The Death of Sonny Liston: Gone on the Night Train

Former Heavyweight Champion Charles L. "Sonny" Liston, whose record was an incredible 50, 4, with 39 by way of knockout, was nicknamed 'The Big Bear.' He stood 6 feet 1, and had an 84 inch reach and was one of the hardest punchers in the history of combat sports.

Supposedly, Liston was born in 1932 at a location known as Sand Slough, Arkansas—although many experts claim that Liston himself didn't truly know exactly when he was born nor how old he actually was.

Liston learned his trade, the great sport of boxing, while serving five years in Missouri State Penitentiary—one of the toughest of America’s prisons. The young Liston then went on to become one of the greatest of all time chalking-up two huge knockout wins (video below) over the dominant heavyweight champion at that time, Floyd Patterson.

Ironically, if Liston's birth was a mystery, then his death was even more-so. 'The Bear' died as he had lived, under an umbrella of controversy and suspicion.

Liston's very next fight was supposed to be against Toronto Ontario, Canada's brutal slugger, George Chuvalo. Unfortunately however, the potentially classic match never happened.

On December 30, 1970, in Las Vegas, Liston's wife Geraldine arrived home early from a shopping trip, and entered the master bedroom after smelling something rotting.

The woman was shocked to find her Husband, Liston, slumped over against the bed, a broken foot stool at his side, dead.

A subsequent autopsy, along with the findings of the Las Vegas police, first concluded that Liston had overdosed—due to traces of morphine and codeine found in his body post-mortem.

In the end, however, the results were deemed inconclusive, and Liston's death was officially listed as due to cardiac arrest.

Now, 32 years later, the talk of mafia connections, police-cover-ups, and scandals are still going on.

Liston however, is bothered by none of it.

He lies peacefully in Vegas.

Paradise Memorial Gardens cemetery is Liston's final resting place—under a headstone that says, simply, "A Man."

Liston's favorite song was 'Night Train.' I will dedicate to him now.

'RIP' Sonny.

I am cagestokerblog on twitter.

Boxing News Video: Manny Steward suggests Chavez Jr. and Pacquiao are taking Steroids:

- 'I have concerns recently with Manny Pacquiao having leg-cramps, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. having leg cramps. There has to be something going on. After he (Chavez) defeated Andy Lee, he took the post-fight drug test—but he came out of the bathroom with two other guys...so we don't really know who pissed in the bottle." ~ Steward

-

Emanuel 'Manny' Steward is the famous 68-year-old owner, operator, and trainer, of Detroit Michigan's historic Kronk Boxing Gym.

The gym itself has become a training Mecca. Home through-out the years to such great names as Thomas 'Hitman' Hearns,.. Lennox Lewis, the McCrory brothers, Milton and Steve. And of course, more recently, the Heavyweight Champion boxing-team known as the Klitschko Brothers, Vitali and Wladimir.

Steward is also a respected HBO boxing commentator who appears numerous times monthly alongside his lead-man Jim Lampley and the controversial Dinosaur, Larry Merchant—who is fast being replaced by a brave-new-voice in pugilistic commentary named Max Kellerman.

It might be easy to toss aside Steward's comments in the below video, and chalk it up to him having some bitterness against current WBC Middleweight Champion—and son of retired boxing champion Julio César Chávez—Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

After all, Steward did have his own 'dog in the race' named Andy Lee, who was recently defeated by Chavez.

But what about Manny Pacquiao?

What reason would Steward have to diss the great Freddie Roach trained Filipino superstar, if not to be seeking the absolute truth?

In addition, maybe we are all secretly wondering about the issues that Steward brings up in the video—but lack the ways and/or means to have our voice heard?

In that case, let's keep an open mind, shall we?

And listen carefully to what the great trainer has to say regarding the subject of P-E-D's and why it is that Pacquiao has refused to take the steroid-blood-test that Floyd Mayweather has offered him from time to time.

And why it is that Chavez tried to slip away from Steward's nephew—who was following him after his recent win over Lee. Was it so he could then pour fake urine into the sample tube?

Who knows?

Stay tuned.