 charles l. "sonny" liston (disputed â december 30, 1970) was an american professional boxer known for his toughness, punching power and intimidating appearance. he became world heavyweight champion in 1962 by knocking out floyd patterson in the first round. liston failed to live up to his fearsome reputation when he lost the title in 1964 to 7-1 underdog muhammad ali (then known as cassius clay). underworld connections and an early deathâalong with his unrecorded date of birthâadded to the enigma. the ring magazine ranked liston as the 7th greatest heavyweight of all-time in 1998 and the 15th greatest puncher of all-time in 2003. ==early life== ===family=== charles "sonny" liston was born into a sharecropping family who farmed the poor land of morledge plantation near johnson township, st. francis county, arkansas. his father, tobe liston, was in his mid-40s when he and his wife, helen baskin, who was nearly 30 years younger than tobe, moved to arkansas from mississippi in 1916. helen had one child before she married tobe, and tobe had 13 children with his first wife. tobe and helen had 12 children together. sonny was the second youngest child. ===date of birth=== there is no record of liston's birth, he once gave an age compatible with his being born in 1928, but he does not appear with his family in the 1930 united states census. [http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles/1639-the-mysterious-birth-of-sonny-lis
1930s_births 1970_deaths African-American_boxers American_people_convicted_of_robbery Boxers_from_Missouri Drug-related_deaths_in_Nevada Heavyweight_boxers International_Boxing_Hall_of_Fame_inductees People_from_St._Francis_County,_Arkansas World_Boxing_Association_champions World_heavyweight_boxing_champions