floyd pattersons place in history

[p4p1]

where does he stand among the great heavyweights/ p4p fighters

[Robinson]

Very brave, a big hearted littleman that became a giant in his time.

From all accounts a nice man. He always seemed to be a genuine
character.

Entertaining to watch.

As for where he is placed as an ATG...well thats up to everyone to
decide in their own little lists.

To me he is one of my all time favourites.

[EriqS]

Very brave, a big hearted littleman that became a giant in his time.

From all accounts a nice man. He always seemed to be a genuine
character.

Entertaining to watch.

As for where he is placed as an ATG...well thats up to everyone to
decide in their own little lists.

To me he is one of my all time favourites.

I agree with everything you've said here. A lot of people criticize Patterson for his "glass jaw" but forget he was a natural middleweight who built himself up to 188 or so to fight in the heavyweight division. Surely, he would have been better able to absorb the power shots of someone closer to his own natural size. Everything I've ever read about him suggests he was a real stand-up guy. No real demons to contend with. I don't know where I put him on an ATG list either, but he certainly belongs in the HOF (I've actually heard some people say that he doesn't. Imagine that).

[TheOneIsHere2008]

A truly good guy...

[tennessee]

what if floyd patterson had the supplements that are availible to fighters today. a jacked up, 210 pound patterson would be too much for the giant robots

[elmersalsa]

He could possibly be an all-time top 20 or top 25 great heavyweight. I do not know about in the pound per pound all time rankings. I believe that there were too many guys ahead of him if we try to rank him from 1 to 100.

[Robinson]

Yeah but a jacked up patterson would also be less
dynamic and maybe not as fast as he was at 188lbs.

Plus all that weight and muscle does not help his
MW chin.

[pete]

An interesting take on Patterson from Jack Newfield,writer and author of Only In America:The Life And Crimes Of Don King.On a "greatest hits" type show about Sonny Liston Newfield said while Liston was an upfront,honest guy(I assume Jack meant Liston let you know what he thought)Patterson was rather petty and held grudges,Newfield gave as an example Patterson's estrangement from his adopted son,Tracy Harris Patterson.I saw this show a long time ago,I know nothing about Patterson's past or current family situation.
I don't know if Newfield had an axe to grind,just didn't like Patterson,or if it was true.I was surprised he said it though because you always hear Floyd was a good guy.

[TheOneIsHere2008]

Yeah but a jacked up patterson would also be less
dynamic and maybe not as fast as he was at 188lbs.

Plus all that weight and muscle does not help his
MW chin.

That's the problem I have with a lot of these counterfactual situations...When you get in an argument with a Marciano fan he will say with today's training Rocky would weigh 220 pounds...Well at 5'8 Rocky ain't Rocky anymore at 220 pounds...

[Robinson]

I tend to disregard the whole vitamin S enhancement comments
the Patterson we know and watched and use is the one that was
and not one that could be if he trained in the Jedi arts or if he was
at his prime now....

One must transplant that person from history to face another one
as they WERE....that is hard enough hypothetical....but to throw in
other variables such as if he was a juicer, if he used less brill cream
or if he was twenty pounds heavier really nullify's the whole hypothetical
argument process.

I am interested to know the full story of what happened between
Floyd and Tracy. It seems sad what ever happened.

Floyd always strikes me as some one who gets upset easily
and like you said holds a grudge, but he always seems like
he is quick to forgive and attempt to make amends.