Floyd faster but Joe was a better all round technician in my view. Plus a better chin which would be the deciding factor here. Walcott by middle/late rounds ko.
JJW - too strong, too savvy, too experienced, with sufficient power to take out the 21 year old Floyd. Difficult to pick a round on this imo, JJW of the first Marciano fight floored the Rock in round 1, if he could floor the Rock, if he landed on Floyd he would do the same...and then some.
Joe by (T)KO? I'll give you that possibility but no way Joe lays out Floyd for a 10'er. We might want to consider styles here. Joe was old yet gave the Rock pure hell in the first bout. Floyd was young and that bobbing and weaving against Archie was a thing of beauty! If anyone thinks a 56 Patterson could, in no way, best a 52 Walcott I think you're deluding yourself. Could go either way.
Excellent match-up. Patterson was young, fast, and powerful in those days. He was virtually undefeated (the loss to Joey Maxim was bullshlt). He had two solid wins over Yvonne Durelle W8 and KO8. He would stop Archie Moore in the 5th round to win the vacant HW World title. He was 35-1 (26) overall and 5-0 (5) going into the first fight with Ingo. Similar in height and reach but Walcott was a little bigger, about 10-15 Lbs. heavier. Walcott was hot and cold thru most of his career but toward the end he may have done his best work. He gave Joe Louis two tough fights (even Louis felt Walcott won their first fight), he went 2-2 (1) vs. Ezzard Charles, and he gave Rocky Marciano hell in their first fight. He was 51-16-2 (32) going into the first fight with Marciano. I'll be back later with my pick.
I'm thinking Floyd. He wasn't as "chinny" as commonly labeled.. You had to be a good puncher to stop him or at least an elite boxer like Ali. He would have had youth on Walcott along with speed and tenacity. Could go either way by I'm giving Patterson the slight edge.
Patterson was down 20 times in his career, that's more than any other HW Champ... but he got up not just to win, but to win by KO in several of his fights. About half of the knockdowns Patterson suffered came in 3 fights with Johansson and 2 fights with Liston. Overall he went 2-3 (2) in these 5 fights. He was stopped by Ali twice (LKOby12 and LKOby7), their rematch was Patterson's last pro fight. Patterson was almost 38 in the rematch and fought well before being stopped in the 7th round. Ali never put Patterson down. Only Johansson, Liston x2, and Ali x2 were able to stop Patterson. A past prime Patterson drew with Jerry Quarry (he even dropped Quarry in this fight) and lost a very close decision to Quarry. Patterson was down 3 times in those 2 fights. While past prime he also lost a very close decision to Jimmy Ellis for the WBA HW title. At age 37 Patterson beat Oscar Bonavena by decision. Patterson was down in the 4th round. 55-8-1 (40) overall and 8-5 (8KOs) in HW World Title fights. He was the first 2x HW World Champ. At age 21 years 10 months and 24 days old he was the youngest to win the HW World Title until Mike Tyson won it at age 20 years 5 months and 23 days old (WBC belt). Tyson unified at age 21 years 1 month and 2 days old, but won the Lineal HW World Title by beating M. Spinks 3 days shy of his 22nd birthday. Tyson was the youngest man to lose the HW World Title (age 23), Patterson was 24. Anyway, Patterson was stopped 5 times in 64 fights as noted above... Walcott was stopped 6 times in 71 fights. Wacott was stopped by Al Ettore LKOby8, Tiger Jack Fox LKOby8, Abe Simon LKOby6, Joe Louis LKOby11, and Rocky Marciano x2 LKOby13 and LKOby1.
