'50 E. Charles vs. '60 F. Patterson... Who the man in a 15 rounder?

Didn't Patterson have a bad back against Ali in 72, or was that the first fight?

 

If Floyd doesn't come into this fight scared like he did against Liston, I could see this being a toe-to-toe war. Perhaps this fight could go either way in a close decision but I'm leaning more towards Floyd. Faster hands and speed kills.

 

I think Patterson could knock down Charles here, but it mightn't happen. I take Patterson in a close decision. He'd slow Ezzard down with some brutal hooks and uppercuts to the body, and might finish it off with a gazelle punch! But I'm leaning towards Patterson in a war.

 

and timing kills speed

 

I think Ezz was more technically proficient, more versatile, and much smarter. Floyd tried slugging it out with Liston, and his inexperience in going the championship distance cost him dearly against Ellis as he over paced himself. (I still think Patterson beat Jimmy though.) If this one goes the championship distance, 1950 Charles, who had gone that limit with Walcott, Maxim and Louis by then, has a huge advantage over 1960 Patterson, who had never gone longer than 12 at that stage. (Again, this is crucial because of Floyd's undue caution and uncertainty in overpacing himself against Ellis. If he'd had previous championship round experience, he would have become a 3X champion in 1968, and there would have been no controversy about it.)

Charles actually outsmarted Moore in their third bout, suckering Archie in with a display of distress. In a reversal of nature, the Cobra then struck out the Mongoose in Ezz's final match before the Baroudi tragedy.

Fitzpatrick I, Marshall II, and Bivins II showed he could get up to win, and even stop the opponent who floored him. He outboxed the masterful Bivins, Maxim, Walcott and Burley, all on more than one occasion. Teddy Yarosz and Oakland Billy Smith were others he won decisions over. In addition to Moore, Satterfield, Violent Ray and Louis were all very respectable punchers he successfully dealt with. In his two wins over Layne, he decked Rex a total of no less than five times.

Ezz was noted as a lethal body puncher. (Not to take away anything from what Floyd did to London and Devil Green.) He decked Moore with a left uppercut to the gut in their introductory tangle, repeated the feat with a left hook to Archie's liver in their second match, and came off the deck to avenge his knockout loss to Marshall in their second fight by crumpling him with a left hook under the heart followed by a right to the midsection as seen here in this rare pre-Baroudi footage:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56fBd7nfmUY[/ame]

Patterson sometimes tended to start slowly, and get caught off balance while squared up, accounting for many of his knockdowns. Aside from Ali I (when his weakened back wilted him to a knee in round five), nobody dropped him in any round later than the fourth (Bonavena). I do think Charles exploits Floyd's early round susceptibility to knockdowns, although not a particularly fast starter himself, and steals an early round or two with a pair of flash KDs. Joey Maxim said after boxing Patterson that, "He punches fairly hard - a jolting puncher, sort of a miniature Archie Moore or Lloyd Marshall,

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" Floyd would not really acquire those smarts until after Liston II, and finally displayed veteran savvy in dealing with Chuvalo and Cooper. 1950 Charles was about as smart as they come.

1950 Charles UD 15 1960 Patterson

 

and....you can't time what you can't hit when you got fast hands throwing punches at you.

 

I think Ezzard will find a way to hit Floyd a time or 2!

 

no comment on the winner yet, just want to say this is my favourite fantasy match up in months, since the ted lewis/mayweather one

 

well earned bill, well earned :tong

 

I guess Patterson can't win the matchups against the punchers or the boxers. I guess he must suck then.

 

don't forget how chinny he is