KOJOE90 wrote:
I always found it quite remarkable/admirable that Floyd Patterson was able to come back from those two crushing defeats from Sonny Liston and continue to compete at the highest level. When you think that many felt Patteron lacked confindence in himself it's even more remarable.
How many Champions have comeback from two consectutive crushing first round KO's and go on to beat many a top fighter and almost win a version of the title back? I can't think of one of hand.
Patterson was a rematkable fighter and complex man in someways.
The Liston that Patterson fought was one of the best heavyweights ever to get into a ring.
Patterson was no bum, and Liston's feat of KOing him TWICE IN A ROW in the first round is remarkable.
The first Liston fight was the first time Patterson had ever been down for a count of ten.
In their second fight, Liston repeated the ten count win in one round.
That is one of the more remarkable feats in the history of heavyweight boxing.
Patterson was never down for a count of ten in any other fights he had.
Patterson said that Liston was by far the heaviest hitter he ever faced (as did Zora Folley).
Take a look at the powerful right hand Patterson lands right on the button after the first knockdown in his second fight with Liston.
Liston had no reaction other than to hit Patterson and knock him down again.
Patterson also said repeatedly that he did not believe the Ali "knockout" of Liston was legitimate, since he had fought both fighters twice and knew well Liston's capabilities and knew from the experience of two fights with Ali that Ali was not a puncher.
Henry Cooper said that the Patterson he fought (long after Patterson's best years) had faster hands and hit harder than the Ali he fought.
Patterson knocked Cooper out for a count of ten, while Ali, in his two fights with Cooper, never scored a knockdown against Cooper.
Patterson's development as a fighter was messed up by circumstances when he won the heavyweight title too soon--in order to take advantage of the opportunity left by Marciano's retirement.
He was terrific in his KO of Archie Moore to win the vacant title and then in his first defense, against Hurricane Jackson.
From there he stop developing as his manager, Cus D'Amato, refused to let him fight his top contenders (Machen and Folley).
That was a crime against Machen and Folley.
Patterson fought better in the second Johanssen fight than he had for a while since winning the title.
Patterson's pet punch, a left hook thrown as he rose from a crouch, was unique in the history of boxing. He got tremendous power into it.
That is the punch he floored Moore with from out of nowhere.
That is also the punch he knocked Johanssen down with in their 2nd fight.
With his sore back, it was nowhere to be seen in his title fight with Ali.
The only other fighter I have ever seen who threw the same rising from a crouch left hook that Patterson at his best did was Teo Cruz when he knocked down Carlos Ortiz during the fight where Cruz won the lightweight title from Ortiz.
Gene Tunney gave Patterson as an example of a fighter who won a title too soon in his career,
which resulted in his failing to develop as a fighter as he would have otherwise.
That was in a RING magazine interview shortly before Tunney died.
