Floyd Patterson knockdowns

20 times total. Johansson dropped him 7 times in the 3rd round of their 1st fight and 2 times in the 1st round of their 3rd fight. Liston dropped him once in the 1st round of their 1st fight and 3 times in the 1st round of their 2nd fight. That's 13. Jerry Quarry dropped him 2 times in each of their two fights. Patterson also dropped Quarry once in their first fight. 17 so far. J.R. Crecy dropped him in the 1st round. Rademacher dropped him in the 2nd round. Bonavena dropped him in the 4th round. 20 times in 10 fights... he went 5-4-1 (4) in these fights... a case can be made that he could have been 7-3 (4) though (Quarry fights).

 

Ali and Harris had him down, I don't think McNeeley did. Looks like 22 times even though I've always heard 20.

 

A few people are trying to make me believe that Ezzard Charles was down about 30 times.

 

The McNeeley KD is a big mystery.
There are numerous accounts of the fight that say McNeeley knocked Patterson to one knee in the fourth round.
In a much later interview McNeeley himself repeats that.
The film of the fight does not show any such knockdown.
I supposed it could have been edited out. But why would it have been?

 

I have never seen him dropped by McNeeley either. Until I actually see McNeeley drop him, I'm going to say he didn't.

 

The film isnt edited. You can time it. And Ezzard Charles was knocked down at least 30 times in his career. No pretending, just the facts.

 

A heavyweight contender in the 1960s, hMcNeely was knocked down 11 times during a title fight with Floyd Patterson in 1961 -- but he refused to stay on the canvas

 

Charles had 122 pro fights and was pretty much washed up after his 2nd loss to Marciano (his 99th fight). He went just 10-13 (4) after Marciano and was stopped 4 times. He had only been stopped 3 times thru his first 100 fights. He was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease toward the end of his career.

Patterson was a great fighter as well. He beat Hall of Famers Moore and Johansson x2. He went 3-7 (3) vs. Hall of Famers. He went 8-5 (8KOS) in HW World Title fights... the first 12 ended by KO.

 

Charles was down about as many times as sugar ray robinson, another all time great.
although Robinson at 201 fights had nearly double Charles total and between 3 and 4 times more than Floyd.
Most of Charles and Robinson's kds were against world class opposition or at the end of their careers, which is different from Patterson

 

I think the "knockdown" against McNeeley is at about 1:20 of the 4th round. You can't actually see it in the film because the camera is zoomed in and following McNeeley but Patterson does get hit with a good shot and the AP report describes his knees buckling and his glove briefly touching the canvas. Referee Walcott didn't count it and the fight was over soon afterwards.

 

https://youtu.be/nHYEwbmLXI0

Here is the youtube video on the fight. At 8:11 of the film McNeeley lands a left hook and the camera just doesn't catch it, but Patterson just sags out of range. It's like you said, his glove probably touches the canvas, the announcer says, "the champion is hurt", but Walcott doesn't count him, so officially, no knockdown.

 

The problem with this is that the reports that started the whole idea that Patterson was knocked down said that in the fourth Patteerson was knocked down to one knee and took a standing 8 count. Didn't happen. The AP report only says "some ringsiders THOUGHT Pattersons glove touched the canvas."

This is that report it originated with Jack Hand:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AAIBAJ&sjid=xssEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6870,723871&hl=en

Here is an alternate AP report that says he was dropped or slipped:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=dDEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5422,3867447&hl=en

Jack Cuddys UPI report went so far as to say Patterson was dropped to one knee and took a standing 8.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AAIBAJ&sjid=TXQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3458,708670&hl=en

We can see this instance in the film and its clear that Patterson neither goes down to a knee nor takes a count. We cant say from the film if he touches a glove to the canvas for a brief instant but the idea that SOME ringsiders THOUGHT he did doesn't give me enough confidence to claim he was down categorically. We know the ref didn't rule a knockdown, didn't halt the action, and didn't wipe Patterson's gloves and we know the ringside commentator didn't even allude to a glove touching much less Patterson taking a knee and being given a count. So for all intents and purposes Patterson was not knocked down by McNeeley.

 

Most of Patterson's knockdowns were against world class heavyweights. A lot different than Charles getting knocked down by featherfisted LHWs and MWs like Overlin and Bivins.

And no, most of Charles knockdowns were not past his prime. Go count them up. He was in his prime for the majority of his knockdowns.

 

Not really arguing, because it's clear that Walcott didn't consider it a knockdown, and whether Patterson's glove brushed the canvas or not isn't really that big an issue in terms of his overall legacy as champion. Still, for completeness, the full version of that second AP report does state as a fact that he touched the canvas, and also quotes Patterson describing how he went down.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AAIBAJ&sjid=B4sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5848,407911&hl=en

 

Fair enough... looks like it might be 23 times, at least.