BoxRec

Harold Johnson was scheduled to face sonny liston in 1956 but johnson got injured and none other than marty marshall replaced johnson(liston went on to win a completle shutout win over marshall over 10 rounds).

but had johnson fought liston in 56, this would have been a very interesting fight. sonny was still green and inexerpeinced, and harold was a great fighter and top contender. this would have been a HUGE step up in class for sonny. was sonny ready? would his incredible physical tools allowed him to batter johnson for the win, or would johnsons experience and top notch boxing skills allow him to outbox the green sonny? listons jab was his biggest weapon, but he still hadnt perfected it and harold johnson had one of the best jabs of that era so it would have been hard to outjab the much more experienced harold.
was harold coming into his own by 1956? or johnson handle the bigger man like he did nino valdes back in 52.


could sonny handle this HUGE step up in competition? who wins?


* had harold not gotten injured and the fight took place and sonny managed to win.....this would have been a huge boost to sonnys legacy



* in the mid 1950s harold used to handle the green sonny in the gym

I'd go for Liston on points or perhaps late ko... he's be too strong for Harold and his stronger heavier jab would nulifiy Harolds own jab...

silkov wrote:I'd go for Liston on points or perhaps late ko... he's be too strong for Harold and his stronger heavier jab would nulifiy Harolds own jab...

silk did u read the thread? liston was not in his prime in 1956. he was very green and inexepereinced. he had never fought ANYONE CLOSE to harold johnsons abilities in 1956. harold would clearly be the favorite in this fight vs the unranked green sonny. harold perhaps had too much world class experience vs liston.



this would be a very interesting fight. i dont know who would win.

It has been recently revealed to me from ancient sanscrit documents initialed by the almighty himself that Harold Johnson would have won a hard fought 15 decision over Sonny. However from that point on Harold would be on the decline and Sonnny who would have actually gained confidence over these 15 rounds would go on to do just as great of things as he actually did. Perhaps even greater from the experience gained from that losing effort.

I think Johnson beats Liston in 56. After all, wasn't Sonny already 45 years old in 1956?

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:

silkov wrote:I'd go for Liston on points or perhaps late ko... he's be too strong for Harold and his stronger heavier jab would nulifiy Harolds own jab...

silk did u read the thread? liston was not in his prime in 1956. he was very green and inexepereinced. he had never fought ANYONE CLOSE to harold johnsons abilities in 1956. harold would clearly be the favorite in this fight vs the unranked green sonny. harold perhaps had too much world class experience vs liston.



this would be a very interesting fight. i dont know who would win.

I still lean towards Liston, Johnson would have trouble dealing with his jab... and the size advantage would weigh against Harold...

silkov wrote:

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:

silkov wrote:I'd go for Liston on points or perhaps late ko... he's be too strong for Harold and his stronger heavier jab would nulifiy Harolds own jab...

silk did u read the thread? liston was not in his prime in 1956. he was very green and inexepereinced. he had never fought ANYONE CLOSE to harold johnsons abilities in 1956. harold would clearly be the favorite in this fight vs the unranked green sonny. harold perhaps had too much world class experience vs liston.



this would be a very interesting fight. i dont know who would win.

I still lean towards Liston, Johnson would have trouble dealing with his jab... and the size advantage would weigh against Harold...

true. but remember silk, johnson had possibly the best jab in light-h history. liston had a great jab but he hadnt fully perfected it by 1956. this would have been a huge step in class up for liston. maybe listons people knew wut they were doing and figured sonny was ready.


liston was only around 205lb in 1956. this is not a signifigant size advantage. harold johnson already showed he could deal with a world class big man with a very good jab when he shutout 6'3 210lb nino valdez in 1952.

Once Harold got into the ring with Sonny, he'd be looking to leave it & quick. I see an easy ko. When you get in with Sonny, you don't fight, you just try to survive. Floyd had good intentions until he found out what he was up against. Liston was an absolute destroyer. As good as Harold was, it wouldn't matter once he tasted the Bear's power.

bill.lockhart wrote:Once Harold got into the ring with Sonny, he'd be looking to leave it & quick. I see an easy ko. When you get in with Sonny, you don't fight, you just try to survive. Floyd had good intentions until he found out what he was up against. Liston was an absolute destroyer. As good as Harold was, it wouldn't matter once he tasted the Bear's power.

bill read the thread..............were talking about 1956. liston was green and not in his prime in 1956. he had lost to marty marshall and had not faced one world class fighter yet. this would be a huge step up for liston. the fight was going to happen. harold might be too experienced for a green sonny

Sonny would have been equal to the task.