Charles (Sonny) Liston

Charles Lee Liston was born on May 8th, 1932 in Francis, Arkansas to Tobe Liston and Helen Baskin. Both of his parents were born in Mississippi. In the 1940’s US Census, Charles was 10 years old living on his family farm in Arkansas. He is the youngest of supposedly 25 siblings but I could only confirm 7 of them. 

The siblings I could find are:

Ernest Liston

James Liston

Creals Liston Edwards

Clite Liston Smith

Annie Liston Wallace

Cutis Liston

He was a Hall of Fame Professional Boxer. He was the Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1962 to 1964. In his youth he was arrested for armed robbery and learned how to box while in prison.  He was paroled in 1952 and had a short amateur career, winning the St. Louis, Midwest, National, and International Golden Gloves titles. He turned pro in 1953 and stormed through the ranks, defeating the likes of Zora Folley and Cleveland Williams with devastating knockout power. He married Geraldine Chambers on Sept. 03rd, 1957 in St. Louis, Missouri. He eventually earned a shot at heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on September 25th,1962. Liston made the most of his opportunity by knocking out Patterson in the first round to win the title. He defended the title against Patterson in a rematch ten months later with another first-round KO. On February 25, 1964, Liston faced former Olympic Light Heavyweight Champion Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) in Miami Beach, Florida. The brash-talking Clay proclaimed that he would defeat Liston, but few reporters gave Clay much of a chance to beat the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. Clay’s blinding hand speed and footwork completely befuddled Liston. Liston injured his shoulder in the 6th round and did not come out for the 7th. Cassius Clay shocked the world with a stunning upset to win the World Heavyweight Title. Liston got another shot at the title on May 25th, 1965, in Lewiston, Maine, but Clay (now Muhammad Ali) scored a first-round technical knockout that many people thought was fixed. Liston would continue to box for five more years but was found dead in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 30, 1970, of an apparent drug overdose at age 38. His career record was 50-4 with 39 KOs. Twenty-one years after his death, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.