Floyd Patterson

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Floyd Patterson
Heavyweight boxing world champion
boxer
Floyd Patterson
Data
Birth Name Floyd Patterson
Weight class Heavyweight
nationality United StatesUnited States US-american
birthday 4th January 1935
place of birth Waco, North Carolina
Date of death May 11, 2006
Place of death New Paltz
style Left delivery
size 1.83 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles 64
Victories 55
Knockout victories 40
Defeats 8th
draw 1
Profile in the BoxRec database

Floyd Patterson (born January 4, 1935 in Waco , North Carolina , † May 11, 2006 in New Paltz , New York ) was an American undisputed heavyweight boxing champion .

biography

Patterson grew up in difficult social conditions in Yonkers ( New York ) and came as a teenager with the law in conflict. He started boxing in a reformatory, where he was discovered by the legendary trainer Cus D'Amato .

amateur

Patterson won the "Golden Gloves" in 1951 and 1952, the most important amateur tournament in the United States , as well as the national championship of 1952. He was then nominated as the US representative for the Olympic Games in Helsinki that year . There he secured himself, only 17 years old, by a first-round knockout in the final against the Romanian Vasile Tiță the gold medal in the middleweight division.

Professional career

He played his first professional fight against Eddie Godbold on September 12, 1952 in New York. He won by technical knockout in the 4th round . He suffered his first defeat on points in June 1954 against the light heavyweight Joey Maxim . Under the leadership of his manager Cus D'Amato , he switched to the more lucrative heavyweight class. After the resignation of the undefeated champion Rocky Marciano (just like Patterson 84 kg) on ​​April 27, 1956, the chance of the world title opened up for him. In an elimination match on June 8, 1956, he beat Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson (USA) on points and qualified for the decisive fight against the light heavyweight legend Archie Moore .

On November 30, 1956, he won the vacant heavyweight world title in Chicago by knocking out the 43-year-old Moore in the fifth round. Patterson, then only 21 years old, was the youngest heavyweight world champion to date. The 20-year-old Mike Tyson then broke his record in November 1986 (although Tyson was initially only recognized according to the WBC version; he became the undisputed world champion in August 1987 at the age of 21).

In his second title defense Patterson appeared on August 22, 1957 against Pete Rademacher in his professional debut. It was the first and so far only time that someone was allowed to box in their first fight for a world title. The year before, Rademacher had won the heavyweight gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and then had full-bodied assertion that he was capable of becoming world champion in his first professional fight. Patterson let himself be provoked by the big media hype and gave Rademacher the title chance. In the fight, Rademacher managed to knock down in the second round, but he himself had to go down six times and finally lost to a knockout in the sixth round.

1959 Patterson got involved in a fight against Sweden's Ingemar Johansson on June 26th in New York . He had knocked out Eddie Make , against whom Patterson was originally supposed to box, in the first round and inflicted his first defeat on him. The underdog surprisingly sent Patterson down with a huge right cross in the third round. After six more knockdowns Patterson lost his world title by technical knockout in the 3rd round. Patterson later referred to Johansson as the toughest puncher he had to face in his long career and even puts him above Sonny Liston.

In the rematch against Johansson on June 20, 1960, again in New York, Patterson won the title back with a knockout victory in the fifth round. No former heavyweight world champion had succeeded in this before him. Until then, the rule “They never come back” had applied. He was also able to prevail against Johansson in the subsequent third encounter.

Patterson subsequently defended his title until he was knocked out in the first round against Sonny Liston in Chicago on September 25, 1962 . The direct rematch brought the same result. Nevertheless, Patterson was able to box a World Cup chance again by indisputably defeating Eddie Make in Stockholm over twelve rounds on points. On November 20, 1965, he boxed in Las Vegas for the first time against Muhammad Ali , who defended the title he had won against Sonny Liston with a technical knockout in the twelfth round.

After Ali was stripped of the world title in 1967, an elimination tournament for the vacant title was held, in which Patterson also took part. However, he failed in the quarterfinals just on points to Jerry Quarry and was back twice on the ground. Despite this defeat, he got another chance a year later to box the title, but he lost here with 6 to 9 rounds - albeit controversial - against Jimmy Ellis .

Patterson's last fight took place on September 20, 1972 in New York against Muhammad Ali for the North American heavyweight title. Floyd lost to a technical knockout in the seventh round.

Floyd Patterson has played 64 fights in his career, winning 55 times, losing eight times and drawing once. The physically comparatively thin Patterson (approx. 85 kg) was known for his attack-like attack tactics, in which he literally jumped at the opponent and tried to bring a left hook into the target. This was the "peek-a-boo" style developed by D'Amato. Like many boxers who had moved up from the lower weight classes to the heavyweight division, Patterson had limited ability to take, he was often knocked down, but was able to compensate for this with fighting spirit and his own clout. His fights were usually given considerable entertainment value. " When Floyd is boxing there is always something going on, there is always someone on the ground - at the beginning often he, at the end the opponent, " was a common statement among boxing connoisseurs.

Patterson's grave

In 1991 Patterson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

Patterson's adoptive son Tracy Harris-Patterson won the WBC half-featherweight title and the IBF half -lightweight title in the 1990s .

Floyd Patterson most recently suffered from memory loss and prostate cancer due to Alzheimer's disease . He died on May 11, 2006 at the age of 71 at his home in New Paltz , a village north of New York .

Some fights

  • 1952: Olympic gold medal in middleweight in Helsinki
  • 1956: the youngest heavyweight world champion to date after the fight against Archie Moore
  • 1959: Loss of the title against Ingemar Johansson from Sweden
  • 1960: Another title win in the return battle
  • 1962: Loss of the title against Sonny Liston
  • 1965: Unsuccessful attempt to win the third title against Muhammad Ali

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Patterson, Floyd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American boxer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th January 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Waco , North Carolina , USA
DATE OF DEATH May 11, 2006
Place of death New Paltz , New York , USA