Wonderful timing! The ring announcer was just saying "Westphal has never been knocked down" when he went down. If it was a movie you wouldn't believe it.
Referee was the legendary Zach "Smiley" Clayton. Played Negro League baseball professionally, played basketball professionally and is in the NBA hall of fame, played for the Globetrotters who he won a Championship with when they were a serious team, and afterwards was the Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission. Now go back and read that last sentence again. Only THEN at age 31 in 1949 did he turn into being a boxing referee as the first black guy to have a referee license. Then a few years later he ends up the world's first black referee in a world heavyweight title fight in 1952 between Jersey Joe and Ezzard Charles. He later ended up refereeing a few Ali fights, including the seminal Rumble In The Jungle against Big George Foreman. What an amazing life! We get force fed crappy diversity list remakes of old movies and there's guys like this who existed and had a story that would make an INCREDIBLE movie! Truly a legend and amazing person who went on an unbelievable journey in his life! Google "Zach 'smiley' clayton" and you will find more info if you're interested.
Invincible 1950s/ very early 1960s sonny liston vs muhammad ali (1960/1962) 1962 sonny liston bonecrushing punching power would've put muhammad ali on a stretcher and canvas to sleep until tomorrow
That's hilarious because as soon as you mentioned Danny Kaye running around, I pictured him doing just that in "The Court Jester" during the sword fight.
If I did had the benefit of familiarity with boxing history and infamous events in the sport, and I had been watching this fight for the first time with zero knowledge of what transpired afterwards, then upon seeing that knockdown I honestly would have thought that Liston had killed the guy.
Poor Albert, at least he gave it a go but as he was moving away from Sonny's Left Hand/Hook, I was waiting for that Right to come over....conclusive finish.
Can you say Louis vs Schmeling 1938? Wow, what a find this is. you can't have too much Les Keiter, and not that much of his work is around. He's worth 10 of today's announcers.
I assume Westphals people took the fight for the money (whatever that was) because he had absolutely no chance against Sonny. He hadnt even remotely mixed in serious top contender circles.
A lot of boxers said they wern,t affraid of Liston. They are lying. if they genuinely were not afraid. They would have their boxing license revoked for being mentally unfit to fight. Any man who can break your bones or put you in a coma with a left jab is someone to be very afraid of as one hapless opponent said. Every time he hit me he broke something
Albert Westphal war in den Siebziger Jahren in Hamburg- St. Pauli und hat dort in der Großen Freiheit gegenüber dem Starclub/Salambo in der 1. Etage das Sex- Cabaret "Studio X" betrieben.
Uh, no way. But I do agree he’s left out of a lot of conversations. For example, if he had retired after the 2nd Patterson fight he would have been considered a top 5 all time great. But the loss, then throwing the 2nd fight to Ali was just an ugly mar on his career.
That Philadelphia audience sure was QUIET after Liston knocked Westphalia out! You’d THINK that in his hometown he’d have gotten a huge reaction, some applause! But nothing..crickets! Hmm..wonder why?
Sonny wasn't exactly a Philly native. He only moved there a few years before this fight. He lived most of his life in Missouri until he moved to Philadelphia. He was also heavily suspected of having mob ties and his unflattering demeanor was opposite that of beloved guys like Joe Louis and Floyd Patterson so he was never a fan favorite.
Hmm, Liston 5” height advantage, huge reach advantage, 212 to 195, much better boxer and huge puncher and had a far better record against far better competition. Wonder who wins this?
Incidentally comparing good champs especially the more time that has elapsed between era's, becomes much harder. Was each champ at their peak when they held the title? We can never truly know because we cant physically match them. Ali once said "Its a matter of styles, thats all it is." I will always have a tough fight with Joe, whereas George will always knock Joe out quick. Yet in turn, I will always knock out George. Over simplified but there is a strong element of truth about that.
Liston was most definitely not at his peak. He started boxing at 34 years old. If Liston trained like Ali in his younger days combined with his slave routine........ Liston would've been the most unstoppable heavyweight boxer of all time.
+Will Marini Liston was a big heavyweight for his era. A lot of the guys he fought were puffed up light heavyweights. While people can argue that a Heavyweight is a Heavyweight, the strength difference between 190 and 210 pounds is huge.
+Will Marini An aged Liston gave 6'5 230 Pound Chuck Wepner 72 stitches, and seriously hurt the man. Wepner said it was the only time he was seriously hurt in a fight and that Liston was a "very heavy hitter", he thought much stronger than even Foreman.
***** So what if Chuck bled? It is not the bleeding we are talking about. We are talking about damage. Liston severly damaged Wepner's face, breaking bones and Wepner needed 72 stitches. That is simply insane. He said everytime Liston hit him it was like being hit with a baseball bat.
style makes fight, Ali has Listons phonenumber, so has Foreman Frazier´s. All of them was great fighters, but all of them gonna loose against Joe Louis. It´s a law of nature, nobody beats prime Joe Louis, not even Hulk, or Superman or Ivan Drago
I agree that Louis was the greatest box/fighter in heavyweight history. The only question is whether he would have been able to catch up with Ali... Incidentally, both of them missed their prime years, Joe fighting exhibitions etc during WWII (for which he was later charged back taxes and forced to make a comeback when he was past it), and Muhammad because of his honourable refusal to fight against the Vietcong, who had never called him a 'N****r'. I'm not black but do try not to insult people unnecessarily.
Louis had already peaked when he went into Army. Born in 1914, won title in 1937, and fought regularly through early 1942. We missed seeing Ali in his prime, certainly.
@@chuckcollins2349 Absolutely right. Louis didn't know if he could take the Rock in his prime. Ali said the same thing. Both of them knew what he could do from personal experience.
@FlavorDavee Can't say I agree with that call. If you rate fighters based on what they did (and that's how you should rate them), Liston won the title against an overmatched Patterson, defended it against Patterson, and then lost it to Ali and lost the rematch. And that was it. Hardly a distinguished championship record. He had a good overall record, but against VERY mediocre opposition. Best victories were Patterson, Machen and Big Cat Williams. Not even close to number 2 for me.
But he was 195-200 pounds of Muscle. Back then short heavyweights where as common as large heavyweights...you'd face everyone no matter how big or small. Liston face guys that where 5'7 and guys that were 6'9
what a mismatch. Westphal was a cruiserweight and not a big puncher. Liston could have beaten 5 guys like Westphal in the same day, like George Foreman did back in the mid 1970s.
I agree Liston was overrated. If he had fought Ali ten times, Ali would have won ten times. The thing about Liston is that he really wasn't that big, or fast. And he won the championship right before the golden age of heavyweight boxing. He would not have been able to beat the guys who followed: Ali, Frazier, Quarry, Norton, Foreman.
garrison968 I agree with the Ali statement. Ali is GOAT. But I happen to believe Liston would beat Frazier and Norton. He would annihilate Jerry Quarry. Liston vs Foreman would be a clash of Titans in my opinion.
@@j_ko9 Liston beat Quarry who is the best counter puncher???? You didn't remmember that Quarry destroyed big punchers(Lyle,Shaver who is the hardest puncher,Mac Foster who knock Liston in sparing sessions and he kicked Foreman ass few times in sparings) Liston was beaten by Foster few times and knocked in sparings and Liston bet all his money from previous fight on Mac to KO Quarry but Jerry kicked his ass Liston was not even close in strenght of Foreman and Lyle who were bigger,better,stronger and faster And he wasn't near powerful puncher as Shavers
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 Lewis would do okay,Klitchko sisters would get knocked by everyone.Bowe wpuld do okay while Ruiz and Ortiz would get beaten by everyone. The rest would get killed.
Rob Val I agree fully. Westphal was lighter in weight & much shorter in height (and had a much shorter reach). Why on Earth was this fight allowed? At best, Westphal would have been a mediocre sparring partner for Liston.
![Chino Pacas - Modo Capone (with Drake & JOP) [Video Visualizador Oficial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zoc75M8Swhc/mqdefault.jpg)
"Westphal has never been knocked of his feet..until now."
classic
Wonderful timing! The ring announcer was just saying "Westphal has never been knocked down" when he went down. If it was a movie you wouldn't believe it.
Referee was the legendary Zach "Smiley" Clayton. Played Negro League baseball professionally, played basketball professionally and is in the NBA hall of fame, played for the Globetrotters who he won a Championship with when they were a serious team, and afterwards was the Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission.
Now go back and read that last sentence again.
Only THEN at age 31 in 1949 did he turn into being a boxing referee as the first black guy to have a referee license. Then a few years later he ends up the world's first black referee in a world heavyweight title fight in 1952 between Jersey Joe and Ezzard Charles. He later ended up refereeing a few Ali fights, including the seminal Rumble In The Jungle against Big George Foreman.
What an amazing life! We get force fed crappy diversity list remakes of old movies and there's guys like this who existed and had a story that would make an INCREDIBLE movie!
Truly a legend and amazing person who went on an unbelievable journey in his life! Google "Zach 'smiley' clayton" and you will find more info if you're interested.
Liston was a Beast!!
Invincible 1950s/ very early 1960s sonny liston vs muhammad ali (1960/1962) 1962 sonny liston bonecrushing punching power would've put muhammad ali on a stretcher and canvas to sleep until tomorrow
I like it how when Sonny hit Westphal...how Westphal started running around the ring like Danny Kaye.
That's hilarious because as soon as you mentioned Danny Kaye running around, I pictured him doing just that in "The Court Jester" during the sword fight.
Wow Liston punched Westphal so hard that his hair changed color
One of the baddest men to ever walk the earth.
If I did had the benefit of familiarity with boxing history and infamous events in the sport, and I had been watching this fight for the first time with zero knowledge of what transpired afterwards, then upon seeing that knockdown I honestly would have thought that Liston had killed the guy.
Best of all time
This is 12/4/61. Liston's next fight would be against Patterson.
Poor Albert, at least he gave it a go but as he was moving away from Sonny's Left Hand/Hook, I was waiting for that Right to come over....conclusive finish.
Can you say Louis vs Schmeling 1938?
Wow, what a find this is. you can't have too much Les Keiter, and not that much of his work is around.
He's worth 10 of today's announcers.
Westphal was apparently the same height as Tommy Burns. He doesn't seem that short when they face off at ring center.
I love watching the big bear fight.
If you were Westphal, and you looked up from the canvas and saw Sonny looking back at you (7:30 sec mark) would you get up?????????????????
"HELL.... TO THE NAW, NAW, NAAAAAW
I assume Westphals people took the fight for the money (whatever that was) because he had absolutely no chance against Sonny. He hadnt even remotely mixed in serious top contender circles.
A lot of boxers said they wern,t affraid of Liston. They are lying. if they genuinely were not afraid. They would have their boxing license revoked for being mentally unfit to fight. Any man who can break your bones or put you in a coma with a left jab is someone to be very afraid of as one hapless opponent said. Every time he hit me he broke something
8m 11s video, the fight starts at 5m 20s, and the fight is over by 7m 18s. Hope this helps.
Albert Westphal war in den Siebziger Jahren in Hamburg- St. Pauli und hat dort in der Großen Freiheit gegenüber dem Starclub/Salambo in der 1. Etage das Sex- Cabaret "Studio X" betrieben.
he prob with liston is that everyone knows him as the man who lost to ali... he is the 2nd best heavyweight of all time
whos the first in your opinion? id say george
Uh, no way. But I do agree he’s left out of a lot of conversations. For example, if he had retired after the 2nd Patterson fight he would have been considered a top 5 all time great.
But the loss, then throwing the 2nd fight to Ali was just an ugly mar on his career.
Westphal's corner man is smoking ... what a crazy time!
That Philadelphia audience sure was QUIET after Liston knocked Westphalia out! You’d THINK that in his hometown he’d have gotten a huge reaction, some applause! But nothing..crickets! Hmm..wonder why?
Sonny wasn't exactly a Philly native. He only moved there a few years before this fight. He lived most of his life in Missouri until he moved to Philadelphia. He was also heavily suspected of having mob ties and his unflattering demeanor was opposite that of beloved guys like Joe Louis and Floyd Patterson so he was never a fan favorite.
Before Tylenol PM, there was Sonny Liston. Guaranteed sleep.
Sonny liston bonecrushing punching power & sleep 💊pills punches;; especially 1950s/ very early 1960s
"Call him 'Quick-Fall' "
~ Sonny Liston
Liston at 7:28 "oh shit did I kill that guy?"
Brutal, thanks for the vid
Liston standing around while the guy was unconscious wondering if he’d killed him
More like a lion over it prey
Sonny somewhere near his peak here
Hmm, Liston 5” height advantage, huge reach advantage, 212 to 195, much better boxer and huge puncher and had a far better record against far better competition. Wonder who wins this?
Incidentally comparing good champs especially the more time that has elapsed between era's, becomes much harder. Was each champ at their peak when they held the title? We can never truly know because we cant physically match them. Ali once said "Its a matter of styles, thats all it is." I will always have a tough fight with Joe, whereas George will always knock Joe out quick. Yet in turn, I will always knock out George. Over simplified but there is a strong element of truth about that.
Liston was most definitely not at his peak. He started boxing at 34 years old. If Liston trained like Ali in his younger days combined with his slave routine........ Liston would've been the most unstoppable heavyweight boxer of all time.
I am visualizing the Bugs Bunny cartoon where wrestler Ravishing Ronald challenges Crusher.
Westphal was fast and had some good skills, but Liston knew how to seek and destroy. He set him up for that killer right.
Ouch!!!
This guy was 5'7 190 pounds???? No wonder Sonny was massively feared! With 9 losses prior....SMH
+Will Marini Liston was a big heavyweight for his era. A lot of the guys he fought were puffed up light heavyweights. While people can argue that a Heavyweight is a Heavyweight, the strength difference between 190 and 210 pounds is huge.
Joe schmoe Of course....
+Will Marini
An aged Liston gave 6'5 230 Pound Chuck Wepner 72 stitches, and seriously hurt the man. Wepner said it was the only time he was seriously hurt in a fight and that Liston was a "very heavy hitter", he thought much stronger than even Foreman.
Robert James Chuck Wepner was called the Bayou bleeder for a reason.Wepner was a poor mans Valuev...
*****
So what if Chuck bled? It is not the bleeding we are talking about. We are talking about damage. Liston severly damaged Wepner's face, breaking bones and Wepner needed 72 stitches. That is simply insane. He said everytime Liston hit him it was like being hit with a baseball bat.
@priapus56 I hope the money was good. He had no business fighting a guy like Liston or any other heavyweight.
@MADMAC572 Oh and Zora Foley - another good victory.
Westphal fought the best fight he could have. Liston just had too much for him.
Ooooooh the great rock, where are you?
The announcer should have announced tonight’s assassination not tonight’s fight
a big weight discrepancy between them
Wesphal actually did it quite well till he got knocked out. Better than Patterson did in Sonny's next fight.!!!
style makes fight, Ali has Listons phonenumber, so has Foreman Frazier´s. All of them was great fighters, but all of them gonna loose against Joe Louis. It´s a law of nature, nobody beats prime Joe Louis, not even Hulk, or Superman or Ivan Drago
I agree that Louis was the greatest box/fighter in heavyweight history. The only question is whether he would have been able to catch up with Ali... Incidentally, both of them missed their prime years, Joe fighting exhibitions etc during WWII (for which he was later charged back taxes and forced to make a comeback when he was past it), and Muhammad because of his honourable refusal to fight against the Vietcong, who had never called him a 'N****r'. I'm not black but do try not to insult people unnecessarily.
Louis had already peaked when he went into Army. Born in 1914, won title in 1937, and fought regularly through early 1942. We missed seeing Ali in his prime, certainly.
Marciano beats any version of Louis.
@@chuckcollins2349
Absolutely right. Louis didn't know if he could take the Rock in his prime. Ali said the same thing. Both of them knew what he could do from personal experience.
You are the boss in Eddie Murphy's barber shop, correct?
He was worried about the left & sonny’s right is just as bad..
1:32 For what it's worth, he was from my beloved Arkansas not Pennsylvania.
He fought out of Philly. The only thing Liston ever got out of Arkansas was beaten.
westphal only 5'7. he souldn't have got caught with that last punch. poor bastard
@FlavorDavee Can't say I agree with that call. If you rate fighters based on what they did (and that's how you should rate them), Liston won the title against an overmatched Patterson, defended it against Patterson, and then lost it to Ali and lost the rematch. And that was it. Hardly a distinguished championship record. He had a good overall record, but against VERY mediocre opposition. Best victories were Patterson, Machen and Big Cat Williams. Not even close to number 2 for me.
Frazier is the second best heavyweight next to Ali. foreman knocked Frazier twice only foreman size was in the way
Fight was an obvious fix...like many in those days.🤔
Tongazo.Westphal estaba loco por tirarse.
Westphal had all of the tools…for ballet.
boxing is same.Ali came along and cut the ring changed boxing .he is the greatest boxer great chin speed incredible reflexes.
No he wasnt it was sugar ray robinson who first did all that...
@@gringobronx7670 Gentleman Jim Corbett, Jack Johnson, Gene Tunney did it before Sugar Ray, but no one did it as gracefully as a HW up until then!
@@guidorugero789 thows guys you just mentioned never had the style or boxing skills of sugar ray robinson
@@gringobronx7670 Tunney was slicker and better defensively than Ray but Ray had incredible power which was a huge factor.
@@gringobronx7670 I believe he meant in the HEAVYWEIGHT division.
A 5 ft 7 in heavyweight? This Jamoke should have fought at welterweight
But he was 195-200 pounds of Muscle. Back then short heavyweights where as common as large heavyweights...you'd face everyone no matter how big or small. Liston face guys that where 5'7 and guys that were 6'9
That wasn't even a tune-up.
Westphal corner looks great, cigarette 🚬 and all.
Westphell.
westphal fall that why he got the name
Is anyone else slightly perturbed that that ref sounds exactly like Muhammad Ali?
what a mismatch. Westphal was a cruiserweight and not a big puncher. Liston could have beaten 5 guys like Westphal in the same day, like George Foreman did back in the mid 1970s.
Is that a black ref though??
Unequal fight... 😐
A mismatch
Where'd they get this bum ? The corner german pub? Dude looks like a homeless gorgeous George the wrestler
I agree Liston was overrated. If he had fought Ali ten times, Ali would have won ten times.
The thing about Liston is that he really wasn't that big, or fast.
And he won the championship right before the golden age of heavyweight boxing. He would not have been able to beat the guys who followed: Ali, Frazier, Quarry, Norton, Foreman.
garrison968 I agree with the Ali statement. Ali is GOAT.
But I happen to believe Liston would beat Frazier and Norton. He would annihilate Jerry Quarry.
Liston vs Foreman would be a clash of Titans in my opinion.
@@j_ko9 Liston was slow, but had a powerful left and an enormous reach. Liston v Foreman a great fight -- probably George, bigger and more variety.
Sonny was 3-4 years past his best when he fought Clay, was a lot slicker in the late fifties
@@j_ko9 Liston beat Quarry who is the best counter puncher????
You didn't remmember that Quarry destroyed big punchers(Lyle,Shaver who is the hardest puncher,Mac Foster who knock Liston in sparing sessions and he kicked Foreman ass few times in sparings)
Liston was beaten by Foster few times and knocked in sparings and Liston bet all his money from previous fight on Mac to KO Quarry but Jerry kicked his ass
Liston was not even close in strenght of Foreman and Lyle who were bigger,better,stronger and faster
And he wasn't near powerful puncher as Shavers
@@seniordavidmanderson9232 Lewis would do okay,Klitchko sisters would get knocked by everyone.Bowe wpuld do okay while Ruiz and Ortiz would get beaten by everyone.
The rest would get killed.
5'7" that's sounds like a joke hearing that now.........he wasn't getting up from that! (bit of a disgrace even being allowed in there)
Rob Val I agree fully. Westphal was lighter in weight & much shorter in height (and had a much shorter reach). Why on Earth was this fight allowed? At best, Westphal would have been a mediocre sparring partner for Liston.
Gotta give the little guy a chance. I'm saying that as I'm 1.72 cm myself lol. He was fast ngl that Westphal