Floyd Patterson in the 80's

I think he was a great fighter in his prime, his head movement and hand speed are both phenomenal. He also has decent power and footwork. He's also one of my favorite boxers, love that in-and-out style.
By the way he got man handled by Liston, it just makes me think he would fail to most super-heavyweights. But, if Patterson had the same advantages as a guy like Wladimir Klitschko has, then he would probably be more muscular and bigger, with the weight training and such. But one would think that in some fantasy matchups, with the same advantages as the modern heavys, he would probably be a beast.
I liked his fight against Chuvalo, that really displayed his hand speed and movement, as well as his sportsmanship when Chuvalo hit him behind the head multiple times.

 

Patterson was down more times than any other HW champ (20 times!)... BUT in most of these fights he got up and went on to KO his opponent!

He was down 9 times in 3 fights vs. Johansson but he went 2-1 (2) vs. Johansson.

He was down 4 times vs. Liston in their 2 fights. He went 0-2 vs. Liston and was stopped in the 1st round both times.

Ali couldn't put him down in their two fights. Jimmy Ellis, Henry Cooper, Eddie Machen, Archie Moore and Yvon Durelle couldn't drop him either.

Quarry put him down once each time they fought (D10 and LMD12) but Patterson also dropped Quarry once. Patterson was past prime in these fights.

That's 15 knockdowns right there... any other time Patterson was down (5 more times I think) he went on to win, usually by KO.

Patterson was fast and had good power... maybe the best HW left hook pre-Frazier? He used a peek-a-boo defense. 6' with a 72" reach and about 185-190Lbs. at his best. He did carry up to 195-200Lbs. quite well though.

So, Patterson vs. the 80's HWs excluding Holmes and Tyson... here goes-

WBA- Tate, Weaver, Dokes, Coetzee, Page, Tubbs, Witherspoon, Smith

WBC- Thomas, Berbick

IBF- M. Spinks, Tucker

 

Patterson would have a good chance vs. any of these guys. I would favor him over any of them.

His biggest problems would be vs. M. Spinks, Witherspoon, and Dokes IMO.

 

I know this is off topic, but did you lose an avatar bet or something?

 

He would have done well because of his speed. The punchers may have troubled him. Thing was guys that could punch were not consistent such as Witherspoon,Page,Coetzee, and Weaver may have been too much but I can also see Patterson out hustling them because of there poor work rate and landing a lot because of his speed. Weaver would have been tough, Pinklon Thomas and Tate had a short window. I think Floyd presents a problem for Holmes, but not sure he could pull it off but his speed and good power combined would be better than all of Holmes defenses. Patterson was a better heavyweight than Michael Spinks but I think he would have trouble with a puncher with a good work rate like Weaver but its not to say Floyd could not outbox Weaver or hurt him. Floyd had a shot vs Holmes, a good one.

 

Dokes may have given Patterson some trouble because of his speed, but the longer the fight lasted, Patterson's chances of winning increase.