Floyd Patterson Appreciation Thread

I agree. Following the two devastating losses to Liston, Floyd’s career went on long after and he picked up some big wins post-title reign. There’s even been some suggestion that he may have deserved the nod against Jimmy Ellis in 1968. If the judging had gone his way Patterson may have been a three time champion.

 

Totally agree, and to make matters worse for him, going into the first Liston defeat, he had received a terrific battering from Ingo, just 4 fights beforehand !

 

I watched that fight a few years ago. He bossed Ellis all the way and absolutely deserved the nod.

 

Yeah I never saw it but you’re one of many now that I’ve heard it from. Picking up the title a third time would have been huge for him. Patterson is a MUCH better fighter than often given credit for

 

“Was I fooling these people all these years?… Was I ever the champion?…”

 

He won it, alright. I absolutely appreciate Patterson - as I said in an earlier thread, he is not the archetype of courage one thinks of, like a Rocky Marciano, or a Joe Frazier. Rather, he is in a way, much more inspiring to me - because he’s open with his mental fragility, with his psychological weaknesses, a man who does not hide his limitations - & yet he overcomes & acquits himself of these shortcomings we all possess, in both victories & losses, in the most dramatic ways. Seven times off the canvas with Johansson to knock him dead in a rematch, enduring through a life & death third bout in which he was close to being wiped out again, facing up to the uncertainty of Liston’s terror once, & then the certainty of it a second time. Took on Ali as the new champion, despite a bad back, without hesitation, & kept fighting contenders all through his later years.

A lot of of so-called tough guys have taken much easier routes in their later careers. Hell, his last fight, twenty years after turning pro, he chose to have against Ali.

There is so much strength to a man often thought of, not incorrectly, as vulnerable, & weak. But he acquitted his character in extraordinary ways without fail, & this ought to be more highlighted than it is.

 

He'd be an entertaining fight with Usyk actually. He brings to the table a lot that the big guys don't and Floyd's better than cruiserweights he cleared out. Nice match.

 

Hi Buddy.
Bravo ! Excellent breakdown of Patterson the man and the, fighter, your insightful and nuanced enlightenment of a very complex fighter is a tour de force of boxing pieces, and without doubt one of the finest I have read in my years on this forum, thanks.
stay safe Ney, chat soon.

 

Appreciated. All credit to Patterson really, though. I’m just noticing what he was doing.

 

I’d pay to see that one.

 

What??? No Oliver McCall???