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Sonny Liston born May 8, 1932 (there is some uncertainty about his year of birth—sources range mostly from 1929 to 1932), in St Francis County, Arkansas. The son of tenant farmer Tobey Liston and his second wife, Helen, Liston was the 24th of his father's 25 children. Along with his many siblings, Liston grew up working in the local cotton fields. His father was an abusive alcoholic, and Liston left at age 13 to live with an aunt in St. Louis, Missouri.
In St. Louis, Liston quickly encountered problems with the local police. At the age of 16 (over six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds), Liston became a menacing presence in his neighborhood, occasionally working as a strike-breaking labor goon. He was arrested more than 20 times. In 1950, he was convicted of two counts of larceny and two counts of first-degree robbery; he spent more than two years in the Missouri State penitentiary in Jefferson City. While Liston was incarcerated, prison athletic director Father Alois Stevens introduced him to the sport of boxing.
Paroled in 1952, Liston quickly captured the local Golden Gloves championship. He became a professional fighter on September 2, 1953, when he knocked out Don Smith in a single round in St. Louis. Auspiciously, the massive man known as "The Bear" then won his first nine fights before dropping an eight-round decision to Marty Marshall. Liston's career was interrupted for nine months beginning in December 1956, when he was sent to the St. Louis workhouse for assaulting a policeman and stealing the officer's gun. After completing his term, Liston relocated to Philadelphia, where his career quickly flourished again. |
