If there had never been a Sonny Liston. Let us suppose that Liston's mother and father had never met, do you think that Floyd Patterson enjoys a long title reign after defeated Ingo in 1960? Let's hear some thoughts on this, no interjecting modern fighters though, just the contenders that existed during that era. Would this site suffer from depression because there was no Liston?
Patterson got totally exposed by Liston. It wouldn’t have taken long for an Ali or some other 60s guy to take him down.
It’s possible, Floyd wasn’t made of granite. But then someone like Machen, Ingo or Zora could just as easily beat Williams, without Liston maybe it (the title) would have a trajectory like the years after Tunney and before Louis?
Floyd's last succesful defence of the title is against someone like Eddie Machen or Doug Jones circa 1962. In early 1963 a brash young underdog named Cassius Clay beats Floyd on points in an entertaining fight. Cassius stops him in the rematch. After this,heavyweight history moves back onto it's real path.
Well Patterson would have had a longer reign as champ without Liston being on the scene However i suspect that a certain Mr C.M Clay jr would have taken the mantle of the youngest heavyweight champ from Patterson, as can imagine Clay getting a earlier title shot, unless Cus stopped the bout occurring earlier of course.
It’s an interesting thing to ponder. The men Floyd would no doubt have to meet at some point included Folley, Machen and Williams for starters. I think he could potentially beat all three. Williams would have been the most dangerous however. Eventually he’d lose to Muhammad Ali when he came along but he certainly could have racked up some more defenses in the mean time
Patterson cannot stand up to the big punchers of the era but make no mistake Cleveland Big Sexy Cat Williams was a hard hitter but he was not a big puncher. Patterson might have trouble but I see him overwhelming Williams and his gigantic sweaty pectorals. I see Cassius Clay and Doug Jones being two of the bigger potential threats to Pattersons crown. Those are two noteworthy fighters who I think Cus would have underestimated. Cassius at the time was still a green fighter although he was quickly rising through the ranks. Clay wouldn't fight Moore until 2 months after Patterson first lost to Liston. Clay would KO Moore one round faster and six years after Patterson had kayoed Moore. I think if Liston were not in the picture, Clay may have soon been selected a worthy challenger to Patterson to prove his legitimacy as champion after such abyssmal title defenses. Doug Jones would take Clay the distance for the first time in Clay's career just five months following Pattersons first loss to Liston. I think this time was a sweet spot for Jones and he was in good condition. I see him giving Patterson loads of trouble.
While Cus was one of the best trainer's in the history of of boxing, he did overprotect his fighter's like an overprotect parent hinders the emotional growth of a child, this can leave psychological scar's, boxing does require a degree of emotional growth, also that type of overprotecting tells a fighter deep inside that you have no confidence in him, that is why you are overprotecting him.
Heck, the Recovery Room Nurse and I saw him after my open heart surgery on Jan 21 2020. I really believed it was the Anesthesia after my double bypass surgery, but it was the Big Ugly Bear in the flesh, he gave me that nasty stare after pulling me up in the bed, then he winked. Liston then left in a great hurry. I was in utter shock after seeing that. The nurse stated to me, I Think That He Looks Like An Athlete That Me And My Husband Saw Many Years Ago On Television. He Looked Very Angry At You. Later the staff confirmed that there had been no male Techs scheduled on that unit on that day. Who knows?
Another potential contender was Henry Cooper, fresh off of his June 18 1963 TKO 5 loss to no.1 contender Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) even decking Clay in round 4 before the stoppage on cuts. Patterson did stop Cooper in the 6th round of their actual fight on Sept 20 1966.
