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kenyan_cheena · 04-02-2005, 05:44 AM

MAYHEM IN MIAMI!
LISTON DROPS GAME OPPONENT SIX TIMES
EN ROUTE TO TKO VICTORY!

Saturday 2 February 2002

AMERICAN AIRLINES ARENA, MIAMI, FLORIDA

Tonight, the sports-loving public was given a formidable introduction to the man who many believe will emerge as the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's inaugural World Champion come April 2004.

The #2 seed in the HBF's World Championship tournament, 21 year-old Sonny Liston (born in Arizona but residing in St. Louis, Missouri) treated the Miami audience to an awesome display of precision and power, scoring a TKO victory late in the final round against Nick Barone of Syracuse, New York.

As in the case of the tournament debut of #1 seed Gene Tunney, it was a controversial bout, as a majority of ringside observers really believed that it should have been halted at the end of the third round. But referee Elmo Adolph stood by and watched as Liston punished the overmatched Nick Barone, sending him to the canvas on six separate occasions. However, no one could dare question the bravery (stupidity?) of Barone, as he simply refused to quit. In the end, he was not counted out. It was the three knockdown rule that brought a close to the bout with just 17 seconds remaining. He may have displayed great courage, but he paid a price for it. His right eye was terribly swollen, his left aswell, but to a lesser extent. Somehow, he had not been cut, but his nose had bled freely during the second and fourth rounds of the bout. His condition simply provided critics of referree Adolph with more ammunition.

***

By the time Charles "Sonny" Liston climbed into the ring at the American Airlines Arena, the mood of the capacity crowd had built to a state of extreme anticipation, chanting "Liston! Liston! Liston! Liston!" They knew that many experts were predicting a first round knockout, knew that they were soon likely to see something special and awesome in the boxing ring.

Liston's entrance was free of music or any kind of extravagance. The Missouri resident and his cornermen simply walked to the ring, wearing identical outfits of black with white trim. Liston kept his face concealed under the hood of his robe, shoulders hunched forward. The audience cheered with the appearance of the man they had come to see play the role of executioner.

At yesterday's weigh-in, Liston had stared into the eyes of Nick Barone with an expression of such absolute menace, it prompted one observer to say, "Man, did it just get colder in here?" It was a gaze that literally sent shivers through the throng of gathered media. As the two men stood in the centre of the ring tonight, with referee Adolph laying down his instructions, the stare returned. Liston's eyes did not leave his Syracuse-born opponent, and Barone was looking for somewhere to escape to. In the end, he simply settled for focusing on Adolph, offering the briefest of glances Liston's way when the two men touched gloves.

As the opening bell sounded, a wave of excitement swept through the audience, akin to the opening kickoff of a football game. As the round progressed, it dawned on the crowd that what they were seeing was not what they had expected. It was, however, just as fascinating to watch. Liston spent the entire opening stanza of the fight with his left jab in Nick Barone's face. The Missouri Monster stalked his smaller, shorter opponent, constantly coming forward, flicking out that left hand and keeping the right hand cocked. He feinted to throw it perhaps half-a-dozen times during the round, but didn't. Liston did not seem to care if Barone was able to hit him or not. Thirty seconds in, the New Yorker scored with a solid, straight right and Liston just shook his head and kept on coming. Liston's jab was a thing of beauty, the punch seeming to go right through Barone. It was thrown with such hammer-like force, and would rattle or snap the 127th seed's head back. Barone ripped a left and a right to Liston's body with no effect. Near the round's end, Liston unbalanced his man with a trio of punishing jabs, sending Barone back against the ropes. But Liston did not follow up, content to continue with his masterful display of jabbing. As the bell sounded to end the round, swelling was already obvious around Barone's right eye, his face flushed pink. He returned to his corner shaking his head, perhaps overwhelmed by the fact that his opponent had just administered upon him what could only be called a one-handed beating. The audience had been eerily quiet during the round, feeling a combination of surprise at Liston's tactics and awe at the strength of the one punch he was choosing to display.

Things did not change in round two. The only difference was that Barone was more successful in evading the Liston left, even as Liston increased his workrate. It was painfully obvious that Barone did not have a hope of hurting the #2 seed, something Liston had known early in the fight. By the end of the second, the swelling around Barone's right eye had intensified and blood was running from his nose.

It would be the third round when Liston decided it was time to reveal some more of his power. With Barone on the ropes, Liston threw his first punch of the night that was not a left jab, a jolting uppercut that snapped his opponent's head back. The sudden change in Liston's tactics was unexpected, as he kept Barone pinned on the ropes and pounded away at his body. The pain was plain to see on the New York man's face, and as he shielded his torso another Liston uppercut crashed into Barone's chin. He collapsed to the canvas, but was up at the count of three, shaking his head and showing a disappointed face to his cornermen. Liston spent the rest of the round chasing his retreating opponent, landing a number of big shots, including a right hand that almost sent Barone to the floor for a second time. Barone did not throw a single punch during the round, and there were many at ringside who felt the fight should have been stopped at the round's conclusion. It was clear that Barone was simply no match for this rampaging bull named Sonny Liston, so why let his suffering continue?

Well, not only did referee Adolph allow it to continue, he seemed to be happy for it to continue. Barone tasted the canvas twice in the fourth round, with one of the knockdowns coming as time elapsed. The crowd rose to their feet and applauded, not only for the devastating display of power by Liston, but also for the courage and resolve that Barone was showing. He was still throwing punches, even though he must have known his chances of victory were non-existent.

Liston eased off in the fifth, content to return to his early jabbing tactics. By this time, it seemed Barone had gained Liston's grudging respect, in addition to the crowd's favour.

The two men continued to cruise through the final round, and it appeared that Barone might achieve what had looked impossible earlier in the bout, and last the distance. Unfortunately, Sonny Liston had other plans for Nick Barone. At the 1:48 mark, Liston unleashed a crushing left hook that buckled Barone's knees. A follow-up straight left/straight right combination sent Barone to the canvas for the fourth time in the fight. Through the calls of ringside observers to stop the bout, Barone rose again, making it to his feet by eight, leaning against the ropes for support. Adolph allowed the fight to continue, and Liston closed in to finish the job. Barone stayed on the ropes, covering up against the Liston onslaught. The Missouri native paused for a moment, looking at Adolph with a bemused expression before returning to work and knocking Barone to the canvas again with a single uppercut at the 2:24 mark. By this time, the calls to stop the fight had increased, and Liston, standing in a neutral corner, motioned towards the referee as if to say "Blame him!" Barone somehow made it to his feet again, this time with the count at nine. Adolph could have called it off there and then, but didn't. Liston came in at Barone and clocked him with a straight right. It was enough to bring an end to the fight, as Barone fell forwards to the canvas for the sixth time in the bout, and third time in the round. Adolph waved the fight over, 2:43 into the final round...

04-02-2005, 05:44 AM	#114 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,316	MAYHEM IN MIAMI! LISTON DROPS GAME OPPONENT SIX TIMES EN ROUTE TO TKO VICTORY! Saturday 2 February 2002 AMERICAN AIRLINES ARENA, MIAMI, FLORIDA Tonight, the sports-loving public was given a formidable introduction to the man who many believe will emerge as the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's inaugural World Champion come April 2004. The #2 seed in the HBF's World Championship tournament, 21 year-old Sonny Liston (born in Arizona but residing in St. Louis, Missouri) treated the Miami audience to an awesome display of precision and power, scoring a TKO victory late in the final round against Nick Barone of Syracuse, New York. As in the case of the tournament debut of #1 seed Gene Tunney, it was a controversial bout, as a majority of ringside observers really believed that it should have been halted at the end of the third round. But referee Elmo Adolph stood by and watched as Liston punished the overmatched Nick Barone, sending him to the canvas on six separate occasions. However, no one could dare question the bravery (stupidity?) of Barone, as he simply refused to quit. In the end, he was not counted out. It was the three knockdown rule that brought a close to the bout with just 17 seconds remaining. He may have displayed great courage, but he paid a price for it. His right eye was terribly swollen, his left aswell, but to a lesser extent. Somehow, he had not been cut, but his nose had bled freely during the second and fourth rounds of the bout. His condition simply provided critics of referree Adolph with more ammunition. *** By the time Charles "Sonny" Liston climbed into the ring at the American Airlines Arena, the mood of the capacity crowd had built to a state of extreme anticipation, chanting "Liston! Liston! Liston! Liston!" They knew that many experts were predicting a first round knockout, knew that they were soon likely to see something special and awesome in the boxing ring. Liston's entrance was free of music or any kind of extravagance. The Missouri resident and his cornermen simply walked to the ring, wearing identical outfits of black with white trim. Liston kept his face concealed under the hood of his robe, shoulders hunched forward. The audience cheered with the appearance of the man they had come to see play the role of executioner. At yesterday's weigh-in, Liston had stared into the eyes of Nick Barone with an expression of such absolute menace, it prompted one observer to say, "Man, did it just get colder in here?" It was a gaze that literally sent shivers through the throng of gathered media. As the two men stood in the centre of the ring tonight, with referee Adolph laying down his instructions, the stare returned. Liston's eyes did not leave his Syracuse-born opponent, and Barone was looking for somewhere to escape to. In the end, he simply settled for focusing on Adolph, offering the briefest of glances Liston's way when the two men touched gloves. As the opening bell sounded, a wave of excitement swept through the audience, akin to the opening kickoff of a football game. As the round progressed, it dawned on the crowd that what they were seeing was not what they had expected. It was, however, just as fascinating to watch. Liston spent the entire opening stanza of the fight with his left jab in Nick Barone's face. The Missouri Monster stalked his smaller, shorter opponent, constantly coming forward, flicking out that left hand and keeping the right hand cocked. He feinted to throw it perhaps half-a-dozen times during the round, but didn't. Liston did not seem to care if Barone was able to hit him or not. Thirty seconds in, the New Yorker scored with a solid, straight right and Liston just shook his head and kept on coming. Liston's jab was a thing of beauty, the punch seeming to go right through Barone. It was thrown with such hammer-like force, and would rattle or snap the 127th seed's head back. Barone ripped a left and a right to Liston's body with no effect. Near the round's end, Liston unbalanced his man with a trio of punishing jabs, sending Barone back against the ropes. But Liston did not follow up, content to continue with his masterful display of jabbing. As the bell sounded to end the round, swelling was already obvious around Barone's right eye, his face flushed pink. He returned to his corner shaking his head, perhaps overwhelmed by the fact that his opponent had just administered upon him what could only be called a one-handed beating. The audience had been eerily quiet during the round, feeling a combination of surprise at Liston's tactics and awe at the strength of the one punch he was choosing to display. Things did not change in round two. The only difference was that Barone was more successful in evading the Liston left, even as Liston increased his workrate. It was painfully obvious that Barone did not have a hope of hurting the #2 seed, something Liston had known early in the fight. By the end of the second, the swelling around Barone's right eye had intensified and blood was running from his nose. It would be the third round when Liston decided it was time to reveal some more of his power. With Barone on the ropes, Liston threw his first punch of the night that was not a left jab, a jolting uppercut that snapped his opponent's head back. The sudden change in Liston's tactics was unexpected, as he kept Barone pinned on the ropes and pounded away at his body. The pain was plain to see on the New York man's face, and as he shielded his torso another Liston uppercut crashed into Barone's chin. He collapsed to the canvas, but was up at the count of three, shaking his head and showing a disappointed face to his cornermen. Liston spent the rest of the round chasing his retreating opponent, landing a number of big shots, including a right hand that almost sent Barone to the floor for a second time. Barone did not throw a single punch during the round, and there were many at ringside who felt the fight should have been stopped at the round's conclusion. It was clear that Barone was simply no match for this rampaging bull named Sonny Liston, so why let his suffering continue? Well, not only did referee Adolph allow it to continue, he seemed to be happy for it to continue. Barone tasted the canvas twice in the fourth round, with one of the knockdowns coming as time elapsed. The crowd rose to their feet and applauded, not only for the devastating display of power by Liston, but also for the courage and resolve that Barone was showing. He was still throwing punches, even though he must have known his chances of victory were non-existent. Liston eased off in the fifth, content to return to his early jabbing tactics. By this time, it seemed Barone had gained Liston's grudging respect, in addition to the crowd's favour. The two men continued to cruise through the final round, and it appeared that Barone might achieve what had looked impossible earlier in the bout, and last the distance. Unfortunately, Sonny Liston had other plans for Nick Barone. At the 1:48 mark, Liston unleashed a crushing left hook that buckled Barone's knees. A follow-up straight left/straight right combination sent Barone to the canvas for the fourth time in the fight. Through the calls of ringside observers to stop the bout, Barone rose again, making it to his feet by eight, leaning against the ropes for support. Adolph allowed the fight to continue, and Liston closed in to finish the job. Barone stayed on the ropes, covering up against the Liston onslaught. The Missouri native paused for a moment, looking at Adolph with a bemused expression before returning to work and knocking Barone to the canvas again with a single uppercut at the 2:24 mark. By this time, the calls to stop the fight had increased, and Liston, standing in a neutral corner, motioned towards the referee as if to say "Blame him!" Barone somehow made it to his feet again, this time with the count at nine. Adolph could have called it off there and then, but didn't. Liston came in at Barone and clocked him with a straight right. It was enough to bring an end to the fight, as Barone fell forwards to the canvas for the sixth time in the bout, and third time in the round. Adolph waved the fight over, 2:43 into the final round... Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 05-01-2005 at 09:11 PM.