Stevens, a Catholic priest who also ran the prison gym. "He was the most perfect specimen of manhood I had ever seen," Stevens later told Sports Illustrated. "Powerful arms, big shoulders. Pretty soon he was knocking out everybody in the gym. His hands were so large! I couldn't believe it."

Liston shows off his huge hands - his fists measured 15 inches around and were the largest of any heavyweight champion

After two years in jail he was freed on parole and - in 1953 - he turned professional. But his newfound freedom was short-lived as the mob, which would go on to dominate his career and later life, quickly claimed him as their own. They would - according to boxing historians - manage his every fight and control hishe needs to able to win. With an eventual record of 50 wins and 4 losses with 39 knockouts, Liston's power was frightening. His left jab was one of the most concussive ever seen in boxing and his stare was one of the most menacing, burning through opponents in the minutes before the opening bell.

"Of all the men I fought in boxing, Sonny Liston was the scariest," Muhammad Ali would later say.

"Liston does not merely defeat his opponents," Jonathan Aig wrote of the fighter. "He breaks them, shames them, haunts them, leaves them flinching from his punches in their dreams."

Liston's frightening reputation was something he exploited as he went on an impressive run of wins in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But it was also stoked by