Sonny Liston vs. Mike DeJohn
Sonny Liston 209 lbs beat Mike DeJohn 202 lbs by TKO at 2:43 in round 6 of 10
- Date: 1959-02-18
- Location: Exhibition Hall, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
- Referee: Jimmy Peerless
United Press International, February 19, 1959:
Heavyweight contender Sonny Liston, with 16 straight victories under his belt, apologized today for uppercutting Big Mike DeJohn while he was "down," and yelled for a fight with a higher ranking contender. "I want Eddie Machen, Zora Folley or Nino Valdes for my next fight," declared Liston of Philadelphia, who floored DeJohn of Syracuse, N.Y., twice Wednesday night with solar-plexus punches for a technical knockout in the sixth round of their TV fight. After referee Jimmy Peerless had stopped the bout at 2:43 of the sixth round before 3,858 at the Miami Beach Exhibition Hall, the fight was almost resumed in DeJohn's corner. When the victorious Philadelphian danced across the ring to shake hands with vanquished Mike, DeJohn refused to shake and angrily accused Sonny of uppercutting him when down on one knee the second time. Mike called Sonny a name. Liston swung at him and missed. Then their handlers separated them. Liston, weighing 209¼ pounds and standing 6-feet-1, admitted later, "Yes, I uppercutted him all right, but I didn't know he had a knee on the floor. I thought he was just squattin' like he did a couple of times earlier. I'm sorry about it but he's so tall, I didn't realize he had a knee down." Sonny was favorite at 12-5.