BoxRec

I found the events leading up to that fight absolutely fascinating. It established my interest in boxing. Do you think it possible he could possibly ever had a chance? Later he beat some rugged fighters, but he went into that fight with the wrong attitude, style, & temprament & that's not even taking into account the physical disparities. I know theirs lots of Patterson fans out their. What do you think?

bill.lockhart wrote:I found the events leading up to that fight absolutely fascinating. It established my interest in boxing. Do you think it possible he could possibly ever had a chance? Later he beat some rugged fighters, but he went into that fight with the wrong attitude, style, & temprament & that's not even taking into account the physical disparities. I know theirs lots of Patterson fans out their. What do you think?

No. Patterson had the skills to defeat Liston for sure, but he lacked the mental make-up. If he fought Liston a hundred times, he would be a petrified sacrifice each time the bell rang for round one.

The real question is: could Patterson have ever made it out of round one with Liston? I think he served to have a better chance if he ran the first round and got his bearings. Not like Patterson, however.

Patterson had about as much chance against Liston as a fart in a tornado.

evndrbsn.

Interesting. The mental makeup aside. How do you win against a guy you can' t reach ? If you do somehow get inside, you can't stay there either. A very tough fight to win physically. Do you think Floyd had enough of a punch to get Listons attention? D'amato maintained that was a pre -requisite if a smaller heavyweight was to be successful. He was dead set against the fight, so I can only surmise he didn't think much of Floyd's chances. Floyd was a pretty good puncher, but not in the same class as Liston, however. Mentally, he was a baket case before the fight.
The President, all the leaders of the country coming out for him. He just folded, under the pressure of it all & was unable to show how good a fighter he was. He just planted his feet & waited to get hit. The moth seeking the flame.

Decagon

I do not altogether agree with you. Floyd turned pro as a smaller LH
& won the title from Moore at 182. Up until then he never had to face a severe disadvantage in the weights. He was proud of out fighting
Hurricane Jackson who was a tough & durable fighter, though limited in skill. I have just about all of Floyd's fights on tape, & it seems to me, unless you proved to him that you were the stronger, tougher man he would take the fight to you. His style was neither that of a boxer or a slugger, but a kind of hybrid. In Liston 1 he charged headlong into his doom. Dundee said a bow down fighter would never beat Liston. He was right . Those who did, Marshall, Ali, & Martin were boxers. It seems Floyd's immense pride & need to prove himself were more important to him than winning the fight itself. As if not slugging it out with Liston meant he was afraid. As Howard Cosell said, he was a psychologists dream & a sociologists guinea pig.

I think Floyd, like most boxers had to prove a point. That being he wasn't scared to fight Liston. I think its right to say if the fight hadn't finished so quickly he would have taken a beating. He did have a decent punch though but I don't think this would have been much of a threat to Liston. From the interviews I've seen Floyd was a really decent bloke and it's never nice to see a boxer totaly taken to town. I suppose in the end his pride and brains were left in tack!

Floyd said that he didn't go into a fight with a plan. You never really know what will or won't work until you get in their. Floyd, by bobbing & weaving avoided Listons artillery until he got caught with a right uppercut.
It wasn't the punch that ended the fight , but it set up the ko, he never recovered from that. In the second fight , he started to box, but the first time he got hit, fell into the same pattern. Stayed within range & took a pummeling. Can anyone remember a comparable fight, where the smaller guy, staying on the move, darting in and out was able to win?
I can't help but think D'amato & Florio would have devised a strategy, with film or other means to drive home the point. I know in the 2nd fight, D'amato said , we would have corrected him between rounds, but the guy knocked him out before we could.