Floyd Patterson

Revision as of 10:18, 23 February 2013

Class of 1991
Modern Category
Hall of Fame bio:click

World Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee

Name: Floyd Patterson
Born: 1935-01-04
Birthplace: Waco, North Carolina, USA
Died: 2006-05-11 (Age:71)
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6′ 0″   /   183cm
Reach: 71″   /   180cm
Boxing Record: click

Matchmaker: Teddy Brenner
Manager: Cus D'Amato
Trainers: Cus D'Amato, Joey Fariello, Dan Florio, Al Silvani

Amateur Career

• Amateur Record: 40-4, 37 KOs
• Started working out at the Gramercy Gym on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, owned and run by Cus D'Amato. In 1950, he started boxing as an amateur.
• In 1951, Patterson won the Open New York Daily News Golden Gloves and the New York Golden Gloves Tournament Of Champions, both in the middleweight division.
• In 1952, Patterson won the Open New York Golden Gloves, the New York Golden Gloves Tournament Of Champions and the Intercity Golden Gloves Championship, all in the light heavyweight division.
• Also in 1952 he won the National AAU and the Olympic Gold Medal, both in the middleweight division.
• Olympic Results:
  • 1st round bye
  • Defeated Omar Tebbaka (France) 3-0
  • Defeated Leen Jansen (Canada) TKO 1
  • Defeated Boris Georgiev Nikolov (Bulgaria) DQ 3
  • Defeated Vasili Tita (Romania) KO 1

Professional Career

• Professional Record: 55-8-1, 40 KOs
• Won the vacant world heavyweight title with a 5th-round KO of Archie Moore. At the age of 21, Patterson was the youngest ever world heavyweight champion. His record was surpassed by Mike Tyson, who won the WBC heavyweight title at age 20 in 1986.
• Was the first person to regain the world heavyweight title. He lost it twice, defended it successfully seven times, and failed to regain it three times.

Post Boxing Career

• Trained his adopted son, Tracy Harris Patterson, who won world titles in two weight divisions.
• From 1977 to 1984, Patterson was a member of the New York State Athletic Commission. From 1995 to 1998, he was the chairman of the commission.
• On April 1, 1998, Patterson resigned as commission chairman after a published report said a three-hour videotape of a deposition he gave in a lawsuit revealed he couldn't remember aspects of his job or important events in his boxing career. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Awards & Recognition

• 1954 James P. Dawson Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year
• Named The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1956 and 1960.
• Inducted into the United States Olympic Committee Hall of Fame in 1987.
• Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.

Factoids

• Born January 4, 1935, in a cabin in Waco, North Carolina. He was the third eldest of 11 children.
• His younger brother, Ray Patterson, also became a professional heavyweight boxer.
• Died on May 11, 2006 in his New Paltz, New York home. He suffered from Alzheimer's Disease and prostate cancer.
• Patterson is the subject of Alan H. Levy's biography Floyd Patterson: A Boxer and a Gentleman.
• Trained Donovan Ruddock

External Links

• Internet Movie Database Filmography