Foneda Cox

Name: Foneda Cox
Birth Name: Foneda H Cox Jr
Hometown: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Died: 2001-07-22 (Age:71)
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record

Career Review

• Foneda Cox is best known as a stablemate, sparring partner, and long-time friend of World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston.
• Cox started out as an over-stuffed middleweight and later became a heavyweight. In his prime he weighed 180lbs.
• Cox fought on the undercard of at least three of Liston's fights: On Sept. 17, 1953 in St. Louis, Cox defeated Charley Roberts, while Liston beat Ponce DeLeon, On Jan. 25, 1954 in St. Louis, Cox defeated Jessie Crown, and Liston beat Martin Lee, and on Aug. 10, 1954, in Detroit, Cox beat Bill Hunter and Liston defeated John Summerlin.
• After Liston won the World Heavyweight Title, he employed Cox as one of his sparring partners.
• In 1963, Cox traveled with champion Sonny Liston and his wife Geraldine, trainer Willie Reddish, and manager Jack Nilon on Sonny's European Exhibition Tour.
• After touring Sweden, Scotland, and Ireland, the tour ended up in England.
• On Sept. 10, 1963 at Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, Liston boxed Cox in a 3-round exhibition on the same card in which Billy Walker knocked out Johnny Prescott.
• On Sept. 12, 1963 in Paisley, England, Liston boxed Cox in an exhibition bout.
• On Sept. 18, 1963, Cox and Liston were to box an exhibition for British promoter Alex Griffiths at Birmingham, when Liston suddenly left his hotel in Leicester, England and flew back to the United States.
• Foneda Cox made some controversial claims on an HBO documentary on Sonny Liston, in which Cox claimed Liston told him that he threw his two fights with Muhammad Ali.

Sources

• Ring Magazine, December 1963, pages 14-15-16-42: WHERE IS FIGHTING LISTON?, by Dan Daniel.
• Ring Record Book 1955, page 423.