I realize I neglected to include the references or lyrics to the many songs about Sonny Liston. He ranks way up in the top 5 of most frequently mentioned fighters when it comes to song lyrics.

Perhaps the most famous of which is:

The Ballad of Sonny Liston
By Phil Ochs

Now I don't know how Sonny Liston died
Maybe he killed himself, maybe he even tried
Or maybe the boys weren't satisfied
I don't know, I'm sorry I just don't know

Sonny, Sonny Sonny, why'd you have to take a dive
If you don't then you won't stay alive...



Mark Knopfler's 'Song For Sonny Liston' is really a great example of the kind of song I was looking for. It talks about his life, his fighs and his tragic end in heroin addiction.
Song For Sonny Liston - Full Lyric HERE



Guided By Voices has a song called 'The Sonny Liston Fan club - that doesn't even mention him by name.
Lyrics to Sonny Liston Fan Club HERE

Sun Kil Moon's CD - Ghosts of the Great Highway - has a song, 'Glen Tipton' which mentions Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston.
Full Lyric HERE


Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have a song, "Babe, I'm On Fire" which also mentions Liston:

The mild little Christian says it
The wild Sonny Liston says it
The pimp and the gimp
And the guy with the limp says
Babe, I'm on fire
Babe, I'm on fire

Full Lyric to 'baby I'm On Fire' HERE


Billy Joel mentions Liston beating Patterson in his song "We didn't Start The Fire'
For a discussion of that song and the history it mentions, go HERE:

There are also about a dozen rap or Pop references to liston that mention him in a line or two. Too many to list.

The Knopfler song is very interesting, perhaps the best of the bunch.