Pinklon Thomas Trevor Berbick Greg Page James Tillis Bonecrusher Smith Tim Witherspoon Could prime Patterson make it through undefeated or does he drop one along the way or does he lose to them all?
More losses than wins. He handles Tillis pretty easy. Smith is another fairly easy win although he probably visits the canvas, but wins the rounds. He might do pretty well against witherspoon and that cross armed defense to steal a W. Witherspoon would be the favorite but Tim shows up with his B game a lot. Berbick turns it into a mauling physical fight which Floyd isn't winning. Especially if he is fighting with his back on the ropes and/or fighting out of the corner. Page and Thomas box him on the way to decisions. The non DKP fighters might be a better match for Floyd. Weaver is very susceptible early to that Patterson handspeed. Coetzee would be a toss up bout but Floyd could out slick him. Probably visits the canvas though. Cooney would be interesting, But I think Gerry blasts him out while Floyd is coming in---would like Floyd a whole lot more if he could fight backing up better. Another interesting set of bouts would be Leon Spinks---if he had something left. The version that fought Mercado is not beating Patterson. How about a shout for Renaldo Snipes? That junk style of his might just work against Patterson. Snipes' chin keeps him in there ut that sneaky right hand could get the surprise ko.
He may have trouble with Pinky and Tim, the rest he wins. Gun to head he beats Pinky but Tims a toss up
He certainly does not go undefeated in my opinion .. He is not beating Witherspoon and likely Page as well .. He could decision Tillis .. Smith is hit or miss .. He may also outwork Berbick who was much stronger but a mauler more than a slugger .. much like how Floyd beat Chuvalo and Bonavena .. I can see him outworking Thomas too ...
I think he beats all of them, but the two wildcards are Tillis and Thomas. If Tillis shows up in shape and focused he’d have a good chance at beating Patterson, but unfortunately he rarely did. Thomas before he started falling back into his drug habits had the tools to beat Patterson, but I’d still favor Patterson to win, since he was the more consistent fighter and Thomas also had a bad habit of sometimes trying to beat guys at their own game, which would get him destroyed against Patterson.
Also just kind of a typical I ran out of HW threads so now I'm really reaching much like another poster does on here IMHO
I always kind of feel bad pickin against Floyd, got a lot of respect for the man. But I see some in the list beating him tbh. Witherspoon and Thomas I see doing it, whilst Smith can be big and dangerous. Greg Page is another Fighter at his best that is slightly underestimated. Berbick, could he over power Floyd? Could Tillis out point him? Im not a 100 pcent certain that Floyd beats even half of em to be honest
Floyd Patterson had good hand speed, fought out of a peek a boo style, and had decent movement. He has tasted the canvas quite a bit in his career, only to keep on fighting, except against Ali, in 1965, Johannson, in 1959, Liston, 1962, and 1963. But he defeated hard hitters like George Chuvalo, 1965, and Oscar Bonavena, 1972. Pinklon Thomas and Greg Page would beat Floyd because of their jab, lateral movement. If Witherspoon shows up in poor condition, Floyd by decision. Patterson takes both Trevor Berbick and James Quick Tillis, by decision. He might have trouble with Bonecrusher Smith, but could possibly beat him, based on Floyd's speed. Floyd had a lot of his problems because he was very light compared to his competition. Also his size did not help his cause. He was a good athlete and man.
For Patterson vs Witherspoon, if the best version of Tim shows up, my heart says Patterson but my head says Witherspoon.
As for Smith, I would probably have picked him over Patterson until I remember that he lost to Marvis Frazier, which I still don't see how he managed that. Due to styles and Smith's punching power, it seems like it would have been an open and shut case.
Witherspoon shows up like he did for Holmes, and it's 50-50. Patterson beats the rest without too many issues imo.
I can't see Floyd ,(,at his best,) going less than 5-1. Witherspoon is one of those guys you start evaluating with the word ,,potentially.
If it came down to just being in shape to fight Patterson probably would go undeafeated against this group. He probably loses to Witherspoon, Thomas, and Berbick if their in shape . The rest he outworks. But all of them had the ability to beat Patterson if they were in shape.
