Last night June 20 was the 45 year anniversary of Floyd Patterson becoming the first world heavyweight champion to regain back the crown. What a terrific and parallyzing left hook!!! It gives me a chilling feeling and bad taste to see Johansson's feet moving while he was unconcious, TOTALLY KO'D. I wonder what the boxing haters that want to abolish boxing thought of that???
It was Floyd's greatest fight. What you guys think of those 3 fights???
The Patterson-Johansson Trilogy
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Hesketh Vampire
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 399
- Joined: 14 Jun 2005, 08:25
Unfortunately and perhaps unfairly Floyd doesn't seem to feature much these days when people talk about the great heavyweights of yesteryear. His youthful achievements and the recapturing of the heavyweight title tend to be overshadowed by his management's avoidance of Sonny Liston and Floyd's subsequent emphatic losses to Sonny when they did meet.
I remember all three fights like they took place yesterday.... heard them on the radio "live" and saw them on TV several times ever since.
I fancied Johannson to win every time.... and was absolutely thrilled when he won the first one. His record up to that point was good - easily the best heavy in Europe, and of course KO'ing Eddie Machen propelled him forward as a valid contender.
After that win, I think Ingemar got a bit carried away with himself, and thought that all he had to do was fling a right towards Patterson and he'd go down....forgetting that it had to connect first. Patterson was ready to rumble with a vengeance in the return, and you're right....that was a chilling KO.
By the time the third fight took place, I think the public (or at least the part of the public who understood boxing) was getting a bit fed up with Liston being avoided.... and everytime I see that fight on film I think to myself "Hell! Liston would have slaughtered both of these guys on the same night!"
You asked what people thought of the three fights....
First: One of the great moments I will always remember from my youth
Second: Historic night - Floyd becomes the first heavy to regain title
Third: A messy brawl, that showed up both fighter's limitations
Just my opinion, of course...
Thanks for setting the memory banks alight!
J
I fancied Johannson to win every time.... and was absolutely thrilled when he won the first one. His record up to that point was good - easily the best heavy in Europe, and of course KO'ing Eddie Machen propelled him forward as a valid contender.
After that win, I think Ingemar got a bit carried away with himself, and thought that all he had to do was fling a right towards Patterson and he'd go down....forgetting that it had to connect first. Patterson was ready to rumble with a vengeance in the return, and you're right....that was a chilling KO.
By the time the third fight took place, I think the public (or at least the part of the public who understood boxing) was getting a bit fed up with Liston being avoided.... and everytime I see that fight on film I think to myself "Hell! Liston would have slaughtered both of these guys on the same night!"
You asked what people thought of the three fights....
First: One of the great moments I will always remember from my youth
Second: Historic night - Floyd becomes the first heavy to regain title
Third: A messy brawl, that showed up both fighter's limitations
Just my opinion, of course...
Thanks for setting the memory banks alight!
J
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elmersalsa
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 15660
- Joined: 02 Feb 2003, 03:50
Hey, great stuff written there.john2345 wrote:I remember all three fights like they took place yesterday.... heard them on the radio "live" and saw them on TV several times ever since.
I fancied Johannson to win every time.... and was absolutely thrilled when he won the first one. His record up to that point was good - easily the best heavy in Europe, and of course KO'ing Eddie Machen propelled him forward as a valid contender.
After that win, I think Ingemar got a bit carried away with himself, and thought that all he had to do was fling a right towards Patterson and he'd go down....forgetting that it had to connect first. Patterson was ready to rumble with a vengeance in the return, and you're right....that was a chilling KO.
By the time the third fight took place, I think the public (or at least the part of the public who understood boxing) was getting a bit fed up with Liston being avoided.... and everytime I see that fight on film I think to myself "Hell! Liston would have slaughtered both of these guys on the same night!"
You asked what people thought of the three fights....
First: One of the great moments I will always remember from my youth
Second: Historic night - Floyd becomes the first heavy to regain title
Third: A messy brawl, that showed up both fighter's limitations
Just my opinion, of course...
Thanks for setting the memory banks alight!
J
How it was like back in 1960??? I always wondered how was the year 1960 like. Before the Internet, I did not had not a single idea. I always wonder if anyone has the tape live of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series (Mazeroski's home run shot vs the Mighty New York Yankees)I would like to know who was the main tv program, commercials, fads or anything to do with 1960, specially in boxing.
Patterson, besides the 2 first round KO losses with Liston, had a great career. He fought over 20 years as a pro, and now he cannot remember things of his life. He fought almost every top notch heavy of the 1950s, 60s and 70s wiht exception of the greats George Foreman and Joe Frazier
As I was living in Ireland and England at that time, I can't help you with the Baseball or the (American) TV, I'm afraid!
As far as the boxing and a few other things went, a few thoughts....
1: Live TV coverage hadn't reached anything like it is these days, so attendances at the big fights were much bigger as a result. Plus a large percentage of the population actually knew who the fighters were.... though that was before Hispanic and Asain fighters became such a dominant force in the game, and most of the top guys were American. Plus boxing was a popular sport in schools over here.... whereas today it's virtually banned. (So the kids go out on the street and take out their aggression there....great progress!)
2: There's always a temptation to think that the fighters of that era were better than today's crew... but that's too simple. Like, Hagler would have been a champion in any era, so too would Ray Robinson, Erik Morales etc etc. However, I don't remember too many "blimp" heavyweights...huge, poorly conditioned 250+ pounders... the heavies of the 1960 time were better physical specimens. Floyd was light for a heavy - by today's standards. Liston was bigger - but in very good condition, well tuned when at his peak.
3: Of course, there weren't hundreds of "world" champions....and most people had little regard for the "super" or "junior" welter, lightweight etc divisions. The "classic eight" divisions were very much the order of the day (like featherweight-lightweight-welter, middle, etc) and the alphabet boys were few and far between. Struggling to remember the detail, but I'm not sure the WBC was actually in existence at that time.... I
remember mainly the WBA and the NY Commission.
4: Politically.... Kennedy won the US Election, the Cold War was at its height, and most people dreaded the outbreak of a nuclear war....which probably prevented one ever happening! (But we won't open a political thread on a Boxing Forum!) As I said at the start, I didn't live in the US - but wished I had, and I still spend as much time there as I can these days.
5: Do I have a view that 1960 (and the sixties in general) was a golden era in boxing, life in general, etc...?? Not really... different decades bring new experiences, new fighters. Elvis gave way to The Beatles (only to come back with a storm in 2004/05!), Patterson and Liston gave way to Ali and Frazier... and time moves on....
OK, best get out to work for the day!
J
As far as the boxing and a few other things went, a few thoughts....
1: Live TV coverage hadn't reached anything like it is these days, so attendances at the big fights were much bigger as a result. Plus a large percentage of the population actually knew who the fighters were.... though that was before Hispanic and Asain fighters became such a dominant force in the game, and most of the top guys were American. Plus boxing was a popular sport in schools over here.... whereas today it's virtually banned. (So the kids go out on the street and take out their aggression there....great progress!)
2: There's always a temptation to think that the fighters of that era were better than today's crew... but that's too simple. Like, Hagler would have been a champion in any era, so too would Ray Robinson, Erik Morales etc etc. However, I don't remember too many "blimp" heavyweights...huge, poorly conditioned 250+ pounders... the heavies of the 1960 time were better physical specimens. Floyd was light for a heavy - by today's standards. Liston was bigger - but in very good condition, well tuned when at his peak.
3: Of course, there weren't hundreds of "world" champions....and most people had little regard for the "super" or "junior" welter, lightweight etc divisions. The "classic eight" divisions were very much the order of the day (like featherweight-lightweight-welter, middle, etc) and the alphabet boys were few and far between. Struggling to remember the detail, but I'm not sure the WBC was actually in existence at that time.... I
remember mainly the WBA and the NY Commission.
4: Politically.... Kennedy won the US Election, the Cold War was at its height, and most people dreaded the outbreak of a nuclear war....which probably prevented one ever happening! (But we won't open a political thread on a Boxing Forum!) As I said at the start, I didn't live in the US - but wished I had, and I still spend as much time there as I can these days.
5: Do I have a view that 1960 (and the sixties in general) was a golden era in boxing, life in general, etc...?? Not really... different decades bring new experiences, new fighters. Elvis gave way to The Beatles (only to come back with a storm in 2004/05!), Patterson and Liston gave way to Ali and Frazier... and time moves on....
OK, best get out to work for the day!
J