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Floyd Patterson passed away today at the age of 71.

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Posted by: TJ Cline




Hall of Fame Flags at Half-Staff for Floyd Patterson

 CANASTOTA, NY – MAY 11, 2006 – The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced its flags will fly at half-staff in memory of two-time heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. He passed away today at the age of 71.

Patterson was born January 4, 1935 in Waco, NC. He captured a gold medal as a middleweight at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki and turned pro the same year. In 1956 Patterson won the vacant world heavyweight championship via a fifth round kayo over Archie Moore. He lost the title to Sweden’s Ingemar Johansson in 1959 and became the first man to regain the heavyweight title when he stopped Johansson in five rounds in the rematch. During his career Patterson compiled a professional record of 55-8-1 (40KOs) including wins over Eddie Machen, Henry Cooper, Oscar Bonavena, and Brian London.

“Floyd Patterson was an icon, a true gentleman and a great representative of the sport of boxing,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy. “He will be missed.” In 1991, Patterson was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.


Posted by: TJ Cline

Why The Post Title Patterson Was Better
11.05.06 - By Jim Amato: Poor Floyd Patterson. Everyone loves him but not everyone respects him as a fighter or champion. You rarely here his name tossed about when the topic of all time great heavyweights is brought up. What a shame!

Who is to blame for the heartbreaking oversight? People tend to forget that Patterson thrashed Archie Moore much more impressively then Marciano did the night he became the youngest man ever to win the heavyweight crown. Still when a "Dream Match" between Marciano and Patterson is talked about, Floyd is quickly dismissed... Simply put, Rocky had the PUNCH and Floyd did not have the whiskers.

After the Moore victory, Floyd would make "safe" defenses against guys like Pete Rademacher, and Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson. Floyd then had his chin exposed by Ingemar Johansson. To Floyd's credit he became the first heavyweight champion to regain the title by halting Ingo not once but twice. Finally Floyd fell to the ham like fists of Charles "Sonny" Liston in one round. Sonny repeated the one round trick in their return match..

I feel that the losses to Liston helped to make Floyd a better overall fighter. The "New" Patterson took on ALL comers. Fighters that he had "avoided", were met and beaten. The new Patterson was raising some eyebrows. Although Floyd fought and lost to a prime time Muhammad Ali in 1965, he had earned that right to another title shot by defeating Eddie Machen and George Chuvalo. Floyd would come right back after his loss to Ali and destroy the respected Henry Cooper of England. he later fought a draw with an up and coming Jerry Quarry.

When Ali was stripped of his title for refusing to be inducted into the Army, the W.B.A. set up an eight man elimination tourney to determine a new champion. Floyd was among one of the eight selected. Floyd drew Jerry Quarry as his first tourney opponent. This time Jerry won a hotly disputed decision. Quarry went on to upset Thad Spencer and then lose to Jimmy Ellis in the "championship" bout.

Floyd had been so impessive against Quarry that he was matched with Ellis for Jimmy's W.B.A. title.On a cool night in Sweeden almost everyone thought that Floyd had done enough to win the verdict and regain the crown. Poor Floyd... The referee and sole voter gave it to Ellis.

Floyd would come back to win nine in a row including a points call over the rugged Oscar Bonavena. This led to another match with the now titleless Muhammad Ali. Floyd fought his heart out but could not overcome the bigger, stronger and faster Ali.

Patterson never fought again.




Posted by: Trouble

Nice posts and thread, Foreman.


Posted by: The Monkey Man

They did a nice article on him on ESPN


Posted by: TJ Cline

Former Boxer Floyd Patterson Dies at 71


Former Boxer Floyd Patterson Dies at 71 After Suffering From Alzheimner's and Prostate Cancer


By TIM DAHLBERG AP Boxing Writer

May 11, 2006 (AP)— Floyd Patterson was small for a heavyweight, but that never stopped him from taking on the giants of his time. Good enough to become the first two-time heavyweight champion of the world, he wasn't big enough to avoid taking beatings from Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.
Patterson died Thursday at his home in New Paltz, N.Y., at the age of 71. He had Alzheimer's disease for about eight years and prostate cancer, nephew Sherman Patterson said.
A shy, quiet man, Patterson was a popular champion long after he retired, getting big ovations at fights. He was cast as the good guy in bouts against Liston and Ali, but was knocked out twice in the first round by Liston and stopped twice by Ali.
Patterson won fans because he had a big man's punch, but a small man's jaw. He could punch with the best heavyweights, knocking one opponent down 11 times in a fight. But he was also down a total of 21 times during his career, including seven times in an embarrassing loss to Ingemar Johansson, in 1959 at Yankee Stadium that cost him the heavyweight title.
"They said I was the fighter who got knocked down the most, but I also got up the most," Patterson once said.
Patterson would come back to beat Johansson and become the first man to regain the heavyweight title, then would beat him again in a third fight despite being knocked down twice in the first round.
Patterson, who won a gold medal as a middleweight in the 1952 Olympics, weighed only 182 1/4 pounds when he beat Archie Moore for the heavyweight title in 1956. He was still only 188 1/2 pounds when he was stopped in the seventh round by Ali in his last fight in 1972.
That was big enough against the fighters of the late 1950s, but Liston demolished Patterson when they met in 1962, stopping him in the first round in Chicago to win the heavyweight title.
Patterson said years later that President Kennedy had urged him not to fight Liston, who was reputed to be handled by mobsters.
"I'm sorry, Mr. President," Patterson said he told Kennedy. "The title is not worth anything if the best fighters can't have a shot at it. And Liston deserves a shot."





Posted by: TJ Cline

By Chuck Johnson, USA TODAY
Floyd Patterson, the first two-time heavyweight champion, is remembered as a great fighter who was widely respected as a great gentleman.
"That was my first true hero," Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward said of Patterson, who died Thursday at age 71 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer.
"When he lost to Ingemar Johansson, I'll never forget. I was 14 years old, and when I found out he had been knocked out, I cried."
For fans from the baby boomer generation, Patterson was the first heavyweight champion whose career they saw unfold. At 21, four years after the Brooklyn, N.Y., native won the 1952 Olympic middleweight gold medal, Patterson became the youngest to win the heavyweight title in 1956 with a fifth-round KO of Archie Moore.
Undersized for a heavyweight, Patterson made up for it with fast hands that scored in combinations. His quickness prompted Muhammad Ali, who beat Patterson twice, to derisively dub him "The Rabbit."
The defining fight of Patterson's career was his fifth-round KO of Johansson in their 1960 rematch, making him the first heavyweight champion to regain the title. A year before stopping the Swede with a tremendous left hook, Patterson was knocked down seven times in the third round and lost his title to Johansson. Both fights took place at the old Polo Grounds in New York.
"The second fight was big because nobody thought he could win," said New York bar owner Jimmy Glenn, who worked as Patterson's assistant trainer in several fights. "The difference from the first fight was that he didn't get hit. Floyd got himself in great shape, studied and did what he had to do."
Patterson was proud of the way he never gave up. "They said I was the fighter who got knocked down the most, but I also got up the most," he said.
There would be no comeback in 1962 when Patterson lost his title on a first-round KO by Sonny Liston, whose power and size overwhelmed Patterson's speed and savvy. In 1963, Patterson attempted to become the first three-time heavyweight champ, but Liston KO'd him again in the first round.
After those defeats, Patterson was depressed and often disguised himself in public. But he resumed winning to earn a title shot against Ali, who had beaten Liston twice. In 1965, Patterson was thwarted as Ali toyed with and taunted him before winning on a 12th-round knockout.
Patterson, who ended his fighting career in 1972, remained an important figure in his sport, both as a trainer and as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, a position he held until recently. Among the young boxers he trained was adopted son Tracy Patterson, who he guided to a world bantamweight championship.
New York Gov. George Pataki, who appointed Patterson to his second commission term, said in a statement: "From his signature style in the ring to his support for amateur athletics later in life, Floyd Patterson was truly the 'gentleman of boxing.' "


Posted by: TJ Cline

In a Bad Sport, Patterson Stood Tall as a Good Guy

By John Scheinman
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, May 12, 2006; Page E01
Floyd Patterson, who died yesterday at age 71, was a sensitive, soft-spoken man who became champion in the most violent sport of all and then was swept up in his times.
"I once asked him how he described himself," remembered the boxing historian Bert Sugar, a longtime friend of the former heavyweight champion. "He said, 'Incongruous.' "
When Patterson became the first fighter to recapture the world heavyweight title by avenging his loss to Ingemar Johansson at the Polo Grounds in New York on June 20, 1960, he picked up and carried his knocked-out opponent back to his corner.
He was one of the most popular sports stars of the 1950s: a middleweight gold medalist in the 1952 Olympic Games who became the youngest heavyweight champion at 21 when he moved up in weight four years later and knocked out 42-year-old Archie Moore to win the title.
He was a precursor to Muhammad Ali, bringing blinding hand speed to a division known for fighters of lumbering power. He also was a clean-cut, good-guy champion.
"Floyd was a laid-back guy and reflected the entire decade," Sugar said. "The Fifties was a laid-back era. Our biggest concern after Korea was whether you can shoot Elvis Presley above the waist on television. Most heavyweight champions reflected their age. Ali was the chaotic Sixties. Joe Louis was the patriotic Forties."
One of 11 children, Patterson grew up troubled in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, running away from home, skipping school and sleeping in alleys. He was caught stealing and sent to reform school at age 10. By 14, he was learning to box in the care of one of the great trainers of the time, Cus D'Amato, who later took on another reform school prodigy, Mike Tyson, who eclipsed Patterson when he became the youngest heavyweight champion at age 20.
"Boxing gave him a way to become himself and reconcile the brutality inside the ring and the sensitivity outside of it," Sugar said of Patterson. "It gave him a life."
Patterson's sensitivity and well-mannered personality made him popular with both white and black fans. He was an heir to Louis, who had helped erase the divisive memory of Jack Johnson, the controversial black heavyweight champion decades earlier.
At a time when blacks in America were gathering momentum toward the Civil Rights Era, Patterson was champion. Then along came a fearsome, terrifying black fighter named Sonny Liston, known to be managed by mobsters.
D'Amato wanted nothing to do with Liston and neither did the NAACP, which came out against a Patterson-Liston fight, calling Liston the wrong kind of fighter to represent black America. President Kennedy also spoke out and said he hoped Patterson would retain the title.
"He was extremely well-handled by Cus D'Amato, who knew he couldn't beat Liston," said Nigel Collins, editor of the venerable boxing magazine The Ring. "Cus tried everything he could to keep them away from each other."

Floyd Patterson, a quiet and gracious boxer who was the first to reclaim the heavyweight title, finished his professional career with a record of 55-8-1, with 40 knockouts. (Getty Images)


Ultimately, Patterson signed for the fight, even though he, too, knew he couldn't beat Liston. The night of the fight, Sept. 25, 1962, Patterson brought a fake beard with him to Comiskey Park in Chicago. He wore the disguise as he left the stadium that night, humiliated, knocked out by Liston in just more than two minutes.
Liston knocked out Patterson in one round again the following year, but Patterson remained a popular heavyweight, even more so with the rise of Ali.
"Liston was an antiestablishment figure controlled by the mobsters and was an ex-con," Collins said. "By the time Ali came around, [Patterson] was sort of forced into the Uncle Tom role. Floyd was sort of a foil with both of those guys and the establishment always sided with him because he was the kind of black guy they liked. I don't think Floyd was an Uncle Tom. I think he was forced into that role by the times and circumstances."
Patterson refused to call Ali by his chosen name, continuing to refer to him as Cassius Clay. In the book "Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times," author Thomas Hauser quotes Patterson as saying before the two first fought in 1965: "I have been told Clay has every right to follow any religion he chooses, and I agree. But by the same token, I have the right to call the Black Muslims a menace to the United States and a menace to the Negro race. I have the right to say the Black Muslims stink. I am a Roman Catholic. I do not believe God put us here to hate one another. I believe the Muslim preaching of segregation, hatred, rebellion and violence is wrong. Cassius Clay is disgracing himself and the Negro race."
Ali tortured Patterson when they fought on Nov. 22, 1965. He taunted, "What's my name? What's my name?" with nearly every shot he landed. The fight was stopped in the 12th round.
Patterson retired in 1972 after a rematch with Ali. For years after, he worked with troubled youths in upstate New York, and in 1995 was named chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, which oversees boxing in the state.
Three years later, giving a deposition in a court case, Patterson had trouble remembering anything about his storied career. He was forced to leave his job, again deeply embarrassed.
"Most likely, his Alzheimer's was brought on by the damage he took inside the ring," Collins said. "I don't think it was any more of a disgrace to Floyd Patterson than it is for Muhammad Ali. It's just the price you pay for being a prize fighter."


Posted by: Trouble

I remember him being involved with "trouble youths"...I think ESPN did a expose on Floyd back in the 80s; I remember thinking he was pretty cool, cause he was donating a lot time and money to get kids out of the ghetto.

""Most likely, his Alzheimer's was brought on by the damage he took inside the ring," Collins said."

When I saw the cause of death listed, that was the first thing that crossed my mind..could progressive neurodegenerative conditions be catalyzed by low grade persistant head trauma? Ali and his speech and motor impairments would seem to suggest this might the case... What a legacy for the sport.

Speaking of Foreman, Big George Foreman would be another candidate for similar impairment (not that so many laid gloves on him *snicker*), but his comeback late in his career (think he was in his early 40s) seemed like it could put him in jeopardy of neurological damage... Yet, he seems pretty sharp...anybody seen him or heard him lately?

Must be other factors at play.


Posted by: aceshigh

one of boxings nice guys ,,great boxer too


Posted by: JordanMang

Quote:
Originally Posted by Trouble
I remember him being involved with "trouble youths"...I think ESPN did a expose on Floyd back in the 80s; I remember thinking he was pretty cool, cause he was donating a lot time and money to get kids out of the ghetto.

""Most likely, his Alzheimer's was brought on by the damage he took inside the ring," Collins said."

When I saw the cause of death listed, that was the first thing that crossed my mind..could progressive neurodegenerative conditions be catalyzed by low grade persistant head trauma? Ali and his speech and motor impairments would seem to suggest this might the case... What a legacy for the sport.

Speaking of Foreman, Big George Foreman would be another candidate for similar impairment (not that so many laid gloves on him *snicker*), but his comeback late in his career (think he was in his early 40s) seemed like it could put him in jeopardy of neurological damage... Yet, he seems pretty sharp...anybody seen him or heard him lately?

Must be other factors at play.
Definently plays a role IMO. My great grandmother went through shock therapy and beatings in the 30's and 40's because she was OCD and that's how they felt she could be cured. As a result she has severe dementia(sp?), and Alzheimer's is a form of dementia so this kind of leads me to believe that her abuse when she was younger ( and head trauma especially ) played a role since we don't have any kind of history of Alzheimer's in the family on her side.


Posted by: TJ Cline

Floyd Patterson - He Always Got Up
05.06.06 - by RON LIPTON: On May 11, 2006 I was standing in my kitchen with one foot being pulled out of the front door like I was water skiing on tile while my powerful but gentle black Pit Bull Terrier “Sweetie”was trying to get outside..

I was struggling with her to slow her down just a bit so the door would not go off it’s hinges. She resembles a beautiful mythical creature that is part panther and part wolf. and has the strength of both. Well, she was comically dragging me in tow out onto the porch with her still remarkable 9 year old exuberance, while I attempted with one hand to close the door behind me.

At that moment I heard my Fiance Gabrielle yell my name loudly with the sound of terrible stress in her voice as the door partially closed in her face.

My heartbeat reacted instantly and rose involuntarily at the sound of her voice which clearly communicated something bad had just happened. Sometimes people close to me react too emotionally about average things and I have asked many times for them to be cool under pressure and break things to me slowly, gently and succinctly.. Be clear, don’t wait, don’t hide bad news and tell me exactly what is wrong at once, is our understanding.

Well, my son and my girl know me well and that is how bad news is served up to me in the Lipton family, at once and in plain English. “Floyd Patterson just died, it is on TV now.” My heart went up a few more beats and my throat choked with shock. I had to breathe deeply and I tried to calm the sickening feeling spreading in my gut by taking some deep breaths.

The CNN report had been on and off as fast as one of Floyd’s combinations and all that remained was the news banner at the bottom of the screen. “Floyd Patterson former Heavyweight Champion died this morning at his home in New Paltz NY at age 71, he had been suffering from prostate cancer and pugilistic dementia.”

My history with him was so rich, varied and personal that my mind swirled with the memories and then stopped spinning on the image of his wife Janet. I hadn’t seen her in years because of reports of Floyd’s family going into virtual seclusion and preventing outside visits, from just about anyone, due to Floyd’s illness.

I sadly called her private phone and got a recording. I left a personal message of condolence and a plea for her to hang on and keep her health and to always remember that she is appreciated and loved by many. I gently hung up, paused and then I made a few calls.

I called Tracy Harris Patterson and Brian Burke his former corner man. They of course confirmed the worst to me, that Floyd had suffered terribly from prostate cancer and did indeed pass on this day. His powerful 200lb frame had been reduced to what Tracy thought to be about 110lbs before his passing.
I was aghast to hear that he had to suffer so badly and my faith was temporarily shaken for the moment that God could allow any good person of faith such as Floyd, to suffer like that and get knocked down so hard.

I kept my thoughts to myself temporarily and made a mental reservation to ask Tracy a few more questions, but certainly not now.

I felt helpless and was left in a state of numbness and felt my mind going back and forth to my own father who had admired Floyd so much. The combination of thinking of my own father’s passing in 2002 and now Floyd’s departure started to make me crumble a bit internally and I bit the bullet hard to center myself and calm down.

I realized that most every adult over 50 is like a mirror that has been broken and glued together in many pieces from all of our losses in life. Dwell too hard on those memories and that mirror will break into smitherines.

Rely on the toughness and understanding one has hopefully accrued in their life to keep that mirror together and you just might make it another 30 years.

I thought how horrible it must be for Floyd’s wife and children who loved him so much. I eased my mind by saying a few prayers with my family for him and I immediately let my other family on Cyberboxingzone know of his passing.

I also had found out that only his immediate family would be at the cemetary service but a memorial service for Floyd would be held on May 27, 2006 on a Saturday at his beloved St.Joseph’s Church in New Paltz, NY. All those who respected and loved him were welcome to attend.

When I heard the name of St.Joseph’s , I was reminded of the times I would attend the Church Bazaar where Floyd would sit in the chair above the water in the cage and you could try to dunk the former heavyweight champ with a baseball throw. I dropped him a few times and when he got out of the water with that sheepish grin I loved so much, I walked by him and said,

“I’m sorry Floyd but now I can always say, I dropped the heavyweight champ.” He laughed good naturedly and replied, “A lot of guys can say that, but I am proud that, I always got up.”

We both laughed as I knew in all his fights, he did indeed always get up, even in both Liston fights, he made it up shortly after 10.

In the days that followed the initial news of his passing, I was contacted by Cablevision to do a tribute to Floyd with his son Tracy and his dear friend Brian Burke who had worked with Floyd.

I agreed and I had but one request. I asked that after the usual stock footage of him was shown, would I be able to add a few moments from some of his fights that are not ordinarily proffered to the public.

Charlie Cornaccio, the producer agreed and I went about compiling some moments that I thought would exemplify his courage, fighting ability and his sportsmanship.

I put together some hi lites of him being fouled by Charlie “The Devil” Green and then unbelievably helping Green to the canvas after he took him out with a paralyzing left hook to the body in the 10th round. I showed his double right hand that took out Ingemar in their 3rd fight in Miami, and the 10th round with George Chuvalo to show his courage. I showed the Ellis fight with Floyd’s combinations blazing away and a few other tidbits.

We did the show and it went well. I talked about some personal things he did to stand by me when he was the NYSAC Boxing Commission Chairman. He assigned me to do the DeLahoya V Leija fight on HBO for the title in December of 1995.

Some jealous factions tried to take it away for themselves. He told them all that if I was not standing in the ring that night as the referee they could take the fight elsewhere. He had to battle a former Commissioner, that guy’s pals, and political hacks behind the scenes. They never stopped trying to usurp his authority or take work away from me or to make him look bad. He always did what was best for the fighters who he loved the most and they all knew it...

The night of the fight, I stood in the ring waiting for DeLahoya and Leija to come down the aisle in the Garden. It was bedlam. I heard a voice above it all, calling my name, “Ron, Ron, “ I looked up and it was Floyd. He beckoned me over with a strong hand.
He looked me dead in the eye with the most serious look on his face, “I told you I would not let anyone take this away from you, now do you believe me, I know you’re the best man for the job.”

I said, I always believe you Floyd no matter what you tell me, he smiled at hearing that and sat down satisfied that he won another righteous fight.

He said something else one day that I always believed too. In 1990 I had ridden up to New Hamshire from New Paltz NY with him. It seemed like a 7 hour drive. I was to work the corner with him in a fight. I rode up with him along with my son Brett and another fighter. I did the driving.

When we checked into the hotel, he was signing the register to pay for our rooms.
Two beautiful women were in the lobby, so I tapped him on the arm whispering to him with my earthy sense of humor. I was friends with his beloved wife Janet and deeply respected her, so I figured he had to know I was kidding.

I said, Hey Champ these two babes are giving you the eye over there. Thinking I was serious, he slowly raised his scarred and powerful left hand, pointing to his wedding ring,
“There’s only one girl for me, that’s my wife Janet.”

I loved him more at that moment than ever before. I said, I know Champ, I was only kidding. He then turned to look at me again, and smiled realizing I had been kidding with him while shooting a playful jab to my gut.

His best girl was at the funeral mass on Saturday. I went over and kissed her and took her hand. She looked grief stricken and worn out beyond endurance. I sat down and soon another man sat down right next to me. It was Brian Kenny who had come from Connecticut. We had done about 15 TV shows together on boxing before he went to ESPN. He loved Floyd very much too and we both knew what a loss this was.

I waited awhile until things quieted down among the 200 people there. I sat quietly thinking of the first time I saw Floyd around the corner in the Gramercy Gym from my Father’s store in Manhattan.

It was the mid 1950’s. I watched him train every day with my Dad and got his autograph. The little boy I was never dreamed what I would share with him in the future. I never dreamed I would know what his last words on this Earth would be either.. Tracy told me.

He lay in bed, with his best girl sitting next to him, and a priest by his side. He was knocked down but good with the cancer taking him closer and closer to death’s door.

As he was down and dying, he said to Janet, “I see Jesus standing over there in the corner, can’t you see him? He wants me to come with him now, I have to go.” He then died. His last words left us with a renewed faith and in doing that, to me he got up from being knocked down.

He got up the only way he knew, with grace under fire, with dignity, politeness and faith, all his trademarks.

I told Brian Kenny about it, and we both grieved in our own way.

I wish I could tell Floyd one more time, Yes, I believe you Floyd, you always got up.

Love forever,
Ron








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