Depending on what boxing expert you talk to, Floyd Patterson may or may not be recognized on the list of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions of all time. But he was a tremendous fighter who did make history during his professional career.
Patterson died last Thursday at his home in New York. He was 71. Patterson was the classic overachiever as a professional boxer. Not only was he one of the smallest fighters to win the heavyweight title, but also the youngest. He was also a quiet man who carried himself like a champion out of the ring while teaching the youngsters he worked with to do the same.
One of the young people that he trained was Tracy Harris, who Floyd later adopted when Tracy was 11. With his adopted father’s help, Tracy Harris-Patterson won the WBC super bantamweight title in 1992.
Patterson the gold medal at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki as a middleweight. He joined the professional ranks one year later and competed as a heavyweight against much bigger men. In 1956, Patterson knocked out veteran Archie Moore to win the heavyweight title. At the age of 21, he became the youngest man ever to win the heavyweight title.
After four successful defenses, Patterson lost his title to Sweden’s Ingemar Johansson, who knocked Patterson down seven times. Patterson made history again one year later when he knocked out Johansson to become the first man ever to regain the heavyweight title after losing it. The left hook that Patterson knocked Johansson out with was one of the most famous punches in boxing history. Johansson was laid out on the canvas motionless with only his left leg twitching from the force of Patterson’s blow. In a display of class, Patterson came over to hold his rival in his arms until the medical staff arrived on the scene. He earned worldwide respect and acclaim for his shown of concern for his fallen opponent.
Patterson’s second title reign ended at the hands of St. Louisan Sonny Liston, who knocked out Patterson in the first round. Liston repeated the first-round knockout performance in a subsequent rematch. He fought one more time for the title in 1965, where champion Muhammad Ali defeated him by a 12th round TKO. Ali purposely inflicted pain on the aging Patterson because of the challenger’s refusal to call him Ali. Patterson paid for his repeated use of the name Cassius Clay.
After his retirement in 1972, Patterson stayed in the fight game; eventually being appointed New York State Athletic Commissioner.
