Fact VS Fiction: By focusing our attention on drugs and the Mafia as the cause of Sonny Liston’s death. We ignore his real cause of death. And the cause of death of many men in America black and white. And that is the problem of heart disease. “It would be possible for a speaker to present a “perfect” argumental case and still fail to persuade a popular audience (although he would almost certainly persuade a judge qualified to interpret the evidence and evaluate the case).