off the hinges

[Bill1234]

I was surprised that Earnie Terrell said Liston wasn't the hardest puncher he faced (he used to spar and do exhibitions with him a lot). He said Cleveland Williams was, but he felt for obvious reasons that Liston was a much better fighter. Liston clearly hit very hard, he had a very powerful left hook and uppercut.

[janitor]

I heard an interview with the legendary trainer Johnny Tocco that out of all the heavyweights that trained at his gym - Foreman, Tyson, Frazier, e.t.c. - nobody hit the bag like Sonny Liston did. Tocco felt that Liston was just about tops among the most powerful punching heavyweights of all time.

I dont have any trouble beliveing that.

Look what Liston did to Bethea using just his jab.

A fighter renowned for his durability.