Floyd Patterson V Cleveland Williams?

Both guys could do each other in, neither were defensively smart or durable… glass cannons.

 

Going with Patterson, but those explosive, unpredictable leads from Williams could drop Patterson or stop him if he times Patterson’s head movement.

 

I would favor Patterson but a Williams victory is not out of the question. Floyd would have to be at the top of his game and even then he might kiss the canvas once or twice

 

Williams is the bigger puncher of the two but for once Patterson will have the sturdier chin inside the ring.
Floyd was much more refind and he managed to achieve results in his career. He should be able to overcome a limited slugger but he might need a rematch to get through this one.

 

Patterson had the sturdier chin? Their respective performances against Liston says otherwise.

 

I agree, I don’t think Williams had a bad chin at all, yes he was stopped a few times, and that’s where the reputation comes from, but it was only against people who were some of the biggest punchers in history, then literally Muhammad Ali, then some guys when he was washed up, still even going the distance with Chuvalo when he (Williams) was completely washed up.

Satterfield, people likely think it indicates Williams chin is weak because Satterfield was a natural light heavyweight, but Satterfield carried his power well and was still a devastating puncher at heavyweight, and Williams was completely inexperienced.

Sonny Liston was Sonny Liston, no explanation needed there, and Williams even took some bombs before going down, indicating his chin is above average.

Muhammad Ali could hit you with punches you can see coming, he was also a relatively bad style matchup for Williams and most importantly, this was after Williams was shot (literally shot) lost loads of weight, had to regain it and had a bit of inactivity, he must have been weakened physically at that point from all of that. I his prime I fancy him to last a lot longer against Ali and maybe even go the distance or maybe get stopped on his feet at most.

In summary, most aren’t looking at the context of his stoppage/knockout losses, which can often tell a completely different story, they’re only looking at the number on the record.

 

Their performance against Ali would say otherwise also.
Williams was in a better mental space against Sonny, he believed in his power and forced Liston to respect him, before Liston fired back and cracked his chin with ease.
Patterson was a dead man walking against Liston.
The Johansen and Quarry fights are a good indicators of Floyd hanging on with guys who could spark him. Williams tended to break down easily in comparison, never showed any kind of durability, which was his Achilles heel, as limited punchers can't get very far without an ability to trade blows.

 

When Williams was (literally) shot? OK.

There were moments in the fights (or at least the first one)where Williams was taking shots and not only wasn't hurt, but gave better than he got. Williams defense also wasn't nearly as good as Patterson's so Liston hit him with far more leather. Despite this, Williams lasted longer.

Ingo bounced Patterson off the matt like a basketball in their first fight, didn't land much of substance in their 2nd, and despite being woefully out of shape in their third bout, knocked him down multiple times.

Interesting. Can you show me anywhere near Williams' prime where he was stopped by anyone with power near the caliber of Quarry? Someone should've told Williams to break down against Machen who was quite frankly a far more proven puncher than Quarry who has stoppages over all of 3 top ten opponents. A coked up Thad Spencer who'd never win another fight, Mac Foster who never beat a single top tenner in his life yet miraculously became number one contender, and Shavers which was admittedly impressive.

Yeah, imagine the nerve of a guy with “no durability” making it all the way to #2 contender. Must’ve been a clerical error in the rankings, huh?

 

Top-tier post.

 

Williams should win on paper, but somehow, I see Patterson pulling this off. Patterson stops him.

 

Patterson but it's a dangerous fight for him, Williams is the absolute livest of underdogs.

 

Patterson had a bad back in the first, and the second was his last fight.

That's why I mentioned mentality. WIlliams was at least confident and willing, Patterson was already mentally defeated.

The fact that Williams wasn't stopped in an arbitrary time frame of his career means he wasn't fighting people who would stop him in that time frame anyway.
It's understandable that a guy gets stopped when he is green, or when fighting a top ten all time puncher, or the greatest HW or when injured and past his prime, but Williams doesn't have anything other than those losses.
At least Floyd has the Johansen and Quarry fights to offset his bad performances, along with a multitude of wins over ranked contenders in contrast to Williams who has a draw with Machen.