Floyd Patterson

[dalcumly]

The first fight I ever seen on the TV was the first Patterson/Liston fight - and how sorry I was that Patterson was beaten!
Over the years I've read most and seen a lot of Patterson's career.
In my humble opinion he was one of the most honest and sincere top level boxers, with the utmost integrity. A genuine nice guy.
I've formed a view based on interpreting what I've read and seen regarding both disasters against Liston.
Such was Patterson's integrity, going into the first Liston fight as champion, even though Liston was bigger and probably more powerful, Floyd simply wouldn't fight the way he should have. That is moving round, keeping on his toes, frustrating Liston and taking him to the later rounds. He HAD to fight like the champion and take the fight to Liston - meeting him head on, and we know what happened.
The same thing I think applied to the second fight. Floyd came in heavier hoping that this would allow him to punch it out with Liston, and again he failed.
Patterson was a clever fighter who usually listened to expert advice - D'Amato and Dan Florio - so how else can we explain his tactics with a ' monster' puncher like Liston ?

[hhaehre]

The first fight I ever seen on the TV was the first Patterson/Liston fight - and how sorry I was that Patterson was beaten!
Over the years I've read most and seen a lot of Patterson's career.
In my humble opinion he was one of the most honest and sincere top level boxers, with the utmost integrity. A genuine nice guy.
I've formed a view based on interpreting what I've read and seen regarding both disasters against Liston.
Such was Patterson's integrity, going into the first Liston fight as champion, even though Liston was bigger and probably more powerful, Floyd simply wouldn't fight the way he should have. That is moving round, keeping on his toes, frustrating Liston and taking him to the later rounds. He HAD to fight like the champion and take the fight to Liston - meeting him head on, and we know what happened.
The same thing I think applied to the second fight. Floyd came in heavier hoping that this would allow him to punch it out with Liston, and again he failed.
Patterson was a clever fighter who usually listened to expert advice - D'Amato and Dan Florio - so how else can we explain his tactics with a ' monster' puncher like Liston ?

I'm not sure the tactics were that different compared to other fights he had. Patterson was very fast and technically sound, but he was never one to really dance around much. He would usually exchange quite a bit and got hit plenty at times. He was after all knocked down more than any other hw champion in history. Usually he'd get up and win, but not with Liston. Had he fought Liston 100 times, he would have been knocked out 100 times. Liston was all wrong for him.

[Flump]

The first fight I ever seen on the TV was the first Patterson/Liston fight - and how sorry I was that Patterson was beaten!
Over the years I've read most and seen a lot of Patterson's career.
In my humble opinion he was one of the most honest and sincere top level boxers, with the utmost integrity. A genuine nice guy.
I've formed a view based on interpreting what I've read and seen regarding both disasters against Liston.
Such was Patterson's integrity, going into the first Liston fight as champion, even though Liston was bigger and probably more powerful, Floyd simply wouldn't fight the way he should have. That is moving round, keeping on his toes, frustrating Liston and taking him to the later rounds. He HAD to fight like the champion and take the fight to Liston - meeting him head on, and we know what happened.
The same thing I think applied to the second fight. Floyd came in heavier hoping that this would allow him to punch it out with Liston, and again he failed.
Patterson was a clever fighter who usually listened to expert advice - D'Amato and Dan Florio - so how else can we explain his tactics with a ' monster' puncher like Liston ?

I'm not sure the tactics were that different compared to other fights he had. Patterson was very fast and technically sound, but he was never one to really dance around much. He would usually exchange quite a bit and got hit plenty at times. He was after all knocked down more than any other hw champion in history. Usually he'd get up and win, but not with Liston. Had he fought Liston 100 times, he would have been knocked out 100 times. Liston was all wrong for him.

I would agree with this. I would also say that Patterson was intimidated going in and probably would have struggled to follow a gameplan.

I'd also agree and say Patterson was very dignified man, and a very talented fighter.

[dalcumly]

I hear what your saying but a world heavyweight champion defending his title can't approach the contest in the belief he'll lose. I believe there's always a way to win- the secret is in trying to work out that 'way'.
For instance you don't bang with a 'banger'if he's a huge puncher, and you don't dance with a ballroom dancer if you're flat footed.
Frazier fought the wrong fight with Foreman and the 'right' fight with Ali ( 1971). I'd loved to have known what the pre-fight plan was for both the Liston fights. I just can't for the life of me believe Floyd went into the second Liston fight with the same plan.

[hhaehre]

Frazier fought the wrong fight with Foreman and the 'right' fight with Ali ( 1971).

Yes, but he fought the same fight against both, the same fight he fought all his life. It worked against everyone he faced except Foreman. You can't be what you're not. I'm sure they wanted Floyd to fight a different fight against Liston the second time and I'm sure Floyd wanted it too, but he just couldn't.

[BitPlayer]

He gets sadly overlooked.

[hhaehre]

He gets sadly overlooked.

Patterson was a top 10 fighter for almost his entire career and that's very impressive. He always showed up in shape and never lost focus, a true professional.

[dalcumly]

In modern days lads turning professional get taught to come down off their toes and learn to plant their feet to get more power. Also due to the longer distances they're encouraged to stop wasting energy by 'jumping' about unnecessarily. However Patterson did these things successfully.

[DrDuke]

Patterson was truly a special boxer. Like Mike Tyson's proto-version. Not just their styles were similar for obvious reasons, but also their careers went in a similar way, with fast starts and long struggles to come back after the falls. He is in the top-20 ATG HW list without any doubt, his rivalry with Johansson is a one of the very best, while being underrated. Three action-packed wars with high display of skills, numerous KDs and every time a KO.

[Scypion]

Floyd Patterson was my favorite. I loved to watch him fight. He moved like a smaller man and had very fast hands, with KO power in both hands. When he first won the Heavyweight Championship, he looked like he could beat anybody.

Then the big guys came along, guys that could fight like Liston, Ali, Foreman, and Johansson had a big punch, which people underestimated.

Liston was just too big and strong for Patterson. Floyd could have been one of the greatest light heavyweights ever, but the big money was in the heavyweight division, and Floyd made a lot of money as heavyweight champ.

[Onetimeonly]

In modern days lads turning professional get taught to come down off their toes and learn to plant their feet to get more power. Also due to the longer distances they're encouraged to stop wasting energy by 'jumping' about unnecessarily. However Patterson did these things successfully.

Longer distances?

[dalcumly]

Yes going from 3 round amateur fights up to the pros.