Sonny Liston had the look of a fighter, and like any good fighter he fought against things his entire life. First it was his father, then the law. Then he fought against the stigma of being an ex-con. When he became heavyweight champion and it seemed as though he’d done enough to let his guard down, he fought against the overwhelming aura of Muhammad Ali. That fight never ended for Liston.

Every fighter has a last fight. Sometimes they even promote an upcoming clash as such and treat it like a retirement party, but usually it’s a fight that sneaks up on them for one reason or another.

Liston had plans he intended to act upon after fighting Chuck Wepner in Jersey City, New Jersey, it’s just that so much about him was still a mystery. Jokes about his unknown birthdate persisted. Was he 38, or several years older? There was also a matter of the legitimacy of his knockout loss to Muhammad Ali in their 1965 rematch, a result that haunted him even in death. And the more immediate issue was how he would bounce back from a much more brutal knockout loss at the hands of Leotis Martin.

Both of Liston’s losses to Ali were wonky enough that he could potentially explain them away, but Martin battled through a bad eye injury to score a clean knockout. There was no excuse there; Liston was on a 14-fight win streak and calling for a third match with Ali, who was at this point the exiled champion for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War, should he return to the ring.

Wepner’s record was a respectable 21-5-2. He was tall at 6-foot-5 and strong as an ox, if not particularly quick of hand or foot. He was also as tough as a two-dollar steak. His primary issue was summed up perfectly local Jersey City writer:

“Bleeding has been Wepner’s biggest enemy in his six-year career. Four of his five losses have come on cuts. Chuck’s face is usually hacked to pieces in a few rounds even when he wins, but his courage and ability to stay upright while being hammered around the ring are unquestioned.”

Wepner’s fights were so regularly marred by cuts that he eventually earned the nickname “The Bayonne Bleeder.” Since he wasn’t a big puncher, his face was more likely to soak up leather because his fights were likely to go more rounds. Against a thunderous puncher such as Liston, it was a perfect storm.

Odds opened up firmly in Liston’s favor until the press attended sparring sessions for both fighters. Wepner reportedly looked sharp while Liston appeared “erratic,” and odds closed to about 8-to-5 for Liston. In an era where being 38 was a veritable death sentence for most fighters, Liston’s fight against the clock would be as difficult as any in the ring.

“I’m on my way down, but I still believe I have a chance to win the title again,” Liston told reporters before the fight. “Otherwise I wouldn’t get in that ring.”

Jack Dempsey, Mickey Walker and “Two Ton” Tony Galento were among the 4,012 in attendance at the Armory in Jersey City to witness what would ultimately become a real old school bloodbath.

One thing about Liston that gets lost to history through the fog of the controversial Ali fights is just how good and hard his jab was. It wasn’t a sweet howdy-do; Liston’s jab knocked opponents back to reality. He could end a fight with it if he had to.

Wepner probably had a game plan mapped out, but it was useless as early as Round 2, when Liston’s jabs and right hands left him bleeding profusely from his mouth. Liston opened up with both hands in the third and broke his nose, and “at that point Wepner did not belong in the same ring as Sonny,” wrote The Ring’s correspondent George Girsch.

Per his corner’s advice, Wepner tried to grapple Liston inside and wear him down physically. It only got worse as the former champion once dubbed “the big ugly bear” by Ali simply mauled Wepner in the clinch.

Before long, a cut on Wepner’s forehead went from a manageable wound to a jagged, gory monstrosity and he had four other distinct cuts on his face. And it only got worse as he suffered his first career knockdown on a body shot in Round 5. Liston didn’t even look all that great; he was slow and sloppy, and his punches lacked the same kind of force that guided him to the world title. They were enough against Wepner, though.

Wepner’s trainer Al Braverman and New Jersey commissioner Abe Green successfully stopped the ringside physician from checking on Wepner after a few different rounds, which simultaneously gave their fighter a chance to win and prolonged the horror.

The ringside physician was finally able to issue an exam after Round 7, and he allowed the fight to continue. So Liston punished Wepner with his jab, figuring he didn’t need to use his right as much anyway. The blood was everywhere: all over both fighters, the referee and the ring. After Round 9, the ringside doctor had seen enough and ended the fight.

“Those cuts aren’t deep,” screamed Braverman. “They’re only slices and they weren’t hampering Chuck’s vision.”

The trainer simply advocated for his fighter, but Wepner was basically a blood donor.

Throughout much of the bout, attention in the venue was fixated away from the ring and on surprise guest Ali. Autograph seekers and hand-shakers mobbed him, and the exiled champion had to go watch the fight from the corner of the venue. Once again Ali stole Liston’s shine.

Despite being upstaged by Ali, Liston was surprisingly jovial in his dressing room after the fight.

“I don’t think anyone has ever taken that much of a beating from me without being knocked out,” Liston said through a grin. “Of course, I thought the bout should have been stopped sooner, but [Wepner] was behind and had nothing to lose.”

“They should have let me finish the fight,” Wepner quietly told reporters. “I wanted to end up standing on my feet.”

Of the $37,600 paid at the gate, Liston took home at least $13,000, while Wepner’s bludgeoning earned him $4,000.

Wepner’s courage led him to an unlikely bout with Ali in 1975, which inspired the main character in Rocky. Ultimately his ability to turn fights bloody became a superpower of sorts, even if he ended his career with an unimpressive 36-14-2 record.

After beating Wepner, Liston took aim at left-hooking slugger Jerry Quarry. He might have seen something enticing in another light-skinned heavyweight with skin issues, but he would never find out.

Six months after beating Wepner, Liston was found dead in his Las Vegas home under mysterious circumstances. And with one final reminder than he couldn’t defeat his nemesis, news surrounding Liston’s death would be eclipsed by reports about Ali’s fight with Oscar Bonavena days later.