When exactly was Floyd Patterson's prime

He did fight well. He was just older is all I'm saying. Didn't look to be in his prime anymore. He fought well all the way to the end of his career. He was never became a steppingstone for prospects.

 

Excellent post.

 

I didn't cut anything. Go take another look. I did however miss the first reign part when discussing Williams-Miteff. My apologies.

No. Machen and Folley were #1 and #2 respectively in 1957 respectively. However Patterson elected to face Jackson who was at the end of the road and Pete Radamecher. I guess Mr. Radamecher in making his debut was more deserving than the top 2 contenders?

The next year he faced the unranked Roy Harris while the top three were Ingo, Valdez, and Folley (nor anyone else from the top ten) were again left out. To deny Patterson didn't do his fair share of ducking is nonsense.

 

Cooper and Machen would be good names on Floyd's record yeah but how old would Rocky have been by then, and with his back injury.
Also, I can't give much props for beating Tommy Jackson. Jackson could barely box at all. He had incredible energy and a brutish capacity for taking punishment, for which he paid a terrible price.
As his later career would prove, Floyd would fight anyone but Cus D'Amato was controlling the logic.

 

I would never really have backed Henry against Floyd. They had a lot of similarities. Both small Heavyweights even then. Both quick and both punched above their weight but Patterson did most things just that bit better than Henry.
Eddie Machen was capable of beating Floyd earlier in their respective careers but you never knew when Eddie was going to have an off night.

 

They would have had a point.

 

All else aside, the Rademacher defense was a travesty that never should have taken place. Cus and Floyd showed zero respect for the No. 1 title in professional sports and cheapened both the heavyweight crown and boxing in general by taking part in a complete farce.

 

Hurricane Jackson fought Patterson to a split decision in an eliminator to fight for the vacant title. And Jackson was the #1 contender when Floyd defended against him. So it doesn't really matter if you can't give Floyd "props" for fighting the #1 contender in his first defense.

Everybody else did.

 

Rademacher was the 1956 Olympic heavyweight gold medal winner. The 1956 Olympics were the first televised in the U.S. (as televisions had become popular). Both NBC and CBS provided 1956 Olympic coverage.

Rademacher was one of the stars of the games.

Patterson only received $125,000 to fight the #1 contender Jackson. He got $250,000 to fight Rademacher three weeks later.

Other champs discussed offering the top Olympic boxers title fights (Ali-Stevenson/Tyson-Savon). Usually, the amateurs declined. In this case, Patterson was offered the fight, and said yes.

Like I said earlier, they didn't think they'd be on the shelf for a year after that Rademacher fight. They just viewed it as a quick payday after the Jackson fight.

When the Marciano fight never came to fruition, and Floyd was out so long waiting for it come together, people started to focus more on why Floyd had fought Rademacher and hadn't fought someone else in a year. And people started to complain more about the Rademacher fight.

It was supposed to be a little nothing fight people forgot between his bouts with the #1 contender and Marciano.

 

I know he was an Olympic champ. He had zero pro fights. It was a farce and it sullied the world heavyweight championship.

The message is clear: “If you put up money, we don’t care if you have done exactly zero to earn the shot ... we are open for business.”

 

It wasn't a farce. It was a good fight while it lasted.

No more of a farce then letting someone like Lomachenko fight for a world title in fight #2.

 

Floyd did not fight Eddie Machen until July 5 1964, in Sweden, Patterson won by unanimous decision, he had Eddie badly hurt at times, but as Floyd would later say, I Had Eddie In Trouble Several Times, But Spared Him Because He Had Mental Problems, Eddie Had Spent Time In A Mental Hospital. This was before Eddie Fought Ernie Terrell for the vacant WBA Title on March 5 1965, Terrell won by decision.