personalities

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by red cobra, Oct 1, 2010.


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  1. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    I think Patterson is one of the more interesting boxing personalities. Is it possible to imagine a singer blanking James Toney the way Sinatra is said to have blanked Patterson after Liston I? There was something about his out-of-the-ring passivity that just seemed to invite this type of rejection - he lived a self fulfilling prophecy, with his silence and his inability to look people in the eye, his isolation as champion, his disguise as the disposed champion...everything about this screams that he is mentally weak (for a fighter) or at least unsound.

    And yet Patterson came back again and again. Whether a savage thrashing against a bigger, better opponent or twice smashed out in career-ending KO's, Patterson came again. He's one of the definitive survivor types at the weight. A mess of contradictions and possibly a fascinating man...although it's hard to be sure because there are men who were associated with him for an entire career who claim not to know him.
     
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    #16
  2. Nicky P

    Nicky P Jamiva Boxing Full Member

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    yeah, a friend of mine saw him at the beach with jr. when he was just born. He was going around to anyone who listen (or wouldn't listen) and wouldn't stop about Jr. "My son, he's so amazing! He's mine... I did this! He'll be champion one day! You don't believe me?!!? You sons of bacon bits!! You watch!"

    ok, made that last part up, but apparently he was carrying on about him all day at the beach.
     
    Nicky P, Oct 1, 2010
    Nicky P, Oct 1, 2010
    #17
  3. Chinxkid

    Chinxkid Well-Known Member Full Member

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    He was the quintessential positive thinker, J. He believed it, not on purpose, but because it never would have occurred to him to be any other way. He was a dreamer, he had a strong love of life, of the possibilities of life, and needed more than anything to live a life of hope.
     
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    #18
  4. Chinxkid

    Chinxkid Well-Known Member Full Member

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    I think Patterson's a very interesting guy, too. I thought I knew a lot about Frank Sinatra and his involvement with fighters, Robinson, Louis; but I'm not familiar with this thing with Patterson. What's to it? Also, Charley Burley is very interesting in his own right. Seemed so quiet and unassuming, and you don't hear a lot of stories about his personality. But that kind of quiet strength comes from somewhere. I'd like to know a lot more about him, and the fact that there was never a movie made about him seems incredible to me.
     
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    #19
  5. john garfield

    john garfield Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Musta been what made Custer think he was surrounding the indians, C
     
    john garfield, Oct 1, 2010
    john garfield, Oct 1, 2010
    #20
  6. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Sinatra and Patterson met shortly before Liston, Sinatra was supposedly full of praise and encouragement. After the fight, they met again and Patterson claims he approached Sinatra "to apologise" and that Sinatra just turned his back on him, refusing even to acknowledge him.
     
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    #21
  7. lora

    lora Fighting Zapata Full Member

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    He should have clubbed Frank in the back of the head with a trademark left-hook.That would have sorted him.
     
    lora, Oct 1, 2010
    lora, Oct 1, 2010
    #22
  8. red cobra

    red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

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    This is one interesting post McGrain...I've thought it many times but never seen it posted till now...yeah, I've thought about the Sinatra thing...and his worrying about how he looked to ringsider John Wayne in 1959 when Johansson was mopping the deck with him...and no "**** you" type of mentality that he had about it...the type of mentality that a lowlife like Toney would have had...Patterson was one of the most highly unusual men to have ever held a championship...and yet, for all the humiliations he went thnrough, he came back, over and over like a real ****in' MAN..and in my opinion, won out in the end...after all, he didn't quit on his stool vs Ali like Liston did...Patterson was possibly, and paradoxically so, one of the strongest minded individuals the sport has ever seen..with an almost zen-like, solitary type of strength and belief in himself. Like you said..a REAL SURVIVOR..which is why I admire him as much as what kind of man he was..what character he had, as for his abilities and accomplishments as a fighter.
     
    red cobra, Oct 1, 2010
    red cobra, Oct 1, 2010
    #23
  9. red cobra

    red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

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    None of that **** represents "weakness" to me..on the contrary, Floyd was a bigger man than "the chairman of the board" ever was.
     
    red cobra, Oct 1, 2010
    red cobra, Oct 1, 2010
    #24
  10. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    I agree, and with a lot of the rest of your post too.
     
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    #25
  11. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    If there was a photograph, everyone would have the same avatar.
     
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    McGrain, Oct 1, 2010
    #26
  12. Chinxkid

    Chinxkid Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Ha, yeah J. The same is true in less obvious battles too, right, besides boxing and war.
     
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    #27
  13. Chinxkid

    Chinxkid Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Yeah, that sure stinks. Frank was capable of indefensible behavior, I think sometimes even in his eyes. At the same time, he was capable of remarkable generosities. Maybe he was like all of us only more so, more bad and more good.
     
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    Chinxkid, Oct 1, 2010
    #28
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