Johnny Summerlin, Michigan Heavyweight Was he equal to Floyd Patterson, Archie Moore and Tommy Jackson during this period. A big KO victory over undefeated Zora Folley (18-0-1) in 1955. And half way through the 1956, he was one of the Top 5 Heavyweights. In early 1956, beating a highly-regarded Harold Carter (18-1-2) in one of the vacant Heavyweight Championship Eliminator Bouts. He was 30-4-2 (19 KO's) and right on the cusp of a Title Shot. In early 1956, he was rated the #5 Heavyweight. What went wrong.
He got sick. Grossly underated heavy though, I was absolutely delighted with his performance on film.
Sick,,,,,,,,,as in what,,,, Those 2 losses to Sonny Liston in 1954 didn't really set him back, as in one of Cus D'amato statements, Floyd Patterson and Cus were looking at a possible Chicago or Detroit fight with Johnny Summerlin for 1956, if he got by Bob Satterfield (a bout he should have won).