Floyd Patterson

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Statistics
Floyd Patterson
Image:Floyd Patterson 1962.jpg
Real name	Floyd Patterson
Nickname	The Gentleman of Boxing
Weight	Heavyweight
Nationality	USA
Birth date	January 4, 1935
Birth place	Waco, North Carolina, USA
Death date	May 11, 2006
Death place	New Paltz, New York, USA
Style	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	64
Wins	55
Wins by KO	40
Losses	8
Draws	1
No contests	0

Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American heavyweight boxing champion who made history multiple times in the sport of boxing. He had a record of 55 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw, with 40 wins by knockout. He once said that a champion should conduct himself as one in real life as well as in the ring.

1 Childhood and amateur career
2 Early Pro career
3 Champion
4 Retired life
5 Pop Culture References
6 See also
7 References
8 External link

[edit] Childhood and amateur career

Born into a poor family in Waco, North Carolina, Patterson was the youngest of eleven children and experienced an insular and troubled childhood. His family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Floyd was a persistent truant and petty thief. At age ten, he was sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys, a reform school in upstate New York, which he credited with turning his life around.

At age fourteen he started to box, trained by Cus D'Amato at his now-legendary Gramercy Gym. Aged just 17, Patterson, won the Gold medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics as a Middleweight.

[edit] Early Pro career

Patterson turned pro and steadily rose through the ranks, his only early defeat was a controversial decision, an eight-round decision to former light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim.

[edit] Champion

Floyd was considered a logical contender, but not for a heavyweight title. Floyd had plans to fight Archie Moore in September/October 1956 for a light heavyweight title but since Rocky retired, he was moved to a heavyweight division on May 2 1956 with a fifth ranking. There were rumors circulating about Floyd fighting Rocky Marciano on January 4th (his birthday) or 11th of January 1956 in Miami, Florida but the public at that time was not truly interested. Floyd was not a contender for the heavyweight crown. He had no plans fighting for a heavyweight title before 1957. Although a natural at middleweight, and later at light heavyweight, he fought Archie Moore on November 30, 1956 for the world heavyweight championship left vacant by Rocky Marciano. He beat Moore by a knockout in five, and became at the time boxing's youngest world heavyweight champion in history, at the age of 21. As a result, he was the first Olympic gold medalist to win a heavyweight title. However, his height (5'11") and short reach (71 inches) meant he was more adapted to the light heavyweight division.

After a series of defenses, Patterson met Ingemar Johansson of Sweden, in the beginning of what many consider one of boxing's most interesting trilogies of fights. Johansson triumphed over Patterson on June 26, 1959, with the referee Ruby Goldstein stopping the fight in the third round after the Swede had knocked Patterson down seven times. Johansson became that country's first world heavyweight champion, thus becoming a national hero in Sweden immediately as the first European to defeat an American for the title since 1933.

Patterson knocked Johansson out in the fifth round of their rematch on June 20, 1960, with a leaping left hook that many boxing historians have called the best punch ever , to become the first man to recover the world's undisputed heavyweight title. The punch caught Johansson's chin and he hit the canvas with a thud, out before he landed flat on his back. With blood trickling from his mouth, his glazed eyes staring up at the ring lights, and his left foot quivering, the Swede was counted out. After the count, Patterson showed his concern for Johansson by cradling his motionless opponent, and promising him a second rematch. Johansson lay unconscious for five minutes before he was placed on a stool brought into the ring. He was still dazed and unsteady fifteen minutes after the knockout as he was helped out of the ring. Patterson further endeared himself with the people who had made Johansson their national hero, and when he went on a European exhibition tour after that rematch, he was greeted by Swedish fans, who were eager to shake hands, ask for autographs and take photos with Patterson everywhere he went during his stay there.

A third fight between them was held on March 13, 1961, and while Johansson put Patterson on the floor, Patterson retained his title by a knockout in six to win a wild rubber match in which Patterson was decked twice and Johannson once in the first round. Patterson became the first man in the history of boxing to regain the world heavyweight belt and this is what he will be remembered for.

Some of the more questionable opponents he faced as Champion, including 1960 Olympic Champion Pete Rademacher fighting in his first professional match, led to charges that Patterson was ducking former convict Sonny Liston. Patterson, coaxed by D'Amato, refused to fight Liston because of his ties to organised crime. While many supported his stand on keeping the sport clean, others saw it merely as an excuse to avoid facing Liston in the ring.

However, Patterson, eventually stung by the criticism agreed to fight Liston during a press event with President Kennedy at the White House.

After one more defense, Patterson lost his title on September 25, 1962 by a knockout in the first round to Sonny Liston. The two fighters were a marked contrast. In the ring, Liston's size and power proved too much for Patterson's guile and agility. Ten months later on July 22, 1963, Patterson again attempted to become the first boxer ever to win the world's Heavyweight title three times, but Liston once again knocked him out in the first round.

Following these defeats, Patterson went through a depression, often donning sunglasses and hats to disguise himself in public. However, he eventually recovered and began winning fights again, until he became the number one challenger of the man who twice beat Liston, Muhammad Ali. On November 22, 1965, in yet another attempt to be the first to win the world's Heavyweight title three times, Patterson lost by technical knockout at the end of the 12th round.

Ali had been enraged by Patterson's criticisms of his membership of the Nation of Islam. In the build up to their fight he continually taunted Patterson, dubbing him 'The Rabbit', because of the docile manner of his two defeats to Liston, turning up one time to Patterson's training camp to hand him some carrots.

Despite this blow, Patterson was still a legitimate contender. In 1966 he traveled to England and defeated British boxer Henry Cooper in just four rounds at Wembley Stadium.

In 1967, Ali was stripped of the heavyweight title for refusing military service after being drafted into the United States Army. Despite the previous bad-blood between the two men, Patterson came to Ali's defence and opposed Ali losing the title over his stance.

The World Boxing Association staged an 8-man tournament to determine Ali's successor. Patterson, in a third and final attempt at winning the title a third time, lost a 15-round referee's decision to Jimmy Ellis in Sweden despite breaking Ellis' nose and scoring a knockdown.

Patterson went on, defeating Oscar Bonavena in ten rounds in 1972. However, a final defeat to Muhammad Ali in a rematch for the North American Heavyweight title on September 20, 1972 convinced Patterson to retire at the age of 37. Floyd is still the youngest lineal heavyweight champion at 21, Mike Tyson became lineal champion on June 27th 1988, 3 days shy of his 22nd birthday.

[edit] Retired life

In retirement, he and Johansson became good friends who flew across the Atlantic to visit each other every year, and he became chairman of the New York state Athletic commission, a job that he held until recently. He also became a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Floyd was known as the gentleman of boxing as he was a gentleman in real life.

In 1982 and 1983 he ran the Stockholm Marathon together with Ingemar Johansson.

Patterson lived in New Paltz, New York, and was a convert to Roman Catholicism and a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Patterson passed away at his home. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer and had been hospitalized a week prior to his death.

[edit] Pop Culture References

In the Japanese boxing anime series Hajime no Ippo, The title character, Makunouchi Ippo, is taught the "Gazelle Punch" which is a recreation of the leaping blow Patterson used to defeat Johansson in their first rematch fight.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Dahlberg, Tim. "Former Boxer Floyd Patterson Dies at 71", Washington Post, May 11, 2006.
Mulvaney, Kieran, Patterson an all-time great outside the ropes. ESPN.com, May 12, 2006.

Career Record from Boxrec.com

[edit] External link

Sports E-Cyclopedia's Memoriam to Floyd Patterson

Preceded by: Rocky Marciano	Heavyweight boxing champion 1956–1959	Succeeded by: Ingemar Johansson
Preceded by: Ingemar Johansson	Heavyweight boxing champion 1960–1962	Succeeded by: Sonny Liston