I saw both fights, the first one in 1965 with my dad and uncle at a local high school gym, it was on closed circuit television, the second one in 1972, I saw the taped delayed broadcast on ABC's Wide World Of Sports at a friend's apartment. Thanks for the post my friend.
I've thought of that, too, given how aggressive Spinks was against Ali and how aggressive Floyd could be. It would've been interesting to see Floyd against the Feb. 78 Ali. Then again, who knows how Floyd would've looked at 42. But he always kept himself in shape, even in retirement. So, you never know. Floyd and Leon were of similar size. But Leon was almost 20 years younger (LOL).
I have always respected and admired Floyd Patterson's talent, he was a great man and fighter, especially coming back from such a defeat at the hands of Ingo in 1959, to comeback a year later to knockout Johansson cold with that left hook to reclaim the title. He was a good tough challenger during Muhammad Ali's first reign as champion.
Young would be an excellent matchup. Sizzling hand speed of a high iq pressure fighter vs a defensive wizard with good head movement. Could go either way. Patterson beats spinks in a thrilling war. Possibly fight of the decade candidate. Man that would have been a great bout. Norton beats Patterson on points or stops him late. Perhaps a prime Patterson would have done better, but Norton was at his peak around this time and held significant advantages in reach, strength, and weight and a style that would have been potentially frustrating for patterson. Holmes could be a good fight. Up until that point, Holmes' only elite win was Shavers who was dangeorus but 1 dimensional. A veteran like Patterson may have been able to pull something off, but not likely. So ironically, if Patterson had faced Ali instead of Spinks and won, we could have gotten a very interesting late 70's era. Certainly more entertaining than an old chubby Ali just laying on the ropes talking trash and making goofy faces, throwing jabs and flurries, and clinching his way to ugly lopsided decisions.
Patterson was a Fabulous man. His autobiography is a must read for any serious Boxing fan. One of the admirable blokes to grace our sport.
A third Ali-Patterson bout in 1978 was something we were all mercifully spared. While it was true that Muhammad had declined drastically since 1972 when their second bout took place,42 year old Floyd's five year inactivity would have done him no good at all in this scenario.
I remember Muhammad being interviewed just before the second bout. I think it was in his dressing room - he was asked if he'd had any advice for a kid who wanted to take up boxing,and as usual,he was an interviewers dream. His reply was something like "Be a doctor.....be a lawyer. Wear a suit. Sports make you smell and sweat. Be a thinker not a stinker !" As a lot will no doubt recall,this line was used by the Apollo Creed character in the first Rocky film.
I wonder if the conversation might have gone as follows. King "Hey, Mohammed! You outclassed the bum, huh?" Ali glares at king menacingly and steps towards him King "Touch me and I'll sue" King "Come on, punk!. Touch me and I'll sue....."
