Floyd Patterson would have sucked in any other era

Patterson had wins over guys like Archie Moore, Tommy Jackson, Ingemar Johansson, Eddie Machen, George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, and Oscar Bonavena, and was neck and neck with Jimmy Ellis and Jerry Quarry 15 years into his career. If anything, he’s a bit underrated as a result of living in a very deep era with a lot of very good heavyweights among outstanding all-time greats. Not bad for a guy who turned pro at 165 and eventually grew into a solid 190-pound range fighter. In hypothetical head to head matchups, he might be one of those guys whose results might be hard to figure and know, and might surprise you on occasion, as well as disappoint you on occasion.

 

You were speaking in comparison to other heavyweight's so I assumed you'd just mention HW contenders. Doesn't really matter.

I cleared up Pastrano being ranked with someone else.

 

I think those of us that disagree with you have proven our case,whereas you have provided nothing to counter it.

 

More than a couple of people in this forum agreed that I had a point about him fighting McNeely and Rademacher, as well as him not fighting a prime Machen and Folley. It would be foolish to deny that he wasn't steered away from certain fights or given lay-ups.

 

Nobody had denied that,but that is not the bone of contention here.
Patterson when past prime fought;
Ellis
Bonavena
Quarry x2
Chuvalo
Ali x2
Machen.
I've also proved he fought plenty of Ring ranked men.
I would give Patterson an excellent chance over the following heavyweight champions.
Sullivan
Corbett
Fitzsimmons
Hart
Burns
Willard
Sharkey
L Spinks
M Spinks
And make fights with Tunney & Charles pretty much toss ups.

 

Fair enough.

I never contended with the fact that he fought contenders in the mid-late 60's. He did lose many of those fights.

I think he'd do alright in the post WW2 period, I don't think he would've been the champ. Charles and Walcott would've been too slick for him, and a prime Marciano would've decked him.

He probably does well in the 80's though I don't see him beating Holmes. He could probably win a title after Holmes retired. I can see him beating M. Spinks.

I don't think too highly of the 21st century Heavies' so I think he'd do well in spite of the size disparity. I think his handspeed would be an asset to him. I don't place as great an emphasis on size difference as most

 

He would have been second or third best in the early Louis era, maybe better than Baer and maybe not. In the late Louis and Marciano eras he's competitive with Walcott and Charles.

 

If you put Patterson in Joe Louis's era, he very likely tries to pick up a title at LHW, before trying to challenge for the heavyweight title, if only for a big pay day.

He probably ends up in the bum of the month club if he gets his title shot, but on closer inspection something separates him from the rest of the heavyweight field.

While his ranking goes up and down, it becomes apparent that he is hanging around in teh rankings for a lot longer than the Farr's Pastor's and Nova's of the era, seeing them come and go one after the other.

He becomes a sort of Tim Witherspoon figure of the era, and most on this forum agree that he is the second best heavyweight of the era, or at least the best never to hold the title.

 

I wonder if he could’ve picked the title off of Conn or JHL though, would’ve been interesting fights for sure

 

Don’t think. He could have beaten prime Louis but Joe never fought someone near the speed of Floyd until Walcott and Charles when he was on downside and he lost to both (should have lost first to JJ). Floyd could have given he trouble but might get caught eventually by power shots.

Do

 

Billy Conn was faster than Walcott and Charles and he got knocked out both times.
Walcott lost the decision in the first fight, one of the many controversial decisions Walcott would lose, Louis was beyond shot for the Charles fight.
Patterson doesn't last 5 rounds against any version of Louis pre 1948.

 

I think Patterson gets just a bit underrated, but it's understandable as he could be hot and cold. When he was at his absolute best he was capable of some beautiful boxing and I think he would defeat any heavyweight in the world today.