IMO Patterson is the most underrated champ ever. Fans talk about Holmes being underrated and he was, but atleast he made the 10 best heavyweights of all-time. Patterson came right after a deep era with Charles, Marciano and Walcott etc.... He held the record as youngest Heavyweight Champ for over thirty years and he NEVER ducked anybody, he was also the first fighter to become champion 2 times or more. Yes, his chin was suspect and he wouldn't stand a chance against some fighters like Tyson, Foreman and many of those hard hitters. But he was very powerful with his famous Gazelle punch which literally knocked out some fighters. I think with that punch and the rest of his arsenal he has a good chance to give many great fighters trouble. Not to mention he was the nicest guy that ever boxed and was very good for the sport and showed that not all boxers are barbaric like many people think.
It's the WAY he lost to some of the best that drops him so far. He was genuinely scared of Liston. It hurts your credibility as a champ, though it most likely shouldn't.
Many people were afraid of Liston at that time, but you got give him his dues for knowing what he had to do and not duck even though D'Amato told him not fight Liston.
I'm not sure how highly you'd really want to rank him, but he certainly deserves recognition for the things you mentioned.
That's a big reason why I'm a Patterson fan. Boxing needs all the classy figures it can get, which is also why I'm a fan of Wlad Klitschko currently. The sport can never have enough good ambassadors; Floyd was one of the best the sport could've hoped to have.
He was protected against a lot of guys by his manger, us D'Amato. He falls somewhere in middle of all heavy champs, no better than that.
At LHW I'd take Patterson over most, but seeing as he made his living at HW, he suffers from big KO losses and overall inconsistency.
Would have been interesting to see the 1960 version of Floyd fighting the 1965 Ali (instead of the one being tortured with bad back). Ali admitted Patterson's hands were virtually as fast as his. Add Patterson's left hook, Ali's fault of low hands, and Patterson was not scared of Ali like he was of Liston. Could have been good fight and you never know what might have happened.
My feelings exactly. His defenses were against VERY ordinary fighters - i.e. Pete Rademacher in his pro debut, Tom McNeely (yes, he's THAT McNeely's father) - and he was brutally knocked out multiple times.
Patterson was a class act and a well deserved HOFer for his accomplishments, but head to head, I don't rate him too highly.
