Sonny Liston 'I Will Manage Floyd Patterson as Light-Heavyweight'

Floyd Patterson himself said he could have made light-heavyweight at any point in his career.
His trainer in the early 1960s said they had to make sure he was eating enough ".. or we'd soon have a middleweight on our hands".

Floyd looks a small-framed guy to me. And was never extra-ripped at 180+

 

Again, you ignore the entire context.

In 1963 Sonny Liston was expected to be a long-term champion, set to reign for 5 years or more.
Floyd campaigning at heavyweight while Liston was still champion would have no credibility, it was pointless.
It was only after Liston had been unexpectedly dethroned by Clay that Patterson became a semi-viable contender again, and his personal mission to become champion gathered some support.
Floyd was taken a bit more seriously again and other contenders could see the point in fighting him, fans could see the point in supporting him.

If Liston had remained in power - as expected - Patterson's status as a HW contender would have been A LOT harder to sell to anyone.

 

bla

 

This is fascinating,just back today to the forum.Some great possibilities here.One already mentioned is Floyd vs Willie.Patterson for me over one of my favourites.Another is Johnson,who I think Punched hard enough to gain Pattersons respect.Agree with the member who said he was more of a cruiser,so what about Folley,who I think was more the Eddie Machen/Henry Cooper size of boxer?

 

Not light heavyweight, but crusierweight yes