Very good or great? Volume 8: Floyd Patterson

Good post:good

I don't agree that Patterson was great, but you have stated your case well.

 

Hey great is winning. Be happy. Do Virgil hill, eventually, if for no other reason than to watch MAG blow up.

 

I like to think mag is just a computerised programme of 4 or 5 posts that get randomly posted on here.

 

I love that guy. And unlike Pepe with Ali, there's no real venom against Duran. He genuinely seems perplexed that no one sees what he sees.

 

I'm afraid I would misconstrue it but he has Duran as the worst member of the fab four, has a very lacking resume, couldn't beat guys who used lateral.movement, and is very overrated. I think he also considers Duran as big as Leonard and Hearns because he weighed in heavier than they did, at junior middleweight, chronologically before they did.

 

Thought I'd give this a plug on Classic, I wrote this over on the scene.

 

After Liston beat Patterson, the boxing world was doing a lot of wailing and hand wringing.
The consensus was that thugs had taken over the title and the sport was ruined.

Patterson was one of the very few to defend Liston. He said that Liston deserved the title. He won it fairly. He was a great fighter and would be a great champion.

There is a YouTube interview of Liston being asked about this and expressing his appreciation.

Patterson was a gentleman and his conduct was a credit to the sport.

 

list of Great Posters!
-GhettoWizard-, Absolutely!, anj, Boxed Ears, Brownies, Burt Shoogar, Capaedia, choklab, FloydPatterson, Garrus, Hannibal Barca, junior-soprano, lufcrazy, mattdonnellon, McGrain, orriray59, Paladin, PhillyPhan69, PowerPuncher, Primo, turbotime, Vic-JofreBRASIL, Vince Voltage

Average Posters
190, bazza12, Claus Holmen, Colonel Sanders, devon, fininan, frankenfrank, hussleman, I am tyler, janwalshs, KidGalahad, rbar, red cobra, redrooster, Saintpat, Serpentine557, TBooze, the cobra, Theron, thistle1, timmers612, xRedx

 

LOL. I worked very hard to be average.

 

With no disrespect to anybody in group B, I have to say that group A has more depth in it.

 

I just don't understand why the **** haven't you skewed it so my rating counts for a billion votes. I'm just left scratching my head really hard :huh

 

Let's look at Patterson in a different way:

Here is a list of modern champions:

Joe Louis
Ezzard Charles
Jersey Joe Walcot
Rocky Marciano
Ingemar Johansson
Sonny Liston
Muhammad Ali
Joe Frazier
George Foreman
Leon Spinks
Larry Holmes
Mike Tyson
Evander Holyfield
Lennox Lewis


How many of these people (prime to prime) would you bet money on Patterson beating?

I'll give him Leon Spinks.

I would take Patterson at no more than even money over Johansson.

That's it.


There are several on the list I would bet my house on to beat Patterson- Louis, Marciano, Liston, Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Tyson.

Does this sound like a great heavyweight? No.
Does it sound like a very good HW? Not to me.

 

Maybe in some fantasia world where Patterson has to go through a gauntlet such as the one you propose, he might not exactly excel. However the thread merely asks whether he is great. How many men could beat Floyd weighing what he weighs?

He has a speed advantage over anyone bar Jones. He will hit harder than almost anyone who shares the ring. His technical abilities really shone during his post title career.

Honestly who would be picked to do better in a career exchange? Liston and Ali aside he beat everyone he faced by my cards. How many would be favoured to succeed over them two where he failed over a career spanning that length?

Rather than denigrate him based on what didn't happen I think it's better to praise him on what did.

He had a great career by any defintion.