im gonna come out and ask, was floyd patterson great?!

Could have been the greatest Cruiserweight of all time.

 

defintly too small but for his size he had tremendous power. that left hook was really something. but unregarded jab and a good right cross. stopping henry cooper in one shot.
he may have had fast hands but that wasnt what made him floyd. he could counter, jab and move as shown in the chuvallo fight. i dont regard him as 1 dimensional as garfiled has stated.


anyone think he should of gone to light heavy late in his career:hey :deal

 

Those fights were very early in his career though. Do you not think if he had stayed at lt. heavy he could have gone on to legendary status? Im just curious because his physical skills below heavyweight remind me of Robinson or Roy Jones.

 

Well, in a sense, J, Floyd has become legendary; he's constantly the subject, or referred to, in threads. I suspect more for being a decent, over-achieving everyman than as a heavyweight champion.

He was so genuine -- and unintimidating -- in person -- ya had to root for him. Ya always imagined he was David against Goliath.

He did share blinding handspeed with SRR and RJ, but not their ring savvy or adaptability.

 

Great stuff. John Garfield who did you think was going to be the next heavyweight champ when marciano retired? Bob Baker? Archie Moore? patterson? Valdez? machen?

 

The Ring was pretty sure at the time, that Archie Moore was going to be the next champ.

I read the 56 Marciano's retirement of the ring.

 

I've also heard he would leave the Garden in disguises so as to not be recognized. I've been fascinated by Patterson for a few years now, and have wondered what could have been had he stayed at 175. Thanks for the insight John.

 

He said small Heavy not Light Heavy. But yeah he does belong higher than the overrated Moorer.

 

I'd say no. If he's viewed as great, it's because of nostalgia, not accomplishment or ability. He was a good fighter, just not a great one.

 

Good take. Patterson was also fun to watch.

 

Someone once said "as a HW champ he was second-rate, but as a fighter he was clearly first-rate".

Prime Floyd would beat Spinks, Foster, RJJ rather easily in my book if his head was on straight (his toughest opponent may have always been himself)
Obviously tho some of the bigger boys over the years would present problems for him but he's a top contender (at least) in ANY era in my book.
And this idea that all the big boys in other eras would "KO" him?
Liston said he never hit anyone as hard as he did Patterson feeling it all the way up and down his back....and Floyd was trying to rise. (he looked better at the end of his two Sonny's than Lennox did in his two "***** street" visits! :yep )

I'd give Patterson an excellent chance to get in there with some of the 70's heavies and maybe even stealing a few...

My (slightly bigoted) $0.02 :bbb

 

Many years ago I was boxing on an card in upstate NY. Floyd Patterson had a club from New Platz NY, he and his team were there. I was in the locker room getting ready and he walked in and started talking to my trainer. I have to say I was stunned to how big he looked to me? Ok I was young and there was some hero worship going on . However, the size of his hands, and the witdth of shoulders was a surprize. The point is over the years I have heard allot of talk about how small the man was. That wasn't my impression. Many years later I saw RJJ in person, and he looks much smaller in person than he looks on TV. But I would bet most people would think that the 190lb RJJ that beat Ruiz was bigger than the 180 Patterson that KO'ed Moore, no way.
Size can be very subjective.

 

M, I connected with your surprise at how big Floyd was in person. I had the same reaction walking into an elevator and Frank Gifford was against the back wall. He was considered a small halfback in the NFL, but the closer I got the larger he loomed -- huge shoulders and chest -- a military bearing.

In reference to RJ, I saw him looking like a greyhound at 175 (nothin' but sinew and bone) at the Julio Gonzales weigh-in and a clone for Jersey Joe Walcott at the John Ruiz weigh-in...remarkable how densely muscled he was.

 

john did u miss my question up top?