If there has ever been a heavyweight champion who gets the short end in fantasy matchups I'd wager to say that Patterson gets it more often than not. Was it simply a case of him being too small? Or Perhaps it seems that the perception is that he lacked durability or power or both? Well I put together a poll to see if anyone gives him a shot against some heavyweight contenders. For the most part they are all are considered to be big punchers/strong punchers. How does he fare against the above group? Does he pick up any win? Does he pick up any losses? Simply put if it were fight night and Floyd Patterson was doing his ring walk with anyone of these fighters waiting patiently in the ring hoping to take his title who would you feel comfortable betting on if they both show up at their best.
I agree he is kinda just dimissed Hd 2 Hd as fighter but I think his talent and ability was amazing, but at the same time his chin is very fragile, so he a tough time until he gets caught or when just outgunned basically.
Guys if you happen to vote in the poll, please include what you think Floyd's win loss record would be if he were to face all these guys.
i feel he is a level above every single one of them. Tua and Morrison are very dangerous, but Patterson definatley has the power to KO Morrison and the ability to outbox Tua. Bruno and Ruddock would be very tough opponents because of size and even more so Bruno because he is huge and a supreme athlete. But he could knock Bruno out and outpoint Ruddock i believe. Shavers and Lyle would be the toughest fights for him i feel, but Patterson could definatley beat them as well as every other guy listed. I'd say roughly 50% of those fights end with a KO, and i'd give 50% chance in most the fights, Patterson scoring the KO. On talent alone he is above all of them. 6 - 3 - 0
Patterson can beat them all, but ...... I think Tua and Witherspoon would be the toughest. Maybe Lyle. ... Floyd's bound to lose one or two.
Floyd is capable of defeating them all He lost by knockout 5 times - Ali x 2, Liston x 2, Johansson - nothing to be ashame of Thats in 64 fights total and Floyd met some mean bangers. Maybe his chin wasn't from iron, but from glass either
i consider him the underdog against them all , but the best of chances he gets vs. morisson , shavers and briggs.
As much as I hate to say this, the list that was provided is a pretty harsh selection both physically and stylistically for Patterson.. He is an all time great no doubt, and I shutter to think about him losing to fighters of a far inferior legacy, but I think the vast majority of those men might pose a threat of one kind or another.. Lot's of size, punching power and fast starting ability in that bunch.
What is this myth that Patterson cannot hang with the bigger boys??? I think its solely down to being crushed by Liston twice. But remember Frazier was crushed by by the towering Foreman twice...does that mean he couldnt hang with today's bigger boys?? I think its just a case of kryptonite to be fair. Liston was a tank with stupidly long arms, all wrong for Patterson
Its not so much fact vs fiction, as it is an unanswered question.. In 64 professional fights Floyd Patterson faced 11 men who were over 200 lbs, that's not counting some of them twice. The record and descriptions of those men look something like this. 1. Charlie Polite - finished his career with a record of 17-39-3-6 2. Oscar Bonavena - Had Patterson down in the 4th. 3. Charlie Harris - Record of 8-13-1 going in against Patterson. 4. Ingemar Johannson - KO'd Patterson in first fight.. Had him down twice in their third fight.. Has claim to only beating two good fighters in his career ( patterson being one of them. ) 5. Muhammad Ali - Not known as a big hitter, yet stopped him twice. 6. Sonny Liston - Patterson lasted a combined round in a half in two fights, including once when he was the defending champ. 7. Charley Powell - A 25-9, nobody and was at the end of his career. 8. Brian London - Not exactly a world beater. 9. Tom McNeeley - Bum 10. Pete Rademacher - Debuting fighter who floored Patterson. 11. George Chuvalo - Okay there's one decent fighter. Patterson was floored some 18 times in his career and some of those knockdowns came against sub 200 lb, men while some of the bigger boys were either journeyman or great fighters who killed him.. In addition, he was notorious for avoiding some of the better contenders during his title reign. While I absolutely rate him higher than guys like Morrison, Bruno, Tua, Witherspoon, Briggs etc. For both physical AND stylistic reasons, I think that those guys could have posed problems.. Does this mean they automatically beat him? No... But, to simply say that Patterson would just walk through all those guys on the mere basis of a legacy that was established 50 years ago and against a totally different breed of heavyweight, does little to examine the issue more closely. To claim that he beat 6 or 7 journeyman type fighters that were over 200 lbs, and getting absolutely destroyed by a few guys who ranged from decent to great, does not tell us the whole story.. What we needed to see was how he would have done against the likes of men like Cleveland Williams, Joe Frazier and a few other guys were ranked contenders with decent records that could also hit hard and actually FIGHT.. Had he faced such men, beaten them, or at least gone the distance, then we might have something to work with..
crushed? crushed is a strong word. It implies that you once had shape, and then you were squeezed into a round mass of flesh and bone and drained of fluid. In no way, shape or form did Ali crush the past prime Patterson. He outgunned him, but he wasn't an overwhelming physical force.
:-( Patterson was stopped by 3 fighters, 5 times. Ingemar Johannson - A Top100 all-time p4p puncher, according to the ring, who also had a size advantage. Patterson was not completly out, he also came back to beat Ingo twice. Sonny Liston twice - A Top15 of all time hw and a Top15 of all time puncher, according to the ring, who also had a stylistic and size advantage. Patterson finished on his feet both times. Muhammad Ali twice - a Top2 hw of all-time who had a size advantage. Patterson was not hurt when stopped but was stopped due to accumulation of punches and cuts, if I remember right. He also was ahead on the score cards in the second fight before beeing stopped. So, of his three stoppages only three qualify as being due to chin issues. Against these guys it's hardly a shame. Dempsey never get's called having a fragile chin despite being knocked out by the far inferior Flynn. Patterson was knocked down 18 times in his career. Often by inferior opposition. Never past the 4th round. This is due to him having some kind of stage fever. He needed some time to overcome this nervousness in the beginning but when he got going he never was knocked down. Another reason of him getting knocked down is his style, he was often off-balance due to his style and his opponents profited of that. He had not the best chin but it was hardly of glass or fragile. It was average or decent for a hw. On topic: The best chances beating Patterson have Ruddock, Tua and Witherspoon imo. The rest get's beaten clearly. None of the three is a save pick over Floyd, he is certainly able to beat all three in in an trilogy I would pick him to come out on top over all of them. Best case: 9-0. Worst case: 6-3.