[Deleted by user.]

Patterson's manager was his head coach Cus D'Amato... he was kind of in a tough spot that his mentor and teacher was controlling his career so much.

 

Yeah, but Ali should have given Norton a shot before Spinks. He skirted his nr. 1 (first Foreman, then Young, then Norton) for the whole of '77 and then started '78 by giving a shot to a fringe contender with 7 pro fights instead. Love Ali, but that's not how a champion should behave.

EDIT: Yes, the fight with Spinks seems to have been signed before the eliminator between Norton-Young and Ali might well have been meaning to face the winner of that after Spinks, but Young had earned his shot before the eliminator.

Either Ali should have signed with Foreman after Norton 3 or Young after he beat Foreman.

Say Ali signs with Foreman and beats him and after that signs with Spinks with the intention of facing the winner of Norton-Young after that, then there wouldn't be much to complain about. But of course he didn't defend against Foreman.

 

Ok, keyboard warrior. Bye.

 

Patterson put himself in that tough spot.

 

What fighter wouldn't? To be trained by Cus D'Amato a man who was at the time he trained Patterson, probably known of from Catskill to Canastota.

 

If he/she ducks the best challengers, that champion probably will never be seen as a great, or anything other than someone that takes the easier option, and would be called out for it, much in the same way Deontay Wilder was, until he faced Fury....and that was a cherry pick that went badly wrong.