Patterson met one-time pal Tommy Jackson in a box off for the right to meet defeated HW title challenger Archie Moore in a fight to replace the retired Marciano as champion of the world. If there was to be a fourth fighter nominated to box Moore in an additional semi-final, who do you think would have got the nod? Any wildcards around? Could they have dug up a white guy? Anyone you think would have troubled, or beaten Moore?
A couple of 'left field' options; the European champion was the pretty ordinary Italian Franco Cavicchi. At least a Moore win over him, would of given the illusion of a 'world' title eliminator. Another option, which with hindsight is fun, but at the time was not really on the table. Johansson had just fought his first 10 rounder in early 56... But as well as being very 'raw', he came with the baggage of being known (wrongly) as a bit of a dog after the 52 Olympics.
True. Valdes **** him up majorly, which is why Marciano opted to fight Grandfather Moore (after Grandfather Walcott, Grandfather Louis, Charles' Husk, Fatty Cockell and Nobody LaStarza). But still, Moore beat him twice. The division was incredibly thin for a couple of years.
I always thought Moore got the nod because of his 15 round victory over Valdez. Now my curiosity is piqued, so I have to research this.
Moore vs. Johanssen would have been interesting while it lasted. Would you agree that Moore probably wins by KO?
Yes, Johansson was not ready to step up to that level yet. But it would not of been too surprising (with hindsight), to see the Ol' Mongoose having to get off the floor, to get the job done.
Why not Liston? He had already beaten a decent Summerlin twice, avenged the loss to Marshall, and beaten a 15-1 Brtko prior to 1956.