Charles "Sonny" Liston is best remembered as the man who lost the heavyweight title to Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay), in 1964. A fearsome slugger, Liston captured and terrified the American consciousness in the early 1960s. His criminal past and his stint in prison were well publicized, as were his ties to organized crime. However, the single most well-known item about Liston was his baleful stare, which often petrified opponents even before the bell for the first round sounded.

In the early 1960s, the heavyweight champion of the world was clean-cut Floyd Patterson. Patterson's manager and trainer Cus D'Amato had spent the better part of his life fighting the influence of organized crime in boxing and was intent on protecting the heavyweight title from the mob. Realizing that his charge would have little chance against the fearsome Liston, D'Amato refused to allow Patterson to defend...