Not talking absolute peak here, but what year do you think marked the end of Floyd's best period as a heavyweight? What year did he become noticeably inferior to his prime version?
He dominated Henry Cooper in 1966 and gave young Jerry Quarry all he could handle in '67. He fought an excellent fight against prime Ellis in 1968 when Floyd was 33, then he didn't meet a competitive opponent until Bonavena in 1972. He got the decision against Oscar in the Garden where he had always performed well, and where they adored him -- but this was a soporific contest in which he didn't look sharp. It had always been important to Floyd to excite the crowd, but during those four intervening years (1968-72) he lost something. He, himself, said he started to lose his passion for boxing when he fell in love with his second wife. Then I think he stuck around waiting for a second chance at Ali or a third highly unlikely one with Liston. He looked pretty good in his final match in 1972 but was overmatched by an out-of-shape Ali.
Immediately after the second Johansson fight. He was never as good afterward. He enjoyed a one-fight peak.
I don’t think Floyd ever reached that point. IMO he was the best he ever was the last five years of his career, he simply didn’t have the tools to deal with the ATGs who were coming onto the scene.
It's kinda of tricky in my opinion as Floyd seemed to have his toughest opposition (Liston excluded) post title and biggest wins later in his career ... I like the Chuvalo fight, the Copper fight, the Machen fight, the Quarry bouts, the Ellis fight and the Bonavena fight .. yes he looked bad in the first Ali fight ( more competitive in his career finale ) and was blown out by Liston but he showed based on matchups he was not just a terrific fighter but a hell of a heavyweight for a guy that could have stayed a small cruiserweight ...
Probably some time in the late 60's. Hard to say since Floyd's decline was very gradual. His handspeed was still terrific in his last fight and his reflexes still seemed sharp. Sure, not the bounce and dynamism he once had, but he didn't look a different fighter which many speedsters did in their late 30's at that time. I think he was peaking around the time he faced Liston. 27 with a good amount of experience, not any outdrawn wars and the confidence of having avenged his only HW loss with two KO's.
Quarry and Ellis are the only guys Patterson lost to he could have beaten at his best and those fights were close and he also could have won them at that time with a little more fortune. Guess in 1968 or 1969 when he was 33 or 34? Only guys like Charles and Jimmy Young who are overly reliant on speed really start seriously declining as they hit 30. Its hard to blame losses to Ali and Liston on being old for 3 of those losses he very clearly wasn't. And his 1972 loss to Ali was his best fight of those 4. After that fight Ali said "Patterson is a great, great fighter. I thought he'd be nothing, but he surprised me. I didn't knock him out. I didn't get him on a TKO. All I did was close his eye". This implies that Ali perceived the Patterson he fought in 72 as better than the one in 1965. And the scorecards would seen to agree with him one card having them level and another having Patterson down one. If Patterson was so much better at 30 Ali wouldn't say "I thought he'd be nothing" when thinking about that version.
Eh - I like Patterson but he was always thereabouts as good as Quarry, his prime against Ingo was his best sometime after that he fought a different way… similar to Old Foreman he wasn’t thriving in this new era and roll over into the late 60s he was fighting the smaller guys and B tier fighters getting by on experience unless it was for a lot of marbles he wouldn’t take on the top guys, that was where the result was expected. His prime was where you’d expect… 25-29