Floyd Patterson; Independent obituary (Great)
Hyfler/Rosner
12 May 2006
John Exshaw
Slight, self-effacing, introspective boxer who was twice
world heavyweight champion
In 1960, Floyd Patterson made boxing history by becoming the
first former heavyweight champion to regain the world title,
a feat which had proved beyond the scope of earlier legends
of the ring such as James J. Corbett, Jack Dempsey and Joe
Louis. Four years earlier, Patterson had claimed another
record by winning the title at the age of 21, an achievement
which, the purists might maintain, remains unequalled to the
present day (Mike Tyson won a version of the world title in
1986, aged 20, but Patterson was the undisputed champion in
the days before rival world sanctioning bodies contrived to
divide - and devalue - the title).
Yet, despite these considerable accomplishments, Patterson
was never accorded the mythic status of Dempsey, Louis or
his immediate predecessor as champion, Rocky Marciano. This
was due to a combination of factors: his sensitive,
introspective nature (a willingness to voice his fears to
journalists earned him the press nickname of "Freudian
Floyd"); the frequency with which he was knocked down (17
times in 13 championship fights); and the determination of
his manager to avoid dangerous claimants to his charge's
throne.
Floyd Patterson was born in 1935 in North Carolina, but grew
up in the grim tenements of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn,
New York, where his family had relocated in the year after
Floyd's birth. A shy, awkward child, Floyd Patterson was
troubled by his inability to help his family financially (he
was the third son of 11 siblings), and would often point to
a photograph of himself aged two and say: "I don't like that
boy."
He took to roaming the streets, often hiding away in subway
tunnels overnight, before turning to petty theft. At the age
of 10, his constant court appearances caused him to be sent
to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in upstate New York.
Patterson benefited from the relaxed regime, learning to
read and write, and to express himself. On his return to New
York two years later, he attended first PS614 and then the
Alexander Hamilton Vocational High School.
In 1949, Patterson accompanied his older brothers to the
Gramercy Gym on East 14th Street, owned by Cus D'Amato, a
trainer and manager renowned for his idiosyncratic approach
to boxing, and his almost paranoid determination to remain
independent from the mobsters then controlling the fight
game. Patterson quickly absorbed D'Amato's lessons on the
nature of fear ("Fear is natural, it is normal. Fear is your
friend . . . Without fear, we would not survive"), while at
the same time developing what came to be called "the
peekaboo defence" (gloves held high to the head, elbows
tucked in to protect the ribs).
After making his début in 1950, Patterson quickly reached
the top of the amateur rankings, winning titles in both the
Golden Gloves and National AAU championships, before being
chosen to represent his country as a middleweight at the
1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. In the final, Patterson took
just 20 seconds to stop his Romanian opponent and claim the
gold medal.
Patterson turned professional that year, winning 13 fights
in succession before losing a decision to the former
light-heavyweight champion Joey Maxim in 1954. Deeply
embarrassed by the loss, Patterson locked himself away in
his apartment, demonstrating what was to become a
characteristic response to defeat. After being coaxed back
to work by D'Amato, Patterson ran up a further 16 victories,
first as a light-heavyweight then as a heavyweight, before
being matched against Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson in an
eliminator for the heavyweight title which had unexpectedly
become vacant on the retirement of Rocky Marciano in April
1956.
Marciano's abdication (after a tough defence against the
light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore) proved fortunate in
that D'Amato was able to negotiate from a position of
strength with the International Boxing Club, the corrupt
organisation which controlled boxing from its headquarters
in Madison Square Garden. Patterson duly ground out a split
decision win over Jackson to earn a fight with Moore in
Chicago on 30 November 1956. In the fifth round of his 32nd
fight, Patterson stopped a curiously undermotivated Moore to
become the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
Patterson's reign as champion began promisingly enough when,
in July 1957, he managed to stop Jackson in the 10th round
of their return match in New York. But D'Amato's
unwillingness to deal with the IBC, combined with a natural
desire that Patterson should make as much money from his
title with as little risk as possible, soon saw Patterson
defending against opponents whose right to a championship
fight was doubtful at best.
The most extreme example of D'Amato's overcautious
matchmaking was Patterson's next defence in which he faced
Pete Rademacher, the 1956 Olympic heavyweight champion, who
was making his professional début. Patterson stopped the
ex-serviceman in the seventh round, and earned $250,000 in
the process, but had to get off the canvas in the second
round to do so. Patterson also made heavy work in disposing
of Roy Harris in August 1958 and the former British champion
Brian London in May 1959.
Defences such as these helped Patterson to become
financially secure (even though he was in the 90 per cent
tax bracket), but D'Amato's refusal to accommodate the
claims of genuine heavyweight contenders fatally undermined
the respect Patterson, as world heavyweight champion, was
due. Nor, must it be said, did Patterson's demeanour help -
slightly built for a heavyweight (his usual fighting weight
was in the region of 131/2 stone, the modern cruiserweight
limit), with sad, soulful eyes and a forehead often
corrugated with worry, he simply did not look the part.
Self- effacing comments ("I'm not a great champion. I'm just
a champion"), while commendable in some respects, did
nothing to erase the impression that Patterson's tenure of
the championship owed as much to good timing as to natural
fighting ability.
D'Amato's next choice was the lightly regarded European
champion, Ingemar Johansson of Sweden. Johansson's principal
asset was a heavy right hand (variously christened "Ingo's
Bingo" and "The Hammer of Thor") and, when the pair met at
the Yankee Stadium in New York in June 1959, he unleashed it
on Patterson's frail chin to spectacular effect. Patterson
went down but struggled up, only to be knocked down again
and again. After the seventh knock-down, the referee stepped
in to save the stricken champion in the third round of the
bout.
Patterson's reaction was predictable: he shut himself away
in his house, refusing all visitors. When the chance for
redemption arose, in the form of a rematch with Johansson a
year later, Patterson seized the opportunity with both
hands. On 20 June 1960, in New York's Polo Grounds,
Patterson used all his speed to nullify the Swede's jab,
before landing a left hook in the fifth round that sent the
champion down for a count of nine. Johansson struggled on
but another left hook caught him on the point of the chin.
He was unconscious before he reached the canvas, his foot
shaking uncontrollably. Floyd Patterson was once again
heavyweight champion of the world.
In March 1961, Patterson underlined his superiority over
Johansson, stopping him in the sixth round of a rubber match
at Miami Beach, Florida. Patterson's next defence was in
Toronto in December 1961 against the hopelessly overmatched
Tom McNeeley, who was dispatched in four rounds, but by now
Patterson was under increasing pressure to fight Charles
"Sonny" Liston, the former convict who had cut a bloody
swath through the line of contenders avoided by Patterson
and D'Amato.
Patterson, a quiet advocate of civil rights and integration,
now found himself cast as the "Good Negro" versus Liston the
"Bad Negro", with added pressure coming from black activists
who did not want Liston as champion, as well as from
President John F. Kennedy, who insisted that Patterson had
to beat Liston. Against D'Amato's advice, Patterson accepted
the fight.
On 25 September l962, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Patterson
was bludgeoned to defeat after two minutes and six seconds
of the opening round. He left Chicago wearing a false beard
and glasses (props he had carried to each fight since his
loss to Johansson). In New York, he caught the first
outbound flight, and spent several days holed up in a cheap
hotel in Madrid before venturing home.
As with the first Johansson fight, Patterson was convinced
he could do better in a rematch with Liston, but when the
pair met in Las Vegas in July 1963, the fight lasted a mere
four seconds longer than their first encounter; the result,
however, was the same. And yet Patterson fought on, beating
Eddie Machen and George Chuvalo to earn another title fight,
this time against Liston's conqueror Muhammad Ali.
Unwisely, Patterson chose to portray himself as the
establishment crusader who would wrest the title back from
the black Muslims, as represented by Ali. The political
overtones of the fight added to the ugliness that unfolded
in the Las Vegas ring in November 1965, as Ali punished
Patterson for 12 brutal rounds before the referee stopped
the one-sided affair.
The following year, Patterson travelled to England, where he
knocked out Henry Cooper in four rounds at Wembley. In 1967
he drew and then lost on points to Jerry Quarry, before
fighting Jimmy Ellis in Stockholm in 1968 for the WBA
version of the title. After losing that decision, Patterson
announced his retirement, but in 1970 he made a comeback,
beating Oscar Bonavena on points in 1972 to set up a fight
with Muhammad Ali for the North American Boxing Federation
title. Once again, Patterson was stopped by Ali, this time
in the seventh round, after which he announced his permanent
retirement from the ring, leaving boxing after 20 years with
a professional record of 55 wins, eight losses, and one
draw.
In retirement, Patterson trained young fighters at the
Huguenot Boys' Club in New Paltz, New York, before being
appointed Chairman of the New York State Athletic
Commission, the body which oversees boxing in the state. In
1984, Patterson was seen as a gym janitor in Terrible Joe
Moran (also known as One Blow Too Many), a television movie
notable only for the last screen performance of James
Cagney. In 1992, Patterson guided his adopted son, Tracy
Harris Patterson, to the WBC super-bantamweight title, an
achievement which he claimed gave him more pleasure than
regaining the heavyweight crown from Johansson.
Patterson was reappointed as Chairman of the NYSAC in 1995,
but in 1998, rumours that his memory was failing were
confirmed when, during a legal hearing, he was unable to
recall even the most basic facts about the sport he was
supposed to be governing. His embarrassment was compounded
when he failed to recall whom he had fought for the title in
1956. Before the story of his Alzheimer's broke in the
press, Patterson resigned his post, admitting, "It's hard
for me to think when I'm tired. Sometimes, I can't even
remember my own name."
Floyd Patterson, boxer: born Waco, North Carolina 4 January
1935; world heavyweight boxing champion 1956-59, 1960-62;
twice married (two daughters, one adopted son); died New
Paltz, New York 11 May 2006.