BoxRec

Who wins it & why? Floyd at 22, 27, or 32.

No one has weighed in yet, so I will. In 57 Floyd was faster & more aggressive. I think he relied more on his natural talent & youthful exuberance. He was like greased lightning. D'amato claimed he had the speed then to beat an Ali. As he got older, he became more deliberate. He didn't take the chances, he once did. He got stronger & by 1960 became a full fledged heavyweight. He lost some of the spontaneity he once displayed. He now was a more experienced , thinking fighter. What should have been the prime of his career, in 1962 at age 27 was waisted because he was only fighting Liston at this time. The Patterson from 64 on, though still very good, showed only flashes of what he once was. He stayed with the topliners right till the end of his career because of his fanatical dedication to the sport. The older you get the harder you have to work, & Floyd was a trojan. Others may disagree, but I think the 57 model was the best. Speed was what separated Floyd from the pack.

the peak floyd patterson was the 194lb 1964 patterson who demolished eddie machen in 12 one sided rounds.

As Boring & Pointless Threads go, we might have a new champion!!

I take my cyber-hat off to you sir!

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:the peak floyd patterson was the 194lb 1964 patterson who demolished eddie machen in 12 one sided rounds.

How come Brock? More experience, motivation or strength? He certainly wasn't as quick.
As for "Overhand Right", The thread caught your attention, enough to read & respond to. There are a lot of Patterson fans out their, who aren't so bored.

The prime Floyd Patterson has to be the guy who destroyed Ingemar Johansson in 1960 he is just perfect in that fight.

Patterson of 55-57 was much better than Patterson of 62-67... This isn't even questionable.

Patterson had a lot of highs and lows, so it's hard to say when he was at this best.
As for the choices from the original topic, at first it would seem when he was 27,, since he would have had a lot of experience but wouldn't have been physically been past it. However, if you look at his record in 1962, he fought just once and was knocked out by Liston in the first round. It would have been interesting if he would have had atleast one other fight that year.

He seems to have been a little better in 1957 than 1967; he had looked good in beating Tommy Jackson and seemed to be improving.