Floyd Patterson..."I am a Coward"

I like Gary Talese, he was a good writer.

 

You can't glean too much from what Floyd said, he had severe self-image issues. That was truely sad; I saw it in him from 1960 on when I was a kid. Maybe that's why I loved him so much, I don't know.

I used to say...what if?...Patterson had carried a killer instinct into the ring at all times?
Surely a trifecta sweep against Quarry-Quarry-Ellis among other setbacks.

But maybe he wouldn't have been so beloved to many of us if he had done that...:?

 

You're right here, but I'm convinced that Floyd won all three of those fights just the same.

 

Bert Sugar eulogized him as the finest character to ever hold that title, high praise indeed when considering personalities like Charles (also remembered upon his passing as a great gentleman). Is it better to be feared, or beloved?

Floyd also made history as the first champion to ever have a son become champion, and that boy he trained was an adopted son, not somebody born with Floyd's genetic gifts. It was Floyd who held Tracy Harris Patterson aloft in celebration when Tracy dethroned French southpaw Thierry Jacob for the WBC SBW Title in Albany 20 years ago, setting a historical precedent, footage also seen on ESPN when Floyd passed. He had to have felt a certain measure of validation when he guided the son he raised to win world championships of his own, a tremendous achievement ESPN was very conscientious in crediting him for.

That self doubt drove Floyd towards continual improvement, and he was always in shape, always gave his best, and never gave up. Despite being undersized and in his late 30s, he retired while still a top five heavyweight.

 

If Floyd was a coward what does this make 99.9% of men?

 

Great comment bodhi! To answer your question, it makes us all cowards!
He was my childhood hero, a great fighter and human being despite his 'issues'.
Thank goodness I have about three hours of Patterson on tape to watch tho I often well up in tears watching his performance and work ethic.

 

floyd was a wasted mind outside of boxing personally. content, sharp, thoughtful, progressive and just has this aura of complete zen in interviews.

there was a fantastic interview on youtube with some presenters who where just...eh..'sports fans'. talking about do you think Italian fighters are better than Irish fighters etc. then they talked about money and how other fighters would of preferred to go into other careers. i.e. "hearns wanting to play basketball" (which sounds grade a bull) and floyd called him up on that. "did he really say that?" "why i doubt that is that a guy with his ability and his success in boxing and his athletic ability could of meant that he could be playing in the nba (i think he says that he mumbled that bit), but what he has done in his boxing career has given so much to people of detroit, the other fighters in his gym that are now successful and enjoying a life that they would of never got had they not been lead on by his shining light in the community. could he of been basketball player? he might of been successful and possible got some money. but after he retires what will he have? because in the end of it all he is just a normal man who did something that he loved and did what felt natural to him"


to which one of the numptys said something like "and marvin hagler couuld of been a great football quarterback" thus shutting up floyd for the rest of it

 

No one who got up from like 5 bad knock downs in a row against Johansson is a coward...no one who steps through the ropes PERIOD is a coward at least they got the balls to do it as teddy roosevelt said and later JFK "The credit belongs to the man actually in the arena..." look up that speech