Tillis wasn’t much bigger than Patterson and frankly topped out at about fringe level. He had incredible hand speed though as did Floyd. But Patterson was at a higher level in skill and better all around . I can see Patterson winning a decision or maybe a late stoppage
I’ll take Floyd by decision here, but on this forum Patterson would beat back 1,000 silverback gorillas.
Tillis just wasn't skilled enough to beat Patterson. Whether it is a 12 round or 15 round fight Floyd wins by comfortable decision.
He got knocked down like 20-something times in his career, more than any heavyweight champion before or since I’m pretty sure. So yeah, he was chinny, but with few exceptions he’s the pick to win by a large number of people on this forum in just about any head-to-head matchup that’s ever been proposed. In reality, he never beat the top fighters he faced. What would you say was his best actual career win? Because I’ve seen him get the majority opinion to win fantasy matchups here vs a number of ATGs who were far better than fighters he didn’t beat in reality.
His best win was the second Johansson fight. He couldn't beat Liston and Ali but I think he beat Ellis and Quarry even though he lost the decisions. He kayoed Archie Moore and Henry Cooper, outpointed George Chuvalo, Eddie Machen and Oscar Bonavena. I think he would have beaten Marciano in 1956 if Rocky hadn't retired, and had he done that nobody would disagree he was an ATG. Floyd always stayed in shape and never lost to a bad fighter. Of his losses, only the one to Quarry was to a non-champ.