Floyd Patterson vs. Bill McMurray

Floyd Patterson 197 lbs beat Bill McMurray 209 lbs by KO at 2:37 in round 1 of 10

• Date: 1967-03-30
• Location: Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
• Referee: Buck McTiernan

Patterson didn't even give his little-known opponent time to get started before lowering the boom. Patterson stung McMurray with a long left that dropped the Sacramento, Calif., fighter to his knees, then finished him off moments later with a lightning combination.

"I'm ready to meet Clay," Patterson said, after the bout. "Any date is agreeable to me. I've been waiting a long time for this. I'm going to do the best I can. I hope it is enough to bring me out victorious."

Patterson said he dropped McMurray with a left hook and a short hard right to the head. It came so fast many spectators didn't see it. McMurray reeled with the first blow, then crashed heavily to the canvas as the right landed, his head hitting the ring floor with a loud thud. It took the ring doctors and his handlers several minutes to bring him around.

McMurray never got a chance to land a solid punch against Patterson, who fought out of his familiar peek-a-boo defense. Patterson spent the first 1 1/2 minutes jabbing cautiously while circling McMurray to his right.

A crowd of 5,109 paid $26,114 to see the fight.

• Source: "Floyd Patterson KO's McMurray In 1st Round" The Morning Record (1967, Mar. 31) p 8. [1]

• Matchmaker Don Elbaum, working on behalf of Pittsburgh promoter Archie Litman, stated after the bout that he was bidding for an Ali-Patterson rematch in the Civic Arena on April 25th or 26th before Ali's April 28th induction into the US Army. However, Ali did not fight again for 3 1/2 years after his March 22nd title defense against Zora Folley.