Liston, but with a great deal more difficulty than anyone here will probably admit... If Mercer ahd one thing going for him besides an anvil for a face, it was a JAB and a heavy, heavy jab it was... I think we're looking at a great fight here... I can absolutely see a similarity to Mercer's battle against Lennox Lewis, it would that type of fight, good action... I like Liston's crisper, mnore accurate and intelligent puynches to be the difference on the scorecards LISTON UD 12
Liston's got to stop him, IMO. Mercer's conditioning was never above average, & usually mediocre. You couple that with a fighter who gives up as much reach here as Mercer will be, in addition to being so hittable, & I don't see him lasting. Two knockdowns force the ref to wave this one off somewhere around the seventh, after Liston dominates from bell-to-bell.
Mercer was knocked down only once in his career (he fought Wlad klitschko when he was 87, that fight is meaningless to any discussion of Mercer, IMO) and that was by a perfect series of counter shots by Evander Holyfield who was a great counterpuncher, something Liston really wasnt... guys who hit as hard as Sonny Liston hit Mercer with some ferocious shots and never came close to putting him down... fighters with far lesser chins than Ray Mercer took shots from Sonny and went the full distance, I wouldn't give him a snowball's chance in hell of knocking him out
Ahh stop overrating Liston! If Lummox(who hit ALOT harder than Liston) could hit Ray with the kitchen sink and Ray goes nowhere, than Mercer can handle Liston's power as well. Liston by clear UD.
