Birth of Sonny Liston
Birth of Sonny Liston
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Sonny Liston Biography and Timeline
Follow Sonny Liston through 9 dated historical records for United States of America.
Sonny Liston, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
9Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1932–1971Years on this page
1932
1953
Victory-Liston
Liston makes his professional debut knocking out Don Smith in the first round in St. Louis
1962
World Champion
Sonny Liston becomes world heavyweight champion by knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round
1963
Victory-Liston
Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson in the first round for a 2nd time in 1 year
1964
World Champion
Prior to Alis fight with & defeat of Sonny Liston for his 1st World title he declares that he would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee". Liston loses his title when he quit in his corner before the start of the seventh round, claiming he had hurt his shoulder, some believe the fight was fixed, and doubted that Listons shoulder injury was real
1965
World Champion
Cassius Clay knocks out challenger Sonny Liston in one minute and 56 seconds of the first round
1970
Final Fight
Wins his final fight by technical knockout against Chuck Wepner
Role range: 1970
Death of Sonny Liston
Dies in Las Vegas, with the death commonly dated to late December 1970
Role range: 1970
1971
Death of Sonny Liston
Liston was at the end of his fighting career when he is found dead by his wife in their Las Vegas home, the time of death was placed as six to eight days prior to that
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.