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

I've said basically the same thing in this thread, and the other thread, tho not nearly as well as LT.
As a 59 year old fight fan who, thanks to my dad, was a fan from 59-60 forward (obviously a huge Patterson lover) I was all excited about the elimination tourney in 67. Thad? Who was he? Many pundits hailed him as a possible winner? Beat Terrell. Got pummeled by Quarry. Went 0-7-1 after Quarry. Had no quality wins prior to the tourney. What is the nut-hugging ''Thad-itis" going on here? You can make a long list of fighters that could have been, should have been when, given the opportunity, quite literally, fell flat on their face.
Thad Spencer CERTAINLY falls into that catagory.

 

Lets say for arguments sake that Patterson, one of the most honorable men to ever lace on gloves, lied to and defrauded everyone associated with the fight, as Duce would have us believe, just for a payday. So what? The entire point of all of these posts by Duce is to drag down Ali's record. We all know that. Yet, Ali would have known nothing of Patterson's supposed injury. He came and did his job and took care of business. Had he been in on a conspiracy whereby he knowing fought a cripple I could see the argument. But it isnt, and hasnt been proven that Patterson did anything wrong and certainly not Ali so where's the beef? Talk about a tempest in a teapot.

 

Good post,Lord. :good


A tempest in a teacup,indeed. Amazing,when you consider that Ali has the best resume out of any heavyweight champion ever ! Every champ has one or two soft ones on their c.v.

 

Just re-posting this because Lord Tywin's insight here trumps anything any of us are saying. Start a new thread Senor, as you've promised. Geez, we're all waiting on the edge of our seats for you to tell us how Thad's demons resulted in losing his final eight fights after Quarry.

 

So an obscure promotional outfit from Las Vegas was going to bury Floyd Patterson, one of the biggest names in the sport at that time, professionally?

Considering Floyd actually never did fight in Las Vegas again, as you pointed out, only fought there twice in his entire career, Id say thats about as empty a threat as you can make.

Especially so when you consider that at the time Patterson had just won the fight of the year, was the consensus number 1 contender, and AFTER Ali would go on to fight several more important heavyweight matches over the next seven years.

I guess the all powerful Sports Vision and I-C-P just felt so good about Floyds performance against Ali that they decided not to ruin his career with an iron fist :rofl

 

There were promotional outfits all over the country at that time in the vacuum created by the fall of the IBC. MSG was the largest most powerful promotional outfit and even it wasnt THAT powerful compared to the IBC or future promoters such as Top Rank and DKP.

This is why during this period you started seeing major fights fought all over the country and all over the world instead of in centralized locations such as Detroit, New York, and Chicago where the IBC owned major venues. And not under one or two major promotional banners as you do now, or as was the case when the IBC monopolized the sport and killed off any competition either through unfair business practices or intimidation.

Lets not pretend that Sports Vision and ICP could have EVER ruined Pattersons career. And simply because Nilon Brothers ran a wide spread concessionairy does not mean they had ANY power to ruin boxers.

The ICP was not in any position to flex any muscle because they were under close scrutiny throughout their relatively short existence by law enforcement who felt that Liston and Nilon's involvement pointed toward possible organized crime connections: i.e. Blinky Palermo.

This company was hounded and hemmed in on all sides by congress, the IRS, and various other private litigators literally from its inception to its dissolution.

There was absolutely no wiggle room to flex any real or imagined muscle and this was shown clearly, when at the height of its power it was outmuscled and outmaneuvered by the black Muslims backing Ali. They are so powerful they will ruin Patterson's career but they cant protect their only fighter, the heavyweight champion, and the reason why they were formed in the first place against an entity that had absolutely no ties to boxing?

Its an absolute joke to suggest that it could have had any effect on Patterson's career.

As for Mel Greb, he was an even more minor player than the ICP. And Mel Greb was a Las Vegas promoter, make no mistake about that. Greb was so all powerful that within less than ten years he was swallowed up by the fledgling top rank and became simply an employee.


Just more facts for you to absorb.

 

Im really enjoying this 'to and fro' with Sp and LT.


Both guys know their stuff. Keep it up:good

 

See youve just talked yourself in to a corner again. You admit that Patterson-Ali was the most lucrative fight of 1965 and that Patterson was Alis #1 contender, so what exactly is the motivation to face Thad Spencer of all people over Patterson?

 

Exactly !!!!!!


Anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge will know that Spencer would have got his shot had Muhammad's career not been interrupted.

 

I studied medical terminology in school..I think a case of "Thaditis" is when your Thad gets inflamed.