Page 1 of 1
Floyd Patterson
Posted: 27 Dec 2018, 12:37
by dalcumly
Any of our America based members who had a particular interest in Floyd Patterson back in the day ?
Re: Floyd Patterson
Posted: 27 Dec 2018, 19:30
by Scypion
I was a big fan of Patterson. I watched both of his fights with Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson and his title fight with Archie Moore. Patterson was a natural light heavyweight, but Floyd and his manager, Cus D'Amato were both looking to Patterson becoming the Heavyweight Champion.
I read that D'Amato fed Floyd steaks every night to bulk him up so he would eventually be a heavyweight. Still, when Floyd fought Jackson in the heavyweight eliminator to fight Moore for the title, he only weighed 178 lbs. I was impressed with Patterson in that Jackson fight, even though Floyd fought with a broken right hand. I did not think that anyone could beat him.
That may have been true (Floyd unbeatable) until guys like Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay came along, who were both much bigger than Patterson, and could fight. Then there was Ingemar Johansson, who was bigger than Patterson, and had a devastating right hand punch that people had a tendency to underrate. Ingemar kept it pretty much hidden during training and surprised Floyd with it in their first fight. Patterson was well aware of "Ingo's Bingo" in their 2nd and 3rd fights and knocked out Johansson in both of those fights to more than avenge Floyd's loss in their first fight.
As a light heavyweight, Floyd might have been unbeatable, but the heavyweight division was where the big money was, and the Heavyweight Championship was the most prized title in boxing.
Re: Floyd Patterson
Posted: 28 Dec 2018, 12:58
by chrisjs1985
I'm 33 so everything I've seen and read about Patterson have obviously been years after the fact. He's one of my three favorite heavyweight champions of all-time. Was he a great heavyweight? No, but he was a damn good one. Was he a great fighter? Yes, I think he was but he competed far above his natural weight just as the heavyweights were getting bigger. As scypion says he was a natural light heavyweight and he may well have been one of the all-time greats at that weight class. He'd have had to beat Archie Moore for the title around the time he actually thrashed him for the heavyweight title and then he'd have likely came face to face with the likes of Harold Johnson, Willie Pastrano, Jose Torres, Dick Tiger and Bob Foster had he maintained the same type of longevity (as he had as a heavyweight). A great era no doubt but he had the ability to best most of them. He probably came 20 years late to be a great heavyweight and perhaps 20 years later he'd have spent the bulk of his career as a light heavyweight great.
Anyway that's all mythical. We he did as a heavyweight in my view is often overlooked and thus he has become massively underrated. He lost twice apiece (badly) to Sonny Liston and to Muhammad Ali. Hardly a shame given how much smaller he was and the fact that Ali is one of the top two in history and Liston is a top 10 and strictly on a head-to-head would probably rate no lower than 4th or 5th. The other losses? A KO loss to Ingemar Johansson which he twice avenged by emphatic KO's and two extremely controversial decisions in fights he really won vs. Jerry Quarry and Jimmy Ellis. Those two should have gone his way and the Ellis one actually would have made him the first man to ever win the title three times. His losses aren't bad and his wins are good. He beat a lot of good fighters too like Moore, Machen, Bonavena, Johannson, Chuvalo etc;
As a fighter he was fast, his hand speed was blazing, he had a great left hand, particularly with the left hook, good footwork and a ton of heart. He was a classy gentleman too and really a credit to the sport of boxing. His achievements are vast as well. Olympic gold medal winner, was the youngest man to ever win the heavyweight title for 30 years and is still the youngest lineal champion ever, the first man to regain the title after losing it, Ring Magazine fighter of the year twice and overall he made as many lineal defenses as both Holyfield and Tyson combined did, reigned longer than Marciano and won more title fights than Dempsey.
Re: Floyd Patterson
Posted: 28 Dec 2018, 13:09
by oogiebe
chrisjs1985 wrote: ↑28 Dec 2018, 12:58
I'm 33 so everything I've seen and read about Patterson have obviously been years after the fact. He's one of my three favorite heavyweight champions of all-time. Was he a great heavyweight? No, but he was a damn good one. Was he a great fighter? Yes, I think he was but he competed far above his natural weight just as the heavyweights were getting bigger. As scypion says he was a natural light heavyweight and he may well have been one of the all-time greats at that weight class. He'd have had to beat Archie Moore for the title around the time he actually thrashed him for the heavyweight title and then he'd have likely came face to face with the likes of Harold Johnson, Willie Pastrano, Jose Torres, Dick Tiger and Bob Foster had he maintained the same type of longevity (as he had as a heavyweight). A great era no doubt but he had the ability to best most of them. He probably came 20 years late to be a great heavyweight and perhaps 20 years later he'd have spent the bulk of his career as a light heavyweight great.
Anyway that's all mythical. We he did as a heavyweight in my view is often overlooked and thus he has become massively underrated. He lost twice apiece (badly) to Sonny Liston and to Muhammad Ali. Hardly a shame given how much smaller he was and the fact that Ali is one of the top two in history and Liston is a top 10 and strictly on a head-to-head would probably rate no lower than 4th or 5th. The other losses? A KO loss to Ingemar Johansson which he twice avenged by emphatic KO's and two extremely controversial decisions in fights he really won vs. Jerry Quarry and Jimmy Ellis. Those two should have gone his way and the Ellis one actually would have made him the first man to ever win the title three times. His losses aren't bad and his wins are good. He beat a lot of good fighters too like Moore, Machen, Bonavena, Johannson, Chuvalo etc;
As a fighter he was fast, his hand speed was blazing, he had a great left hand, particularly with the left hook, good footwork and a ton of heart. He was a classy gentleman too and really a credit to the sport of boxing. His achievements are vast as well. Olympic gold medal winner, was the youngest man to ever win the heavyweight title for 30 years and is still the youngest lineal champion ever, the first man to regain the title after losing it, Ring Magazine fighter of the year twice and overall he made as many lineal defenses as both Holyfield and Tyson combined did, reigned longer than Marciano and won more title fights than Dempsey.
Nice post Chris!
