Sonny Liston
Roberto Duran
Mike Tyson
Jack Dempsey
George Foreman
Select gender and age to cast your vote:
Please select your age
Most of you folk are too young or weren't born when Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ruled the heavyweight roost in the late 50's and early 60's with a glare which could frost Miami in July and two fists which could raze a building. He supposedly knocked out SEVEN of Wayne Bethea's teeth with a JAB !!! It was said his managers told Liston not to strike someone flush for fear of killing him. Liston, who was born in 1917 (it's credibly believed) like my mother, was 45 when he finished Floyd Patterson in 126 seconds to win the World Heavyweight Title in 1962, and confirmed his mastery over Patterson in four more seconds in 1963. ( Liston, a mob strikebreaker, served at least two prison stretches and beat a St. Louis cop so badly he served time for this offense, accounting for his late title shot despite allegedly turing pro as "Sailor" Charles Liston circa 1935.)
Liston, therefore was likely as old as 47 when he defended against Cassius M. Clay, Jr. Feb.25,1964. Few thought Clay would last two rounds, a few believing the then-22-year-old challenger would be maimed or worse. Instead, Clay, using undreamt-of hand and foot speed to befuddle his elder, survived an attempt by Liston's Mafia managers to blind Clay with liniment on Liston's gloves (Clay somehow outboxed to glacial Liston in the fifth round with compromised eyesight, which fully returned in the sixth) to retired Liston on his stool after the sixth with a shoulder injury caused from wild missed at the swirling Clay to cause of the stoppage. The highly controversial May 25,1965 Lewiston., Me. rematch came from the remaned Muhammad Ali's catching Liston with a speed-of-light right the likely 48-year-old never saw , and in boxing, the knockout blows are usually the fastest rather than the hardest punches. Liston arose at about TWENTY-TWO, long after the finishing "10" count, and Ali was about ready to re-deposit Liston to the floor when referee Jersey Joe Walcott, like Ali and Liston a one-time Heavyweight Champion, stepped between the boys and raised Ali's hand in victory.(Walcott was alerted to his blowing the knockout count by "Ring" Magazine publisher Nat Fleischer, boxing's most powerful man, who incessantly banged on the ring apron until he got Walcott's attention.)
So for me, despite his advanced boxing age during his prime, Charles L. " Sonny" Liston is the most fearsome of these beasts.
I agree majority closed Tyson shows less knowledge on the sport of boxing to know Sonny was the real intimidator even Tyson admit sonny make him look like a Boy Scout
I chose Tyson, but Tyson has a quote out there about how Dempsey was the most savage pro boxer of all time. Maybe if i knew Dempsey as well as he does, i’d feel differently.
if you don’t know of Dempsey’s overall reputation as a fighter, it is as a warrior with few, if any, peers. He was often described as an animal in the ring, sneering at his opposition as he usually quickly demolished them: he had an iron chin, got up from knockdowns fighting even harder after the fall, hit like sledgehammers with both hands, had terribly underrated boxing skill along with fleetness of foot and terrific handspeed, was a famously quick starter (still holds the heavyweight record for 1st round KOs)… just not anybody anyone seemed to relish wanting to fight! They don’t come any tougher or better than Gene Tunney (who was less than 2 years younger than Dempsey), and even he patiently bided his time, waiting for Dempsey’s inactivity to take hold before he wanted anything to do with him.
Tyson also talks about Dempsey didn’t really train. He had a full time job. He was just a pure savage who literally fought for food during the depression era.
Mike Tyson but where is Muhammad Ali lol
He wasn’t the most intimidating like they were. The most intimidation Ali was psyching his opponents out
Ali was cute , even though he's brutal in the ring
@The_Sexpert lmao @ cute. Yea I guess he was more funny than intimidating
@7Phoenix7 I thought the same this, He was the greatest.
@exitseven He was pretty amazing.
How are any of these men intimidating?
Look them up in boxing
Opinion
7Opinion
Jack dempsey was a beast i would not want anything to do with that cat after see what he did to that one giant dude i can't remember his name but it was brutial
I think it was Jess Willard
Of these, Sonny Liston. His 60-4 record ruled the boxing world in the 1960s.
Why did you not include Rocky Graciano, only world champion boxer to retire undefeated?
It was Rocky Marciano
Sorry, victim of AI auto-correct, I think.
Sonny Liston scares the shit out of people during stare downs
I would say Sonny Liston because he looked like an angry bear. He looked scary and he was a type of guy that could be intimidating.
Big Mike. You could have included Rocky Marciano. He was a war vet that discovered he could fight pretty well with a tough jaw and like Mike could drop his adversary with his left or right hook.
Sonny liston. He was the toughest of the bunch.
4th.
All of them would kick my ass
Tyson
Tyson