Good interview. Patterson was a great guy. Whenever I see him, in or out of the ring, I think, "this guy's not a real heavyweight, how did he even weigh 190 ?" he's got the bone structure of a big middleweight or a light-heavy at most. He looks slight, small joints etc.
Poor old Floyd. Towards the end he had Alzheimers and had not much of an idea of what was going on. One of the true gentlemen of the game. RIP champ
58 year old Floyd nut-hugger here. Big sports fan across the board but boxing (and baseball) have always been my faves (well...boxing until the mid-90's when it self-destructed) Floyd Patterson is my favorite athlete of all-time. As a 6-7 year old around 1960, dad told me how great he was and how he carried himself as a gentleman and champion. Dad and my uncle went downtown (Indy) in Sept. 62 to watch the first Floyd/Sonny fight on closed circuit TV. Against Mom's wishes, Dad woke me up to tell me Floyd had gotten KO'd in the 1st round. I cried myself to sleep. He fought his way back to contention, only to lose to Ali in Vegas (65). A year later, I pick up the sports page to find Henry Cooper face down in a puddle with Floyd standing over him. He's BACK! Still think he should have, with his talent which he didn't always call upon, went 3-0-0 in the Quarry-Quarry-Ellis trifecta. Inactive for 2 years following the Ellis scrap. A big win over Bonavena to set up his last fight, a rematch with Ali. His cut, swelling eye led to a stoppage but he won rounds and was giving "The Greatest" all he could handle till the end. Great fighter, great man. I'm welling up with tears just writing this. Blessings to all fans here at ESB.
Lovely post mate and great memories. :good One wonders whether this tiny heavyweight gets sold a bit short nowadays. P4P he never rates a mention but seeing as this little guy who (correct me if I'm wrong) only made 200 pounds once was heavyweight champ and gave some bloody good younger fighters all they good handle when he was over 30 perhaps his standing all time needs to be reevaluated. He was a rare talent and deserves to be remembered not just for his conduct and sportsmanship but for his outstanding ability imo.
