“One Big Headache – Sonny Liston Style”
In May of 1963, Bruno Sammartino beat “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers in a 48 second match. In Rogers’ defense, he was in poor health at the time, and Sammartino was obviously going to be the future of the promotion. Dubbed “The Italian Superman,” Sammartino went onto hold the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) Heavyweight Championship until 1971.
However, according to interviews Sammartino did with the press in the months after his WWWF Championship victory, the legendary run may have never happened had Sammartino not “had a headache for about a week after” sparring with boxing legend Sonny Liston. Liston was not yet well-known when he had this encounter with Sammartino, but in 1963 he was the WBC Heavyweight Champion in the boxing world.
In research through old newspapers, several accounts of this story can be found, but the earliest is from the June 20, 1963, edition of The Jersey Journal. In this account, he states boxing manager Vic Marsillo saw him knock out a boxer named Billy Johnson, who was later a sparring partner for Lloyd Patterson, at a gym in 1957, during a time Sammartino said he was not making much money in wrestling and was tinkering with the idea of giving boxing a swing.
Witnessing the knockout gave Marsillo the idea to try to groom Sammartino to jump into the world of boxing, and that idea culminated with a sparring match with Liston at Stillman’s Gym in New York. In this interview, Sammartino stated Liston “cut me up a bit but he couldn’t knock me down,” and he made it four rounds with the future Heavyweight Champion.
However, in an account covered by the September 28, 1963, edition of Republican and Harold out of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, states “Sammartino lasted three rounds with Liston.” That account still maintains Sammartino was unable to be knocked down by Liston, whom he mentions Marsillo believed would be the next heavyweight champion at that time.
Another retelling in the November 20, 1963, edition of Courier-Post out of New Jersey also states it was three rounds, with Sammartino noting, “At the end of three rounds Marsillo stopped the fight, we all shook hands and I left the gym. I went looking for an aspirin,” again alluding to the headache created by Liston’s blows.
In 1970, the story of Liston turning Sammartino away from boxing was making its rounds again while Sammartino was doing interviews with the press. He was still the WWWF Heavyweight Champion at this time while Liston had lost his championship to Cassius Clay about six years earlier in 1964. The June 9, 1970 edition of The News out of Paterson, New Jersey, this retelling by Sammartino stated he had a “hot five rounds” with Liston, who “hit like a 10 ton truck.”
The match making it five rounds was again mentioned in 1976, when Sammartino told The Philadelphia Inquirer out of Pennsylvania, “They once tried to make me a fighter. In ’57, I had a sparring session with Sonny Liston. Five rounds.” In that same interview, which was published on October 24, 1976, he also added, “It was once my dream to go against Ali.”
The accounts by Bruno Sammartino of this meeting with Sonny Liston do vary in the number of rounds, and the year may be inaccurate as accounts of Sammartino’s career, even in his own autobiography, seem to indicate he didn’t start professionally wrestling until 1959. Alternatively, this may have occurred in 1957 before Sammartino was a pro and was still toying with the idea of going pro.
While the battle became grander in retellings and there may be issues with the year or other details, the setup of the sparring session by Marsillo, the location, and those involved in the lead up never changes in the accounts. Additionally, Sammartino always makes sure to bring up to the two vital facts in his retellings over the years:
The sparring match with Sonny Liston caused him a weeklong headache, and this was the reason he decided to push himself in wrestling as opposed to continuing to flirt with a boxing career.
For more information about the life and times of the great Bruno Sammartino, make sure to check out his autobiography Bruno Sammartino: The Autobiography of Wrestling’s Living Legend.
Additionally, for more information on “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers, mentioned in the beginning of this post, I highly recommend reading Master of the Ring by author Tim Hornbaker.