The Sonny Liston Story
The Docudrama 6 episode mini-series that needs to be made !
The Stories behind The Sonny Liston Story
Sonny Liston was a giant in the ring, a monster on the streets, and a saint to those he loved. Just when he reached his peak, everything he worked for came crashing down around him. The real Sonny Liston never got a chance to speak his truth—now is the time to finally listen.
“The Sonny Liston Story” is a new limited series centered around the legendary boxer himself. It will delve into his psyche and show the many facets of his personality, both inside and outside the ring. This comprehensive series is set to bring the true Sonny Liston to the forefront and show audiences who he was as a man.
Learn more
“The Sonny Liston Story” is a new limited series centered around the legendary boxer himself. It will delve into his psyche and show the many facets of his personality, both inside and outside the ring. This comprehensive series is set to bring the true Sonny Liston to the forefront and show audiences who he was as a man.
Learn more
Educational and Social Impact of the Sonny Liston tragic story being told
poverty - child abuse - justice involved youth - racism - mafia criminal involvement in boxing
Pitch Deck
Investors register to see
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Become a part of something great!
We are looking for investors to join our project and help fund “The Sonny Liston Story.” If you’re interested in helping us bring this series to a wide audience, contact us with your details so we can bring you on board. We’re also looking to expand our team as we get our project off the ground. Anyone who wants to become a part of the “The Sonny Liston Story” team can contact us now. Contact Us Learn more |
The Sonny Liston Story FAQ
What type of project is “The Sonny Liston Story?” This project is set to be a miniseries consisting of 6 episodes. Each episode will run for approximately 45-55 minutes.
What makes this project different from other films or shows about Sonny Liston?
“The Sonny Liston Story” will delve deeper into Sonny’s background and explore the man behind the legend. Most people know him for his fight against Muhammad Ali, but he accomplished a staggering amount of success throughout his career. The goal of this project is to show people the struggles he faced and overcame, rather than focusing on his failures.
How can I get involved in this project?
At the moment, we are focusing on building the foundation for this project, and we’re looking to bring in any talented individuals who have a passion for creating visual art. If you are interested in joining our team, fill out the contact form above.
Song of inspiration
“Song For Sonny Liston” by Mark Knopfler, the former vocalist and lead guitarist for the Dire Straits, was a major influence in the conception of this project.
Our goal is to capture the themes and emotions evoked by this song in our series, “The Sonny Liston Story.” Listen to song here on You Tube
Mark Knopfler wrote song about Sonny Liston
Mark Knopfler performing "Song for Sonny Liston" from his fourth solo studio album Shangri-La at the AVO Session in Basel, Switzerland on the 12th November, 2007. CD released 2004.
A LEFT-SHOULDER INJURY IS NOT THE CAUSE OF SONNY LISTON’S QUIT DURING THE FIRST MATCH WITH CASSIUS CLAY Arturo Tozzi tozziarturo@libero.it |
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Movies about Sonny Liston
StudioShowtime Networks
Overcoming the seemingly insurmountable odds that life threw his way, Liston became heavyweight champion of the world when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in 1962. Eight years later, he died but friends questioned the cause of his death.
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Phantom Punch 2008 | R | CC
Prime Video Watch now: Free with ads
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Episode 1
- Sonny’s father is abusive to him and his 24 siblings. He beats Sonny with a bullwhip and forces Sonny to act as a mule after the mule dies in the field.
- Sonny has trouble navigating St. Louis due to being illiterate. People are impatient with him and look down on him as if he was stupid.
- Sonny attempts to get a job at a warehouse, but the manager refuses to hire him for any position, implying it is because of his skin color and threatening him to get out.
- Shops, a factory, and a restaurant kitchen all reject him from jobs for similar reasons.
- Desperate to get money to provide for his family, Sonny is forced into committing robberies.
- Sonny is identified by his yellow shirt he wears everywhere and arrested. The police work him over in an effort to get a confession from him. They exhibit racist attitudes towards black people and refer to them as “animals.”
- Sonny and other black prisoners come into conflict with racist white prisoners while incarcerated.
Episode 2
- Prison guards look down on Sonny due to his race and perceived lack of intelligence.
- The head of the parole board is very disrespectful to Sonny and doesn’t believe he can change or deserves to be released.
- A police officer pulls Sonny over, lying about him not using his turn signal while racially profiling him.
- The staff and other patrons at a fancy Italian restaurant are disgruntled about Sonny and his girlfriend dining at the establishment due to their skin color.
- Sonny and his sister Alcora have a conversation about whether winning the Golden Gloves will afford him more respect. He thinks things will change but she believes no matter how successful he becomes; his skin color will always be an issue for many people.
- Sonny and his sparring partner are stopped by a police officer while returning home on foot from a bar. The white sparring partner is told to go home while Sonny is arrested for disorderly conduct.
Future Episodes
- A police officer tries to write a ticket for Sonny’s friend who parked a taxi outside Sonny’s apartment building. When Sonny and the friend confront the officer, the officer hurls racial slurs at them. Sonny takes the officer’s gun from him and is later arrested and beaten. The police captain warns Sonny to leave St. Louis or the police might shoot him on sight next time.
- The mob uses Sonny’s illiteracy to trick him into signing an unfavorable contract that gives them the majority of the money Sonny makes from his boxing matches.
- President John F. Kennedy publicly disparages Sonny and tells Floyd Patterson not to give him a shot at the heavyweight title.
- The media constantly reports on Sonny’s legal troubles and calls him terrible names in the papers.
- Muhammad Ali uses members of the Nation of Islam to prosecute a harassment campaign against Sonny in the lead-up to their boxing matches.
- The mob forces Sonny to take a dive against Ali because they will make more money betting against him.
- Sonny has difficulty making money later in his career and struggles to support his family in between fights.
- Sonny is plied with alcohol, taken home, and injected with heroin to stage a drug overdose and kill him because he has been openly talking about the connection between the mob and professional boxing.
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Sonny Liston beat Floyd Patterson for the Championship Title
HISTORY: On September 25, 1962 at Comiskey Park in Chicago Floyd Patterson defended his heavyweight tile against number one contender Sonny Liston. Liston demolished Patterson stopping him in the first round to win the title. Floyd Patterson 38-2 (29 KOs) vs. Sonny Liston 33-1 (23 KOs) Despite being the champion, Patterson entered as an 8-5 betting underdog. The fight was shown on closed circuit TV at 264 locations in the United States and Canada. A crowd of 18,894 at Comiskey Park produced a gross gate of $665,420 and a net of $556,119.95. Patterson received 55 percent of ancillary rights and 45 percent of the net gate. Liston received 12½ percent of the net in all revenue phases. The contract stated that if Liston won, he would have to give Patterson a rematch within a year. About halfway through the first round, Liston hurt Patterson with a right uppercut. Liston followed with a series of punches, ending with a left hook, that dropped Patterson. He made it to his feet but was unable to beat the referee's count of ten. Gilbert Rogin of Sports Illustrated wrote: "Liston is not a notably swift and flashy hitter, but that final left hook crashed into Patterson's cheek like a diesel rig going downhill, no brakes. . . . There are no fighters extant, and precious few mammals of any variety, that could have beaten the count. The miracle is that Patterson was able to get to his knees." Offered here is an original, full ticket for this event.
Looking back at the complicated Floyd Patterson and his two fights with Sonny Liston
In 1962, Patterson was on top of the world. He was the heavyweight champion, the owner of a commendable 38-2 professional record, had picked up an Olympic gold medal for the USA as an amateur and just so happened to be President John F. Kennedy’s favorite fighter. A young heavyweight named Cassius Clay might have been making the most noise and Sonny Liston might have been the most fearsome but, for the time being, it was Patterson who was numero uno in boxing’s marquee division.
The end of Patterson’s seven-year reign was imminent though and it all began during a trip to the White House to see his most famous supporter, JFK.
The end of Patterson’s seven-year reign was imminent though and it all began during a trip to the White House to see his most famous supporter, JFK.
"I'm sorry, Mr. President," Patterson said. "The title is not worth anything if the best fighters can't have a shot at it. And Liston deserves a shot." |
“Who’s next?” the Democrat inquired. Patterson paused to think, still unsure of the task ahead of him, before suggesting to the President that he had Liston in his sights. Kennedy, whose boxing knowledge Patterson would later describe as a “pleasant revelation,” was not keen on Patterson vs Liston. In fact, neither was his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who would tell Patterson the same thing later that same day at a Washington banquet: “Avoid Liston at all costs!”
The Kennedy administration was on a crusade against organized crime at the time, something that had its hooks deep within Liston, who had a rap sheet longer than the two brother’s mob hit-list, and as such was deemed unworthy to be the heavyweight champion of the world. In Patterson’s opinion though, Liston had already repaid his debt to society and should be allowed to compete like anyone else. “Maybe if Liston wins he’ll live up to the title. He may make people look up to him,” he remarked when asked why he’d give a brute like Liston a shot. |
Sonny Liston: The Tragic Story of a Terrifying Man
Barstool Sports podcast 7/16/21
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Tyson said he wanted to be like Sonny Liston and that Sonny Liston made him feel like a Boy Scout. Tyson wanted to be like Sonny.
Ali said in an interview that he he was “scared to Death to fight Sonny Liston and in his autobiography that Sonny Liston was the Best Boxer who ever lived.
Ali said in an interview that he he was “scared to Death to fight Sonny Liston and in his autobiography that Sonny Liston was the Best Boxer who ever lived.
50 years later articles are still being written about Sonny DailyMail.com 8/2020
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-8474151/The-boxer-mob-death-haunting-50-years-tale-Sonny-Liston.html
Books about Sonny Liston
The 50 legends of boxing
DVD - MOVIE
https://amzn.to/3waPdeZ
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Questions about his real age
Mafia influence on Boxing and Sonny
The Mafia has had a significant influence on boxing since the 1930s. The Mafia's influence peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, when they controlled many top fighters and fixed high-profile matches. The Mafia has used boxing to:
The Mafia's influence on boxing includes legendary boxers such as:
Primo Carnera, Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Baer, Carmen Basilio, Sonny Liston, Jake LaMotta.
- Control fighters, judges, and referees
- Influence the outcome of fights
- Launder money
- Corrupt the sport
The Mafia's influence on boxing includes legendary boxers such as:
Primo Carnera, Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Baer, Carmen Basilio, Sonny Liston, Jake LaMotta.
President John F. Kennedy told Patterson not to give Liston a fight for title.
Press didn't like Sonny and he didn't like the press
- A boxing match is like a cowboy movie. There's got to be good guys and there's got to be bad guys. And that's what people pay for - to see the bad guys get beat.
- If they ever let me in the ring with him [Cassius Clay], I'm liable to be put away for murder.
- The only thing my old man ever gave me was a beating.
- How would you like to find out how good my right is?
- Come over here and sit on my knee and finish your orange juice.
- It don't matter as long as he can count up to 10
- My punches are just as hard in Chicago as in New York.
Side Notes
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The Ring magazine was established in 1922. In 1954, the magazine established its own boxing Hall of Fame and inducted 155 members before it was abandoned after the 1987 inductions. Boxing inductions continue through the International Boxing Hall of Fame. 142 members of the old The Ring magazine Hall of Fame have been elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 1990. The 13 members who have yet to be elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame are listed below, with their year of induction into The Ring's Boxing Hall of Fame.
Modern Group
1973 – Gus Lesnevich
1977 – Ceferino Garcia
1977 – Yoshio Shirai
Old-Timers
1976 – Jimmy Britt
1978 – Peter Maher
1982 – Harry Jeffra
Pioneers
1962 – Ned Price
1964 – Sam Collyer
1968 – Jacob Hyer
1971 – Nobby Clark
1972 – Tom Chandler
Non-Participant
1977 – Dan Daniel
Modern Group
1973 – Gus Lesnevich
1977 – Ceferino Garcia
1977 – Yoshio Shirai
Old-Timers
1976 – Jimmy Britt
1978 – Peter Maher
1982 – Harry Jeffra
Pioneers
1962 – Ned Price
1964 – Sam Collyer
1968 – Jacob Hyer
1971 – Nobby Clark
1972 – Tom Chandler
Non-Participant
1977 – Dan Daniel