Sonny Liston
Chronology
| 1932 | Born May 8 in Forrest City, Arkansas (birth date according to one official document signed by Liston; other dates and birthplaces given variously by Liston, his mother, and other sources) |
| 1946 | Leaves his father to go live with his mother in St. Louis |
| 1950 | Sentenced to Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, for armed robbery and larceny; begins boxing in prison under tutelage of athletic director Father Edward Schlattmann |
| 1952 | Paroled from prison |
| 1953 | Enters professional boxing, knocking out Don Smith in first round |
| 1957 | Sentenced to nine months in St. Louis workhouse for assaulting a police officer; released August 1957 |
| 1957 | Marries Geraldine Clark |
| 1958 | Signs contract with Joseph "Pep" Barone, associate of alleged mobsters Frankie Carbo and "Blinky" Palermo |
| 1962 | Defeats Floyd Patterson to win heavyweight title |
| 1964 | Loses heavyweight title to Cassius Clay |
| 1965 | Loses rematch to Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay) after so-called "Phantom Punch" |
| 1966 | Defeats Gerhard Zach in Stockholm, Sweden, as start of comeback |
| 1967 | With Geraldine, adopts three-year-old son, Daniel |
| 1970 | Wins technical knockout in his last fight, against Chuck Wepner |
| 1971 | Discovered dead on January 5 by Geraldine and Daniel in their Las Vegas home. Official date of death put as December 30. Lung congestion and heart failure ruled as official cause of death |
Additional topics
- Sonny Liston - The Champ Nobody Wanted
- Sonny Liston - From The Big House To The Big Time
- Other Free Encyclopedias
Famous Sports StarsBoxingSonny Liston Biography - Birth Of A Prison Boxer, From The Big House To The Big Time, Chronology, The Champ Nobody Wanted