Sonny Liston vs. Howard King (1st meeting)

Sonny Liston 212 lbs beat Howard King 195 lbs by RTD at 3:00 in round 7 of 10

• Date: 1960-02-23
• Location: Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
• Referee: Jimmy Peerless

"Sonny Liston of Philadelphia punched his way to the biggest purse of his career to date when he scored an 8th round TKO over Howard King of Reno, Nev., in a scheduled 10 round main event at the Miami Beach Auditorium. Liston ran up against a tough customer in King, but the Philadelphian's darting, crunching left hand gradually weakened his opponent. However, it was a right to the midsection just as the bell sounded ending the 7th round that floored King. King was examined by a physician between rounds and ruled unfit to continue." -Associated Press

• Lou Viscusi, the manager of Cleveland Williams, stated after this bout that Promotional outfit Texas Boxing Enterprises was ready to guarantee Liston $10,000, or an option of 25% of the gate, plus $1,000 training expenses for a bout on March 21st at Houston against Cleveland Williams.