Suppose Floyd Patterson gets stripped of his title in 1962 for not fighting Sonny Liston.

I think Liston would still win, how im not sure but he was determined. Afterwards he gets lax in training and is susceptible to being upset.

I think the real question here is what happens to Patterson? He voluntarily gives up his title, doesn't retire and continues fighting. The closest precedent I can think of is Floyd drawing the...hmmm let's say ill repute line and there is another heavyweight title created similar to the Jack Johnson era but instead of skin color its on some moral reasoning.

I would think eventually Ali would unify these two separate titles.

 

Machen would never beat Liston in a million years. He failed to get past Liston’s gatekeeper in Williams.

I see Liston adjusting to Machen’s style and knocking him out late. Especially if Machen is more aggressive.

 

A fair few assumptions there, but I will roll with them.

I suspect that Liston would have won again, and this time it would have been by stoppage.

I think that Liston could have adjusted in a rematch, while Machen had played all his cards to survive the first fight.

 

Machen did pretty well against Liston fighting one handed. I wouldnt rule out an upset. I also wouldnt call Williams Liston's gatekeeper. That would entail Williams was standing in the way of all the guys coming up and seeing as how he rarely ever faced much less beat anyone threatening its pretty hard to call him someone's gatekeeper. One wonders how the Williams-Machen bout would have gone if it wasnt fought in Williams' backyard. The old adage is that if you get a draw in a guys hometown you basically won. Regardless of how Swag tries to re-interpret his man crushes press reports on the Machen-Williams bout the fact remains it was a slow draw. Machen has a much a better resume than Williams.

 

Excellent post my thoughts exactly.

 

Liston would have to be favored. In 1962 he was still very much a force

 

Liston wins but this time he kos him. Slightly behind on points, he gets Eddie in the 6 th round.
Some proclaim Floyd as the true lineal champ.
Ring mag keeps him as their champ and awards him with a belt.
A war of words breaks out between Liston and Floyd s team as to who is the real champ.

 

Liston stops Machen late in the fight. Sonny's first defence is against Floyd Patterson and knocks him out in one. History restored to it's original timeline

 

I agree with what some of the others have said. I also think Liston KO's Machen in their 2nd fight. Ring does indeed most probably hold the line for Patterson. This leaves Patterson as the RING/Lineal Champion and Liston as The Unified Belts Holder (WBA. WBC, and NYSAC, or at least 2 of them, if 1 holds the line for Patterson, along with RING). All Liston and Patterson have to do is wait a bit, taunt each other a little about who's really the Champion, and THAT sets up a HUGE money fight, too huge for Patterson and his team to pass up, no matter what anybody else says. "THE BATTLE OF THE CHAMPIONS," another "Fight of The Century" type affair. From there, as others have said, the timeline's restored.

 

I have always admired Machen and it would have been good to see him get his shot but I don't think he had the snap, crackle and pop to really worry Liston.
Sonny gets to Machen after the 10th and stops him.
The public would demand a Patterson fight to the extent that Floyd has to take it. It's just not in his nature to knock it back. The rest, we know.