Floyd Patterson 'Oh, My Achin Back' 11/22/65

More to the point Patterson did not enter the ring with an injured back.

Patterson had chronic back problems, as many fighters do, there is a big difference. With Patterson, as with Fernando Vargas, Mike Tyson, and others, there was an increased chance that his back could go out on him during a fight but that is different from knowingly entering the ring with an injury.

Patterson's back did not flare up until the fourth round of his fight with Ali.

He was cleared by the Nevada Commission doctor prior to the fight and supported in saying that there was no way to predict when or if his back would ever go out.

More B.S. from Pepe to try to discredit Ali's win.

 

i still would not call it "many fighters" as I rarely read about it .
Patterson did have an injured back prior to his fight with Ali .
You expect them to put him through MRI ? you think they did it for searching back injuries pre fight ?
Your post is bull**** and is another try to grant Ali undeserved respect against a hindered opponent just like you always do while disrespecting greater albeit less popular fighters .
This is a major ingredient of your agenda .

 

MRIs werent in use in 1965 dumbass.

 

It only solidifies my claim that they did not verify the state of his back using MRI .

Did they use CT ? anything ? probably a manual examination meant only for covering asses legally .
Just like modern medicine does .

Do you , as a man of documented evidence , have any proof of Patterson's back being seriously examined prior to his fight with Ali and found clear ?

 

That "injury" started out as a "slight twinge" five days before the fight and was blown up by the press (and carried by Pepe) to be a serious back injury.

And yes, several high profile fighters have or have had bad backs. It doesnt mean that every time they enter the ring they are going to fall apart.

 

So Floyd somehow got over on the system because he wasnt tested using technology that didnt exist at the time. O... K...

For the record C.T. didnt exist either, I guess you can blame Floyd or Ali for that as well.

Yes, I do have proof that Patterson was examined by a Commission doctor. He was examined once during training and once during the pre fight physical and passed both examinations in excellent shape. What grounds could they have stopped him from fighting?

The doctor afterwards stated that even had they known that Patterson had a history of back troubles it would not have been enough to say that he either had an injury, or that an injury was imminent.

The fact is exactly what Floyd stated and stuck to until his dying day:

He had a history of back problems.

He felt a slight twinge in his back late in his camp.

Knowing his own body and how to prevent injury he took a few extra days off at the end of his training camp to rest his back.

He was cleared by commission doctors for the fight.

In the third round he began to feel back spasms and by the fourth he was in serious pain.

Its as simple as that.

Tyson had several instances where his back was injured in training and fought on and won. As did Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosely, and others. In fact Mosely's biggest win against De La Hoya was done while suffering from back spasms after having experienced them in training at Big Bear.

No conspiracy.

I have a phrase that will help Il Duce deal with issues such as this: **** happens.

The universe did not align itself to converge in a perfect storm that culminated in Ali being recognized as possibly the greatest heavyweight ever. In fact he had quite a few roadblocks in his way, not the least of which was a dazzlingly talented division.

 

Exactly, so this was something Floyd dealt with for much of his career. Meaning he wasnt injured. It just so happened that this one time his back went out on him. Jeez, imagine how great this guy must have been to defeat all the guys he defeated as a "cripple".

 

Patterson won the event.

 

Thats a big leap from a bad back to an actual injury. What was the nature of the injury? How did it happen?

Thats an interesting quote Duce considering the day after the fight he said: "Far as myself and everybody were concerned Floyd entered the fight in good shape. He claimed he was in excellent condition and I think it was an honest appraisal on his part. HE COULDNT KNOW HIMSELF WHEN THE BACK WOULD 'GO OUT' ON HIM DURING THE FIGHT."

 

So where is your evidence that Floyd deceived anyone and that he was injured during training? You can spin this any way you want but once again you have made a huge leap in trying to tie together your argument and it just doesnt add up.

Floyd Patterson was one of the most honorable men this sport has ever seen and yet in order to paint Ali as being a blown up hype job you feel the need to drag his name through the mud while in another thread you try to elevate Thad Spencer of all people to near Charley Burley levels of being ducked. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

What in Spencer's record in 1965 makes you think he should have been considered over Patterson as a contender for Ali? Was it his win over Rischer, or his revenge win over light heavyweight Chuck Leslie? I mean after all, Spencer did lose that same night to slow, plodding, human catchers mit Amos Lincoln. But you think he should have gotten a shot at Ali.

Or are we now talking about 1967, 2 years later? Nobody gave two shits about Spencer at that point either. To put this in perspective Ali made $90,000 fighting Chuvalo one month before your proposed April 1967 bout against Spencer. Spencers last bout had been against Doug Jones and the ENTIRE GATE totalled $28,000.

You criticize Ali for fighting Brian London instead of Spencer but do you know how much money Ali made against London? Over $250,000. He couldnt have gotten one tenth that amount to fight Spencer and thats where your conspiracy theories fall flat.

Its called PRIZE FIGHTING and Spencer had not adequately built up his name enough to be thrown in to the big money fights. He had an opportunity with the elimination tournament and it ruined his career.

Dont blame Ali that Spencer couldnt bring home the bacon. You go out and force a fight by fighting and beating the best. By the time Spencer broke in to that class of opposition Ali was banned and Spencer subsequently showed he wasnt able to compete at that level.