By John F. McKenna (McJack): Prior to the match with Patterson, Liston made the famous quote:

“In the films the good guy always wins, but this is one bad guy who ain’t gonna lose.”

In my naivety as a youth I really thought my hero Floyd Patterson had a chance to defeat Liston. I had allowed my heart to over rule my head. It was a mistake I swore that I would never make again.

It took Liston just two minutes and six seconds to KO Patterson. Sonny expected a hero’s welcome when he returned to Philadelphia. But there were no crowds or dignitaries to meet him at the airport. In fact there was no one. Liston was visibly crushed. Sonny was uneducated but he was an extremely intelligent man. He knew that the media and the public did not like or respect him.

In less than a month Liston was arrested again. The fact that he was driving his Cadillac at 15 miles an hour drew the attention of the police who discovered that Sonny was driving drunk.

On July 22 1965, Liston again KO’d Patterson in the 1st round in Las Vegas. Instead of returning to Philadelphia or Chicago “Sonny” returned to former mentor Father Murphy in Denver, Colorado. In Denver Liston finally received the hero’s welcome he had sought for so long. It was one of the few bright moments in Liston’s life. People in Denver were actually cheering for him. It was an emotional moment for Liston and a moment that would be short lived.

After defeating Patterson for the 2nd time Liston went on a tour of the British Isles, but everywhere he went he was harassed by a brash kid named Cassius Clay who would constantly trumpet to everyone who would listen “I am the greatest!” Clay got under Liston’s skin to the extent that he began carrying around a revolver loaded with blanks figuring that he could scare Cassius away.

In February 1964 Liston faced the pest that would not go away. “Sonny” chased his tormentor around the ring for six rounds. Liston’s face was lumped up from Clay’s constant barrage of rapier like left jabs and lightning quick hooks. After the sixth round Liston had had enough. He did the unthinkable. He quit on his stool between rounds claiming to have an injured shoulder. It later came to light that Liston’s management team had allegedly purchased the rights to his next fight for $50,000.

Even after losing to Clay in the first fight Liston was favored at 8-5 to win the return match. I remember watching the match on close circuit TV in Cherry Hill, NJ and after a minute into the 1st round telling a friend that Liston had no chance. His punches were slow and way off the mark. Shortly after making those remarks Cassius delivered the punch that will be forever remembered as the “Phantom Punch”. I have watched the replay countless times hoping to see the “Phantom Punch” but have to admit I’ve yet to see it.

“Sonny” continued to box for a number of years after the second Clay fight, but after two controversial losses his career was essentially over. His life ended tragically in 1971. His wife found him dead on the bedroom floor after returning from a Christmas vacation on January 5, 1971.

The coroner implied that Liston had suffered a heart attack, but traces of heroin were found in his blood. The scars from the beatings he suffered as a youth were still visible on his back.