New book about Floyd Patterson
Posted: 31 Oct 2008, 15:03
Book Review – Alan H. Levy’s ‘Floyd Patterson. A Boxer and a Gentleman’
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 289 pages, paperback, $35
As I read this book I couldn’t help thinking about a 1931 title written by Nat Fleischer, the late editor and founder of The Ring magazine, about Gene Tunney that carried the subtitle ‘The Enigma of the Ring’, because that title certainly seems to apply more to Floyd Patterson.
As Alan Levy explains in this interesting new biography, the soft spoken and modest man who became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1956 at age 21, and later the first man to regain the title after losing it, not only brought disguises to a number of his fights for use in the event of a loss, he had a habit of helping fighters to their feet after knocking them down, and confessed to being afraid of the sight of his opponents blood.
Levy paints a picture of an extremely sensitive and shy individual, and initially you can’t help but wonder how on earth this man became a fighter. But the author explains that Patterson was also a complex and proud man who loved the solitude and routine of training, as well as the excitement of competition.
Muhammad Ali went out of his way to portray Patterson as an “Uncle Tom” when the pair fought in the mid-1960’s, but the author clearly shows that nothing could be further from the truth, sharing details of Patterson’s involvement in the civil rights movement and his support of the NAACP. Along the way he portrays Patterson as an intelligent and thoughtful individual, who was clearly a man with a lot of integrity and high ideals.
As Levy points out in the books introduction, the last biography written about Patterson was produced in 1962, at a time when Patterson’s career was at an apex. Levy’s book nicely completes the rest of Floyd’s story for us, both in, and out of the ring. .
I learned a lot about Patterson that I wasn’t aware of. For example, what a strong advocate he became in terms of reforms to his former profession as a member of the New York State Athletic Commission. And how generously he gave back to the sport, and numerous other causes and institutions over the course of his life, and how he successfully fueled his competitive drive into his forties by competing in a number of New York marathons.
Patterson passed away in 2006 at age 71. Unfortunately, like a number of his contemporaries, the last few years of his were marked by memory loss and confusion, undoubtedly the result of brain damage suffered from so many blows to the head over his career. The author leaves us with his thoughts concerning additional reforms that he believes are needed for the sport to prevent more from suffering a similar fate.
I found the book to be extremely well researched and written and highly recommend it.
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 289 pages, paperback, $35
As I read this book I couldn’t help thinking about a 1931 title written by Nat Fleischer, the late editor and founder of The Ring magazine, about Gene Tunney that carried the subtitle ‘The Enigma of the Ring’, because that title certainly seems to apply more to Floyd Patterson.
As Alan Levy explains in this interesting new biography, the soft spoken and modest man who became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1956 at age 21, and later the first man to regain the title after losing it, not only brought disguises to a number of his fights for use in the event of a loss, he had a habit of helping fighters to their feet after knocking them down, and confessed to being afraid of the sight of his opponents blood.
Levy paints a picture of an extremely sensitive and shy individual, and initially you can’t help but wonder how on earth this man became a fighter. But the author explains that Patterson was also a complex and proud man who loved the solitude and routine of training, as well as the excitement of competition.
Muhammad Ali went out of his way to portray Patterson as an “Uncle Tom” when the pair fought in the mid-1960’s, but the author clearly shows that nothing could be further from the truth, sharing details of Patterson’s involvement in the civil rights movement and his support of the NAACP. Along the way he portrays Patterson as an intelligent and thoughtful individual, who was clearly a man with a lot of integrity and high ideals.
As Levy points out in the books introduction, the last biography written about Patterson was produced in 1962, at a time when Patterson’s career was at an apex. Levy’s book nicely completes the rest of Floyd’s story for us, both in, and out of the ring. .
I learned a lot about Patterson that I wasn’t aware of. For example, what a strong advocate he became in terms of reforms to his former profession as a member of the New York State Athletic Commission. And how generously he gave back to the sport, and numerous other causes and institutions over the course of his life, and how he successfully fueled his competitive drive into his forties by competing in a number of New York marathons.
Patterson passed away in 2006 at age 71. Unfortunately, like a number of his contemporaries, the last few years of his were marked by memory loss and confusion, undoubtedly the result of brain damage suffered from so many blows to the head over his career. The author leaves us with his thoughts concerning additional reforms that he believes are needed for the sport to prevent more from suffering a similar fate.
I found the book to be extremely well researched and written and highly recommend it.