Everyone acts like he was a midget who couldn’t hit. He would not run the gauntlet but he’d do all right. The guy was GOOD.
Don't get me wrong, Patterson was great, but amongst the upper echelon of the 80's- Fighters just started getting too big and strong for Floyd in my opinion, especially if all the men involved are at their respective peaks. Give Bruno for example, Patterson is obviously the much better fighter, but he's not going to be able to bomb him out faster than Tyson, and he's not gonna be able to go in without taking the Brit's monstrous punch. The better man will lose due to physical disadvantages.
No doubt. I think that's the only hiccup we see with comparisons of older heavyweights to newer heavyweights... They're just not made to compete in what is now a completely different division. Put any of the old time guys in light heavyweight or cruiser and they are going to prosper.
There are people like Ali who were close enough in size and tough enough … the Quarry book I’m reading, the authors say Quarry said punching Ali was like punching concrete and Jerry was a brutal hitter for his size … to do OK but the Pattersons and Charleses would have some issues, I concede that. But their greatness would show in some instances.
I like Floyd Patterson a lot but I really think he’d be better suited for the cruiserweight division of the 80s. Sure there were a few ranked heavies he might have beaten but his prospects of becoming upper tier would be slim and probably not worth the punishment he would take along the way
Too small, might have taken the IBF title off Spinks though, he was the only fighter at heavy at the time neat to Floyd`s size, he might have done well v Dokes for the WBA title for a similar reason.
This. Patterson's chin looked shaky even against fellow CW-sized fighters, even ones that weren't big hitters even for that size (i.e.: Harris, McNeeley). That doesn't bode well for him vs. fighters far in excess of that size.
And the fact that he was kept away from some of the better contenders during his title reign doesn’t help his case either
I think that the much later and more seasoned version of Patterson that fought men like Quarry, Ellis, and Bonavena has a better case to fight at the top level, but even then... He's going to have a very hard time.
I contend that Floyd’s style caused balance issues that led as much to him hitting the canvas as a questionable chin. Only two people in 64 fights put him down for good and one was historically elite and the other one had a historically elite right hand.