What If Floyd Patterson Had Fought Zora Folley Instead Of Brian London In 1959?

Floyd knocks him out.

 

It would have been a real fight instead of a glorified sparring session. A really competitive scrap and Zora would be in there with a fine chance,and if his right hand found Patterson's chin,he could spring the upset.

 

I like Patterson to win because of his quickness. Folley was a fine technical boxer, but he never looks that fast to me. And I think Patterson was the harder hitter.

Still, Folley would have been a much better match than London.

 

Patterson all day long. As Jason said above, Folley was a fine technical boxer but he didnt have that extra something that Patterson had, that "X" factor. Patterson was faster, more dynamic, hit harder, and frankly was more well rounded. Folley was reactionary. He waited and waited and waited to find a counterpunch. He also didnt have a great chin regardless of what people say about Patterson and I think between Patterson's speed, versatility, and power and Folley's almost lazy approach to fights Patterson would have at the very least outpointed him and Id give him a decent chance of a stoppage. Remember how the London fight came about in the first place. Patterson was signed to fight Johansson, his number one contender, in a big ball park match that summer. Folley had lost his number two rating to Henry Cooper through his chronic inactivity in the ring. Cooper had a signed contract to face Patterson for about $70,000 but Cooper then fought London in a very dramatic and exciting bout which he won despite getting dropped and cut to ribbons. After that fight Cooper demanded DOUBLE what he agreed to fight Patterson and essentially priced himself out of the fight so Patterson instead fought London. Had Folley not lost and Cooper not priced himself out of the fight (and we saw later why he did that) Folley likely would have gotten that title shot and likely would have lost.

 

Are you sure London dropped Coooper in their second fight? Cooper had a nose bleed from the first round to the last and two cuts under his eye,London had puffed and discoloured eyes.Cooper won clearly as I recall and there is no mention of London flooring him in Cooper's autobiography.

 

I think it could have been a good fight and certainly would have lended more credibility to Patterson’s resume than some of the second and third rate opponents he was facing. As for Zora knocking him out I’m skeptical. While Floyd’s chin was shaky, Folley wasn’t a particularly hard puncher either

 

I'd pick Patterson myself but Folley would have some chance certainly more than London had.
Folley was a decent puncher ,he hit hard enough to drop Bonavena. Patterson was dropped by lesser punchers.

 

I certainly agree that Folley would be a better and more appropriate challenger than many of the contenders Patterson actually fought. As much as I like Patterson, some of his defenses were disgraceful

 

To be fair to him he wasn't so cautious once he was just a contender.His opposition later in his career actually took an up turn as regards quality.

 

True. Although by then it was a necessary evil to stay within contention and money making fights

 

5th round, Cooper was dropped to his knee, but arose before ref started the count.

 

Yes, Cooper jumped in with a punch and London landed a left followed by a right swing to the back of Coopers head and then moved out of the way and Cooper went to his knees. He was up immediately and Im not sure if it was even scored.

Cooper was clearly the better of the two but he had his hands well full with London who was on the attack and in his face all the time. The point is that Folley could have had the shot if he could have beaten Cooper and Cooper could have had the shot if he hadnt priced himself out of it, which he did with Chuvalo too. I think Coopers people knew that with his straight up and down style he would have been a chopping block for Patterson (which he was when he finally fought him). No other explanation makes any sense as to why he would go back on a signed contract to challenge for the greatest prize in the sport and demand double what he had already agreed to. Sure he had won the commonwealth and british titles but he couldnt have seriously entertained the idea that those titles alone made him worth double his original asking price. I seriously doubt he made more than the $70,000 he originally agreed to when he defended his domestic titles against Gawie de Klerk in his next fight and he certainly didnt get the opportunity to fight for the HW championship.

 

I think even in the chin department Patterson was superior to Folley, Liston and Ingo were the only guys to blast him out and thats no shame. Cooper, Ingo twice, Bonavena, Quarry, Moore, Ellis, Chuvalo, Ali could all bang as hard as Folley.

 

If you see Wayne Bethea (who was no puncher) nearly knock Folley dead, flat on his back with one punch youd know why Folley fought so conservatively.