Liston beats Patterson!

58 wins, 8 losses, and 1 draw. This is the impressive record of Floyd Patterson, who at one point was the youngest man to win the world heavyweight championship. Patterson, a negro and one of eleven children, was born into a poor family in North Carolina. Shortly after his birth, Patterson and his family moved to New York, where the future world champion participated in constant robberies and other crimes as young as the age of ten. Patterson started his boxing career at a boy’s reform school he was sent to at the age of fourteen for his misdemeanors. Three years later Patterson won gold in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and also won the National Amateur Middleweight Championship and New York Golden Gloves Middleweight championship. After battling through an elimination tournament, the 21 year old Patterson knocked out Archie Moore in five rounds, becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Patterson continued to fight and held his heavyweight title by fighting numerous less formidable contenders, which he was criticized for. Affected by the criticism, Patterson, one of the most successful boxers in the history of the sport, agreed to fight Sonny Liston on September 25, 1962.
The birth date of Charles Liston is not confirmed; his mother claims that he was born in January of 1928, while he claims that he was born on May 8, 1932. Sonny Liston, as he is more commonly known, was a negro as well. Born into a family of thirteen, he escaped his dad’s control, hitchhiking to St. Louis and reuniting with his mother. Liston, like Patterson, became involved in criminal activity, and he was arrested and jailed as a teenager for robbing a gas station. A Catholic priest discovered Liston’s boxing talents, and helped him leave jail early and start a professional career. In 1953, Liston made his debut against Don Smith, knocking out his opponent. From 1953-1961 Liston continued to fight and win. In 1955 Liston won six fights but was temporarily banned from boxing in 1957 for assaulting a police officer. Liston returned to boxing in 1958 where he won eight more fights. If anyone was going to pose a threat to Floyd Patterson, the reigning heavyweight champion, it was Charles L. Liston.
On September 23, 1962 Sonny Liston and the defending champion Floyd Patterson met in Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois. The battle for America’s heavyweight crown between the two black superstars came to an end as Liston knocked out Patterson in the first round.

Sources:
"Sonny Liston." Find A Grave. 2009. 1 June 2009

<http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=632>.

"Patterson an all-time great outside the ropes." ESPN. 2009. 1 June 2009 <http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2441796>.