Liston Beats Petterson

Liston Beats Petterson

21 year old Floyd Petterson, a former Olympic boxer, was the youngest person to ever hold the title of Heavy Weight Champion.  He defended his title with a series of successful fights, but lost his title in 1959 to Inegmar Johnson, but quickly regained his title only a year later.  This made Petterson the first boxer to ever regain his championship title.

Sonny Liston, an ex-con who had done time in Missouri State Penitentiary for armed robbery, was an aspiring boxer who was quickly building a name and reputation for himself.  He became a pro boxer in 1953 with his winning the National Golden Gloves title for that same year.  He was feared by many other boxers, as he was said to have a solid blow and an amazing ability to take hits.  By 1960, popular boxing journal, The Ring, ranked him the number one contender for heavy weight champ.

In 1962, Petterson and Liston met in the ring in Chicago.  The fight lasted a mere two minutes, with Liston coming out on top, completely destroying Petterson.  This sent sports writers of the time into a frenzy, and they all began to believe that the man who had taken down the two time heavy weight champ was unbeatable.  A re-match was scheduled for ten months later in Las Vegas.  This match was a repeat of the last, with Petterson lasting only four seconds longer than their previous fight.   

Just when the world was beginning to think that Liston truly was unbeatable, he was taken down nineteen months later in 1964 when he threw in the towel after seven rounds to a young Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2117576