Dec. 25, 1964 - Sonny Liston (pictured) was jailed today in Denver, Col., for investigation of drunken driving after a shoving match with 10 policemen.
Liston was booked, and the police said he was wrestled into a cell at Denver City Jail and released five hours later.
He will appear before a justice of the peace Tuesday on the drunken driving charges.
Three Denver policemen stopped Liston’s car outside a café where Liston and another man whom he described as his chauffeur had eaten shortly after noon.
Donald Smith, a traffic patrolman, said Liston told him the other man had been driving the car. Smith said Liston was behind the wheel.
The arrest was the former champion’s third this year for driving violations. He was fined $600 and given a suspended 30‐day jail sentence for reckless driving and carrying a concealed weapon last spring. Two weeks later, he was arrested for speeding and fined $20.
Liston is awaiting a return fight with Muhammad Ali, who took away Liston’s title last Feb. 25 in a match in which Liston suffered a shoulder injury.
The Ali‐Liston rematch at Boston Nov. 16 was postponed three nights before the fight when Clay underwent surgery for a hernia.
At that time, Liston was reported in the best shape of his life. He weighed 210 pounds. When he was jailed today, he looked heavier and haggard.
Smith said he and two patrolmen, Max Wilson and Edward E. Nelson, stopped Liston.
“He refused to show us his driver’s license,” Nelson said, “and said we’d ‘have to take it off him to get it.’”
“He kept pushing and shoving,” Smith said. “We put him in a police car, but he kept getting out. We then called for help.”
Smith’s police radio message said tersely: “It’s Liston, and we can’t hold him.”
But Wilson said no blows had been struck. He called it a “shoving match.”
“No policeman put a hand on him except on his arm to get him into the car,” Wilson said.
Liston told one policeman he had had only one beer. Another policeman said the former champion said he had had six or eight.
Ten policemen in four cars answered the call. Smith said Liston refused to drive to city jail in a police car. A patrol wagon was called to take Liston downtown.
The man with Liston was not arrested. The police would not identify him but said the man was cooperative. He was reported to be an airman from Lawry Air Force base in Denver.
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