Floyd Patterson 1935–

Professional boxer

A Fighter is Born

A Champion Dethroned

Patterson vs. Liston

Success After Boxing

Sources

Floyd Patterson was born on January 4, 1935 in Waco, North Carolina—the third of 11 children. He grew up in abject poverty and would become the youngest heavyweight champion until Mike Tyson came along. The family moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1936 so that Patterson’s father Thomas could look for work. He worked in construction, as a longshoreman, in sanitation, and in a fish market. Thomas Patterson worked every day, but to Floyd’s young eyes there never seemed to be enough. The Patterson’s constantly moved around Brooklyn trying to accommodate the ever-growing family. As a child, Patterson felt ashame of not having clothes that fit and a sense of helplessness for not being able to help his parents provide for the family.

As a result of his own self-perception, Patterson did not go to school, but avoided the truant officer by staying in the dark all day—in neighborhood cellars, alleys, subway stations, or in the movies. Patterson was not like the other kids; he could not (or would not) read or write, he did not bring friends home, and he would not look people in the eye. Besides skipping school he began to steal to pass the time away. Because his mother could not control him, Patterson was sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in 1945, which was an alternative to jail for boys aged eight to 12. It was at this correctional institution that Patterson blossomed. At Wiltwyck he received individual attention and found that white and black kids were treated exactly the same.

It was also at Wiltwyck that Patterson put on boxing gloves for the first time. He was a natural, winning all three bouts in which he participated. At the age of twelve Patterson returned home a new person. He was still shy, but he had overcome the feeling of shame that was so deep-seeded within him as a small child. Patterson went to P.S. 614—a vocational elementary school where he got the idea that he could use boxing to earn money for his family.

A Fighter is Born

In 1949 Patterson entered Gramercy Gym, which was run by Cus D’Amato, who would later train and manage Tyson. D’Amato gave Patterson boxing equipment and taught him the rudiments of the ring, but his first experience at boxing was almost his last. Patterson’s

At a Glance…

Born Floyd Patterson, January 4, 1935 in Waco, North Carolina; Son of Thomas Patterson; wife Sandra; children: Seneca, Jennifer.

Career: Won a gold medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics; World Heavyweight Champion 1956-59, 1960-62; Last fight in 1972 against Muhammed Ali; Commissioner, New York State Athletic Commission, 1977-84; Commissioner, New York City Sports Commission, 1985; Chairman, New York State Athletic Commission, 1995-98.

Awards: Received “Setting a Good Example Award’’ from President John F. Kennedy, 1961; Elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame, 1976; Received the “Pioneer of Excellence Award” from the World Institute of Black Communications and CBS Records, 1986.

first fight was against his brother Frank, who was then the 160-pound New York Golden Gloves Champion. He was pummeled by his big brother, but overcame his fear and stuck with the sport. Six months later he had his first amateur fight.

In January of 1950 Patterson entered and won his first AAU tournament bout in the 147-pound weight class. The next year as a 160-pound fighter, Patterson won his weight class and traveled to Chicago to participate in the national AAU Boxing Championships. 1951 was a significant year for Patterson personally because he met his future wife Sandra Hicks. Patterson wanted to turn pro that year as a sixteen-year-old, but D’Amato would not let him. In the back of his mind D’Amato was saving Patterson for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. In 1952 Patterson won the Golden Gloves Championship at Madison Square Garden and the National AAU Championship in Boston. After Patterson won the Eastern Olympic tryouts and was named to the team, he left school for good for a chance at history. Patterson became a member of perhaps the finest United States Olympic boxing team ever assembled as the squad won five gold medals including Patterson’s.

On September 12, 1952 Patterson had his first professional bout at the age of 17. He won it with a knockout in the first round to receive the eye-popping sum of three hundred dollars—half of which immediately went to his mother. Soon the family had a telephone, a television, and appliances in the home where Patterson still shared a bed with his little brother Larry. In his first month as a professional he won three fights and $1,000. Patterson was named “Ring Rookie of the Year” in 1953 by the New York Boxing Writers.

There was talk of matching the 19-year-old prodigy up against a ranked opponent, but D’Amato wanted to take it slower. After fighting four light heavyweights, D’Amato signed Patterson for his first big professional fight against veteran Joey Maxim. Patterson returned to Wiltwyck to train for the fight for which he would be paid $5,000. In his debut as a big-time contender, the kid lost to the experience of Maxim. Though Patterson did not believe he had lost in his heart, he was devastated. Later Patterson realized that he had been outsmarted by the ex-champion and developed a respect for Maxim. Patterson soon recovered from his loss and went on a tear of 11 straight knockouts including his first official heavyweight fight against Archie McBride. By the end of 1955 Patterson was fighting in Los Angeles and rubbing elbows with such Hollywood stars as Frank Sinatra and Kim Novack. Despite his new success and notoriety, he was miserable. He missed Sandra who was still in high school back in Brooklyn. When Patterson returned home, he asked Sandra to be is wife and the two were married on February 11, 1956 in a civil ceremony. After Patterson converted to Catholicism later that year the two were married again in a religious ceremony on July 13. Patterson bought a home for his family in Mt. Vernon, New York and he and his new wife moved in with them.

On April 12, 1956 Rocky Marciano retired, leaving the heavyweight division without a champion. On June 8 the 21-year-old Patterson fought Tommy ‘Hurricane’ Jackson at Madison Square Garden for a purse of $50,000. Despite a broken hand that he had injured two weeks before the fight, Patterson won the bout in a split decision. The path was open to fight for the newly vacated heavyweight championship. In September of 1956, Patterson was signed to fight Archie Moore for the heavyweight championship. As he drove to Chicago Stadium on November 30 he had more than the title belt and its $114,257 purse on his mind. At Queens Memorial Hospital back in New York Sandra was going into labor with their first child. Patterson was able to keep his composure and knocked out Moore in the fifth round. In his dressing room a reporter informed him that he was a father and showed him a picture of his new daughter Seneca. One and a half hours after winning the heavyweight championship Patterson was in a car on his way back to New York.

Patterson ruled the boxing world at the age of 21, but he learned in reality that his accomplishment meant little to a black man in 1957 America. He was not able to get a meal in a truck stop in Baltimore or eat in a restaurant in Kansas City during a five-city exhibition tour. In Wichita he was greeted by 50 people blocking his path from the station. A Catholic priest intervened and allowed Patterson and his entourage to stay with him at his Parish. After continuing on with his exhibition before a hushed all-white crowd, Patterson vowed that he would never box in front of a segregated crowd again. He insisted that promoters desegregate seating and avoid scheduling him to train in segregated towns. Patterson also became part of an anti-discrimination suit against a beauty parlor which would not take his wife’s appointment. Becoming heavyweight champ was a rude awakening in other ways as well. The withdrawn Patterson was constantly stared at, and was criticized by the boxing media both for his youth and for not fighting real challengers to his heavyweight title. Because of D’Amato’s dispute with the boxing powers-that-be, the best contenders would not fight Patterson. He fought Jackson again and also two lightly-regarded fighters Roy Harris and Brian London in 1958 before signing to take on the number one contender, Ingemar Johansson from Sweden.

A Champion Dethroned

Johansson was undefeated in 21 fights and had knocked out 13 previous opponents. During his training Johansson played up the fact that he had injured his right hand. He never threw it while sparring. During the championship fight, he also made Patterson a believer. Johansson did not even come close to throwing the right for the first two rounds. After setting up the young fighter to leave his left side open, Johansson delivered a crushing right hand to the side of Patterson’s head which punctured his left ear drum and left him dazed for the rest of the bout. Johansson punched Patterson down seven times, but each time the bewildered champ struggled back to his feet. Finally the referee had to stop the fight.

After recovering from the physical beating, Patterson found that the mental anguish was worse to deal with. He had weeks of sleepless nights and even his children began to question if their father was sick. Finally the feelings of self-doubt and self-pity began to evolve into something like a hatred for Johansson. Patterson was also having his troubles with D’Amato after an investigation of the way the first Johansson fight was promoted. D’Amato would eventually have his license revoked on November 24, 1959 and be suspended from boxing. Despite not having his manager, Patterson had developed a burning desire for a rematch and for redemption. He decided not to wait for D’Amato’s suspension to end and signed to fight the heavyweight champion again on June 20, 1960 at the Polo Grounds in New York. Patterson overcame another hand injury and his own demons of doubt in the second fight. He started out as the aggressor cutting Johansson’s eye in the first round. Patterson worked him over for four more rounds and then at 1:51 of the fifth the ex-champ literally knocked Johansson senseless. Patterson was heavyweight champ again, but in his long climb back to the top of the boxing world he learned something about himself. For Patterson he would rather give up boxing than to develop a hatred for an opponent.

Years after the fight he told Sports Illustrated: “I was so filled with hate. I would not ever want to be like that again.” He would fight Johansson a third time and though he struggled, Patterson found a way to win. He was knocked down twice in the first round, but then switched his focus to pounding Johansson’s body. Patterson won the fight in the sixth round knocking Johansson out with a right. In late 1961 Patterson knocked out Tom McNealey in the fourth round after knocking him down eight times. After the McNealey fight Patterson again heard from the critics claiming that he would not fight any real challengers, but that would change all too soon.

Patterson vs. Liston

The most obvious choice for a title bout was Charles “Sonny” Liston who had been demolishing all the boxers critics claimed Patterson should have been fighting. D’Amato was cautious as ever and did not want Patterson to fight Liston citing the ex-con’s ties to organized crime. Even the NAACP did not want Patterson to give Liston a shot at the title because of his unsavory reputation. But Patterson fought Liston anyway on September 25, 1962 in Chicago. Liston outweighed Patterson by 25 pounds and was a nine-to-five favorite. Liston batted Patterson around like an amateur knocking him out in two minutes and six seconds of the first round. In the rematch a year later Liston knocked Patterson down three times before again knocking him out in the first round.

Many thought that Patterson’s career was over, but he was only 29 years old and he decided to continue his boxing career. He won two bouts in Stockholm, Sweden and earned another shot at the title against Muhammad Ali. Patterson thought he matched up well with the brash young Ali, but he had no luck in the fight. He injured his back in the first round, but continued even though he was severely hampered. Patterson lasted into the twelfth round when the referee gave the bout to Ali on a technical knock out. Despite the terrible punishment he was receiving in the ring Patterson was not ready to retire. He defeated Henry Cooper in 1966 and fought four times in 1967.

Patterson lost to WBA Champion Jimmy Ellis in a title fight in Sweden despite breaking Ellis’s nose and cutting his eye. He then left the ring for two years. He resumed boxing in 1970 mostly fighting washed-up journeymen through 1971. But he would get one last chance at the big-time in 1972. Muhammad Ali was looking to stay sharp while waiting for his rematch with Joe Frazier. He signed to fight the 37-year-old Patterson on September 20 in 1972. Patterson stayed even with Ali for the first four rounds, but Ali cut Patterson badly over his right eye and the ring doctor stopped the fight in the eighth round. Patterson called for a third fight with Ali, but it never happened. The brutal beating by Ali would be his last fight. Patterson’s final record was 55-8-1 with 40 knockouts.

Success After Boxing

Though he would never fight again, Patterson remained active in boxing. Patterson opened a gym in New Paltz, New York to bring along young fighters the way D’Amato brought him to boxing prominence. In 1976 Patterson took particular interest in an 11-year-old kid named Tracy Harris, who reminded him of himself as a boy. Patterson took the young boxer under his wing both personally and professionally. He eventually adopted Tracy Juan Harris Patterson as well as becoming his trainer and manager. Patterson guided his new son to two Golden Gloves titles as an amateur and to 97 victories. Patterson seemed to work well with his son as Tracy compiled an excellent professional record and won the World Boxing Council junior featherweight championship. But the newest Patterson wanted a change. In late 1994 he told his adopted father that he wanted a different manager and the bond between father and son was broken. Though Patterson suffered pain in his personal life, his tireless work in the boxing community brought him to the attention of New York Governor George Pataki. He was named the athletic commissioner of the State of New York in June of 1995. Patterson hoped to use casino gambling as a way to bring the marquee fights from Las Vegas back to New York. He also wanted to establish a pension fund for older fighters in the state. In late December of 1995 Patterson presided over the biggest bout in New York in decades pitting Oscar De La Hoya against Jesse James Leiha. What should have been his greatest professional triumph was spoiled by the results of one of the undercard fights. Patterson sat slumped in his chair as he watched his estranged adopted son lose his title.

At 61 years old Patterson appeared to be the picture of health. He still worked out at his gym and remained active running the athletic commission and serving as a Eucharistic minister administering Communion to residents of a nearby nursing home. But all was not well with the former champion. There were rumors that Patterson’s memory was slipping. The truth came out after a New York Post report on a deposition that Patterson gave in March of 1998 in regards to “ultimate fighting.” During the deposition Patterson could not remember his secretary’s name, the name of the man he replaced as athletic commissioner, or the name of Archie Moore, the man he defeated for the heavyweight championship. Patterson’s friend and former boxer Jose Torres told The Sporting News: “I felt that he was having a little trouble with his memory, and people were talking about it all around boxing …” The fallout from the revelation led to Patterson’s resignation from the athletic commission on April 1, 1998. Since then Patterson has retired to his 17-acre farm in New Paltz having left a legacy as an honest and loyal gentleman in a world of boxing conmen, back-stabbers, and charlatans. He remained as legendary sportswriter Red Smith said, as quoted in Sports Illustrated: “A man of peace whose life has been devoted to beating men with his fists.”

Sources

Books

Patterson, Floyd and Gross, Milton. Victory Over Myself. Bernard Geis Associates; New York, 1962.

Periodicals

Sports Illustrated, March 22, 1993, p. 70; November 18, 1996, p. 4.

The Sporting News, April 1, 1998.

Other

World Boxing Association website: http:www.wbaonline.com/insidewba/history/legends_fpater.htm.

The Cyber Boxing Zone website: http:www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/box4_97.htm.

Heavyweight Boxing Championship History website: http://www.nashville.com/wws604/hwbs.htm#Patterson.

—Michael J. Watkins

Floyd Patterson

1935–2006

Boxer

Floyd Patterson rose to the highest level of professional boxing, becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion and then the first man to ever regain a world heavyweight championship. "Along with [President Dwight] Eisenhower, Mickey Mantle and Elvis [Presley], Floyd Patterson was one of the recognizable faces of the '50s," boxing historian Bert Sugar told the Chicago Tribune. But boxing was much more than a chance at fame to Patterson. "Without boxing, I'd probably be dead or in jail," Patterson had once remarked about his career as a professional boxer, according to Newsday. Paterson credited boxing for giving him "the opportunity to lift myself from the mean streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant." Indeed, Patterson overcame many obstacles to become a boxing legend. Yet, his legacy rests not on those obstacles, but on his athleticism and his kindness to his opponents. "He ennobled the sport," Sugar told the Chicago Tribune.

Born into Poverty

Floyd Patterson was born on January 4, 1935, in Waco, North Carolina, the third of 11 children. He grew up in abject poverty and would become the youngest heavyweight champion until Mike Tyson came along. The family moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1936 so that Patterson's father Thomas could look for work. He worked in construction, as a longshoreman, in sanitation, and in a fish market. Thomas Patterson worked every day, but to Floyd's young eyes there never seemed to be enough. The Patterson's constantly moved around Brooklyn trying to accommodate the ever-growing family. As a child, Patterson felt ashamed of not having clothes that fit and a sense of helplessness for not being able to help his parents provide for the family.

As a result of his self-perception, Patterson did not go to school, but avoided the truant officer by staying in the dark all day—in neighborhood cellars, alleys, subway stations, or in the movies. Patterson was not like the other kids; he could not (or would not) read or write, he did not bring friends home, and he would not look people in the eye. Besides skipping school he began to steal to pass the time away. Because his mother could not control him, Patterson was sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in 1945, which was an alternative to jail for boys aged eight to 12. It was at this correctional institution that Patterson blossomed. At Wiltwyck he received individual attention and found that white and black kids were treated exactly the same.

It was also at Wiltwyck that Patterson put on boxing gloves for the first time. He was a natural, winning all three bouts in which he participated. At the age of twelve Patterson returned home a new person. He was still shy, but he had overcome the feeling of shame that was so deep-seeded within him as a small child. Patterson went to P.S. 614—a vocational elementary school where he got the idea that he could use boxing to earn money for his family.

Boxing Career Took Off Quickly

In 1949 Patterson entered Gramercy Gym, which was run by Cus D'Amato, who would later train and manage Tyson. D'Amato gave Patterson boxing equipment and taught him the rudiments of the ring, but his first experience at boxing was almost his last. Patterson's first fight was against his brother Frank, who was then the 160-pound New York Golden Gloves Champion. He was pummeled by his big brother, but overcame his fear and stuck with the sport. Six months later he had his first amateur fight.

In January of 1950 Patterson entered and won his first AAU tournament bout in the 147-pound weight class. The next year as a 160-pound fighter, Patterson won his weight class and traveled to Chicago to participate in the national AAU Boxing Championships. 1951 was a significant year for Patterson personally because he met his future wife Sandra Hicks. Patterson wanted to turn pro that year as a sixteen-year-old, but D'Amato would not let him. In the back of his mind D'Amato was saving Patterson for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. In 1952 Patterson won the Golden Gloves Championship at Madison Square Garden and the National AAU Championship in Boston. After Patterson won the Eastern Olympic tryouts and was named to the team, he left school for good for a chance at history. Patterson became a member of perhaps the finest United States Olympic boxing team ever assembled as the squad won five gold medals including Patterson's.

On September 12, 1952, Patterson had his first professional bout at the age of 17. He won it with a knockout in the first round to receive the eye-popping sum of three hundred dollars-half of which immediately went to his mother. Soon the family had a telephone, a television, and appliances in the home where Patterson still shared a bed with his little brother Larry. In his first month as a professional he won three fights and $1,000. Patterson was named "Ring Rookie of the Year" in 1953 by the New York Boxing Writers.

There was talk of matching the 19-year-old prodigy up against a ranked opponent, but D'Amato wanted to take it slower. After fighting four light heavyweights, D'Amato signed Patterson for his first big professional fight against veteran Joey Maxim. Patterson returned to Wiltwyck to train for the fight for which he would be paid $5,000. In his debut as a big-time contender, the kid lost to the experience of Maxim. Though Patterson did not believe he had lost in his heart, he was devastated. Later Patterson realized that he had been outsmarted by the ex-champion and developed a respect for Maxim. Patterson soon recovered from his loss and went on a tear of 11 straight knockouts including his first official heavyweight fight against Archie McBride. By the end of 1955 Patterson was fighting in Los Angeles and rubbing elbows with such Hollywood stars as Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. Despite his new success and notoriety, he was miserable. He missed Sandra who was still in high school back in Brooklyn. When Patterson returned home, he asked Sandra to be is wife and the two were married on February 11, 1956, in a civil ceremony. After Patterson converted to Catholicism later that year the two were married again in a religious ceremony on July 13. Patterson bought a home for his family in Mt. Vernon, New York and he and his new wife moved in with them.

Won Heavyweight Championships

On April 12, 1956, Rocky Marciano retired, leaving the heavyweight division without a champion. On June 8 the 21-year-old Patterson fought Tommy 'Hurricane' Jackson at Madison Square Garden for a purse of $50,000. Despite a broken hand that he had injured two weeks before the fight, Patterson won the bout in a split decision. The path was open to fight for the newly vacated heavyweight championship. In September of 1956, Patterson was signed to fight Archie Moore for the heavyweight championship. As he drove to Chicago Stadium on November 30 he had more than the title belt and its $114,257 purse on his mind. At Queens Memorial Hospital back in New York, Sandra was going into labor with their first child. Patterson was able to keep his composure and knocked out Moore in the fifth round. In his dressing room a reporter informed him that he was a father and showed him a picture of his new daughter Seneca. One and a half hours after winning the heavyweight championship Patterson was in a car on his way back to New York. It was actions like this that would help shape his legacy as a man with his priorities in order.

At a Glance …

Born on January 4, 1935, in Waco, North Carolina; died on May 11, 2006, in New Paltz, NY; son of Thomas Patterson; married Sandra; children: Seneca, Jennifer, Tracy (adopted son).

Career : Boxer, 1952–1972; New York State Athletic Commission, commissioner, 1977–84; New York City Sports Commission, commissioner, 1985; New York State Athletic Commission, chairman, 1995–98.

Awards : Olympics, Helsinki, Gold Medal, 1952; President John F. Kennedy, Setting a Good Example Award, 1961; World Heavyweight Champion 1956–59, 1960–62; World Institute of Black Communications and CBS Records, Pioneer of Excellence Award, 1986; United States Olympic Hall of Fame, inductee, 1987; International Boxing Hall of Fame, inductee, 1991.

Patterson ruled the boxing world at age 21—as the youngest world heavyweight champion—but he learned in reality that his accomplishment meant little to a black man in 1957 America. He was not able to get a meal in a truck stop in Baltimore or eat in a restaurant in Kansas City during a five-city exhibition tour. In Wichita he was greeted by 50 people blocking his path from the station. A Catholic priest intervened and allowed Patterson and his entourage to stay with him at his Parish. After continuing on with his exhibition before a hushed all-white crowd, Patterson vowed that he would never box in front of a segregated crowd again. He insisted that promoters desegregate seating and avoid scheduling him to train in segregated towns. Patterson also became part of an anti-discrimination suit against a beauty parlor that would not take his wife's appointment. Becoming heavyweight champ was a rude awakening in other ways as well. The withdrawn Patterson was constantly stared at, and was criticized by the boxing media both for his youth and for not fighting real challengers to his heavyweight title. Because of D'Amato's dispute with the boxing powers-that-be, the best contenders would not fight Patterson. He fought Jackson again and also two lightly-regarded fighters Roy Harris and Brian London in 1958 before signing to take on the number one contender, Ingemar Johansson from Sweden.

Johansson was undefeated in 21 fights and had knocked out 13 previous opponents. During his training Johansson played up the fact that he had injured his right hand. He never threw it while sparring. During the championship fight, he also made Patterson a believer. Johansson did not even come close to throwing the right for the first two rounds. After setting up the young fighter to leave his left side open, Johansson delivered a crushing right hand to the side of Patterson's head that punctured his left eardrum and left him dazed for the rest of the bout. Johansson punched Patterson down seven times, but each time the bewildered champ struggled back to his feet. Finally the referee had to stop the fight.

After recovering from the physical beating, Patterson found that the mental anguish was worse to deal with. He had weeks of sleepless nights and even his children began to question if their father was sick. Finally the feelings of self-doubt and self-pity began to evolve into something like a hatred for Johansson. Patterson was also having his troubles with D'Amato after an investigation of the way the first Johansson fight was promoted. D'Amato would eventually have his license revoked on November 24, 1959, and be suspended from boxing. Despite not having his manager, Patterson had developed a burning desire for a rematch and for redemption. He decided not to wait for D'Amato's suspension to end and signed to fight the heavyweight champion again on June 20, 1960 at the Polo Grounds in New York. Patterson overcame another hand injury and his own demons of doubt in the second fight. He started out as the aggressor cutting Johansson's eye in the first round. Patterson worked him over for four more rounds and then at 1:51 of the fifth the ex-champ literally knocked Johansson senseless. Patterson was heavyweight champ again—the first person to regain a world heavyweight championship in boxing. But in characteristic fashion, Patterson helped up his opponent before beginning his victory celebration.

Patterson's kind gesture was noted by all who saw it. In his long climb back to the top of the boxing world he had learned something about himself. He would rather give up boxing than to develop a hatred for an opponent. Years after the fight he told Sports Illustrated: "I was so filled with hate. I would not ever want to be like that again." Patterson made a point of never doing so again and the boxing industry noticed. Indeed upon hearing of his death in 2006, Sean Curtin, Illinois' former chief of boxing, told the Chicago Tribune that "Floyd Patterson's character was his greatest contribution to boxing."

Champion Years Came to a Close

Patterson continued on with his career. He would fight Johansson a third time and though he struggled, Patterson found a way to win. He was knocked down twice in the first round, but then switched his focus to pounding Johansson's body. Patterson won the fight in the sixth round knocking Johansson out with a right. In late 1961 Patterson knocked out Tom McNealey in the fourth round after knocking him down eight times. After the McNealey fight Patterson again heard from the critics claiming that he would not fight any real challengers, but that would change all too soon.

The most obvious choice for a title bout was Charles "Sonny" Liston; he had been demolishing all the boxers who critics claimed Patterson should have been fighting. D'Amato was cautious as ever and did not want Patterson to fight Liston citing the ex-con's ties to organized crime. Even the NAACP did not want Patterson to give Liston a shot at the title because of his unsavory reputation. But Patterson fought Liston anyway on September 25, 1962, in Chicago. Liston outweighed Patterson by 25 pounds and was a nine-to-five favorite. Liston batted Patterson around like an amateur knocking him out in two minutes and six seconds of the first round. He lost the championship, but sought a rematch. According to the New York Times, Patterson had said, "If I stopped now, that would be running away. I did that when I was a kid. I've grown out of that." In the rematch a year later Liston knocked Patterson down three times before again knocking him out in the first round. Patterson never regained his title.

Many thought that Patterson's career was over, but he was only 29 years old and he decided to continue his boxing career. He won two bouts in Stockholm, Sweden and earned another shot at the title against Muhammad Ali. Patterson thought he matched up well with the brash young Ali, but he had no luck in the fight. He injured his back in the first round, but continued even though he was severely hampered. Patterson lasted into the twelfth round when the ref-eree gave the bout to Ali on a technical knock out. Despite the terrible punishment he was receiving in the ring Patterson was not ready to retire. He defeated Henry Cooper in 1966 and fought four times in 1967.

Patterson lost to WBA Champion Jimmy Ellis in a title fight in Sweden despite breaking Ellis's nose and cutting his eye. He then left the ring for two years. He resumed boxing in 1970 mostly fighting washed-up journeymen through 1971. But he would get one last chance at the big-time in 1972. Muhammad Ali was looking to stay sharp while waiting for his rematch with Joe Frazier. He signed to fight the 37-year-old Patterson on September 20 in 1972. Patterson stayed even with Ali for the first four rounds, but Ali cut Patterson badly over his right eye and the ring doctor stopped the fight in the eighth round. Patterson called for a third fight with Ali, but it never happened. The brutal beating by Ali would be his last fight. Patterson's final record was 55-8-1 with 40 knockouts. For his stellar career in boxing, Patterson was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1987 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.

Remained Active in Boxing

Though he would never fight again, Patterson remained active in boxing from outside the ring. Patterson opened a gym in New Paltz, New York to bring along young fighters the way D'Amato brought him to boxing prominence. In 1976 Patterson took particular interest in an 11-year-old kid named Tracy Harris, who reminded him of himself as a boy. Patterson took the young boxer under his wing both personally and professionally. He eventually adopted Tracy Juan Harris Patterson as well as becoming his trainer and manager. Patterson guided his new son to two Golden Gloves titles as an amateur and to 97 victories. Patterson seemed to work well with his son as Tracy compiled an excellent professional record and won the World Boxing Council junior featherweight championship. But the newest Patterson wanted a change. In late 1994 he told his adopted father that he wanted a different manager and the bond between father and son was broken.

Though Patterson suffered pain in his personal life, his tireless work in the boxing community brought him to the attention of New York Governor George Pataki. He was named the athletic commissioner of the State of New York in June of 1995. Patterson hoped to use casino gambling as a way to bring the marquee fights from Las Vegas back to New York. He also wanted to establish a pension fund for older fighters in the state. In late December of 1995 Patterson presided over the biggest bout in New York in decades pitting Oscar De La Hoya against Jesse James Leiha. What should have been his greatest professional triumph was spoiled by the results of one of the undercard fights. Patterson sat slumped in his chair as he watched his estranged adopted son lose his title.

At 61 years old Patterson appeared to be the picture of health. He still worked out at his gym and remained active running the athletic commission and serving as a Eucharistic minister, administering Communion to residents of a nearby nursing home. But all was not well with the former champion. There were rumors that Patterson's memory was slipping. The truth came out after a New York Post report on a deposition that Patterson gave in March of 1998 in regards to "ultimate fighting." During the deposition Patterson could not remember his secretary's name, the name of the man he replaced as athletic commissioner, or the name of Archie Moore, the man he defeated for the heavyweight championship. Patterson's friend and former boxer Jose Torres told The Sporting News: "I felt that he was having a little trouble with his memory, and people were talking about it all around boxing …" The fallout from the revelation led to Patterson's resignation from the athletic commission on April 1, 1998.

Patterson then retired to his 17-acre farm in New Paltz, New York, having left a legacy as an honest and loyal gentleman in a world of boxing con-men, back-stabbers, and charlatans. He remained as legendary sportswriter Red Smith said, as quoted in Sports Illustrated: "A man of peace whose life has been devoted to beating men with his fists." Patterson, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer, died at his home on May 11, 2006. He was 71 years old.

Sources

Books

Patterson, Floyd, and Milton Gross, Victory Over Myself, Bernard Geis Associates, 1962.

Periodicals

Chicago Tribune, May 12, 2006, p. 1.

Newsday (Long Island, NY), May 12, 2006, p. A80.

New York Times, May 12, 2006, p. 31.

Sports Illustrated, March 22, 1993, p. 70; November 18, 1996, p. 4.

Sporting News, April 1, 1998.

Other

Cyber Boxing Zone, www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/floyd.htm (May 11, 2006).

Heavyweight Boxing Championship History, www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1008/hwb3.html#Patterson (May 12, 2006).

Official Site of Floyd Patterson, www.cmgww.com/sports/patterso/index.php (May 11, 2006).

World Boxing Association, www.wbaonline.com (May 12, 2006).

Floyd Patterson

1935-

American boxer

Floyd Patterson became the youngest heavyweight champion, a record he held onto until a young fighter by the name of Mike Tyson entered the ring almost four decades later. A fast-moving and clever heavyweight with a snappy punch, Patterson was by no means the strongest of fighters, but he had resilience and heart, and he called upon his determination to overcome severe psychological handicaps and remain a contender in the ring for over two decades.

Growing Up

Floyd Patterson was born on January 4, 1935, in Waco, North Carolina, the third of nine sons in a family of thirteen. He would grow up in poverty, a condition that was the catalyst for the chain of events that made him a heavyweight fighter.

In 1936, Patterson's family moved to Brooklyn so that his father could look for better paying work. Though he would find employment, he still had a difficult time making ends meet for such a large family. Construction, long-shoreman, sanitation, fish market—every day Patterson's father worked any number of jobs. But every day Floyd saw the conditions in which he lived, saw his father coming home virtually empty-handed. He saw that no matter how hard his father worked, it was never enough.

The family was always on the move, so young Patterson had a difficult time keeping friends. With the lack of any money for extras, Patterson was given the hand-me-down clothes from his brothers. He grew to feel ashamed of his appearance, and he felt helpless.

Not wanting to encounter people, as a young boy Patterson skipped school often, preferring instead to remain in the dark for most of the day. He would hide out in cellars, alleyways, or the corners of subway stations; or, if he could sneak in or round up the few cents it took, hide out at the movies. He cultivated the life of a loner. Eventually he started stealing, maybe to pass the time, but also because he saw that by taking what he wanted, he could get the things his family needed, such as milk, or dresses for his mother.

A Needed Change

The conditions of his poverty, and then his stealing to try to do something about it, led to Patterson's being sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in 1945. This was an alternative to jail for boys aged eight to twelve. It was located north of the city in a pastoral setting, and it is while he was at the Wiltwyck School that Patterson came into his own. He relished the attention he was given from his teachers, attention that his parents, with eleven children, could rarely give him. He also noticed that he was treated as an equal with the white children.

Patterson fell in love with the countryside. He studied nature, rode horses, and acquired a fondness for snakes. His teacher, Vivian Costen, would help him overcome shyness and lack of self-confidence. Coach Walter Johnson, the school's sports director, introduced Patterson to boxing.

Under Johnson's tutelage, Patterson slipped into boxing gloves like a second skin. He won all three matches he fought while at the school, and then it was time for him to return home.

Back in the City

When he returned home, Patterson was twelve and still shy. But he had overcome his shame, and he had discovered that boxing, not stealing, was a way to earn the money his family needed.

Cus D'Amato, who would later manage Mike Tyson, ran the Gramercy Gym in Brooklyn. He would build on the fundamentals that Patterson was taught at Wiltwyck and begin to shape Patterson into a contender. But Patterson's first fight was against his brother Frank, who had been boxing for years, and he beat the heck out of Floyd. Showing early the resilience he would demonstrate throughout his career, Patterson came back in a few months for his first amateur fight.

In January of 1950, Floyd Patterson won his first Amateur Athletic Union fight in the 147 lb. weight class. The next year he moved up to the 160 lb. class. Still very young (he was sixteen), Floyd was impatient and wanted badly to turn professional. But D'Amato forbade it. He saw something in the young fighter and wanted him to maintain his amateur status so he would be viable for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

After the Gold

Patterson made the Olympic team and left school to fight as a representative of the United States. He had become a member of one of greatest U.S. Olympic boxing teams ever put together, a group that won five gold medals, including the one Patterson took home. When he came back from the Olympics and turned professional, he would win three fights in his first month alone. In 1952, Patterson won the Gold Gloves Championship at Madison Square Garden and the National Amateur Athletic Union Championship in Boston. He earned the honor of "Ring Rookie of the Year," given by Ring magazine.

Chronology

Awards and Accomplishments

Patterson still wanted to move forward fast, but D'Amato was always there to slow him down. In his first big fight against Joey Maxim, Patterson had lost due to lack of experience. He was devastated. Later he would realize that "he had been outsmarted by the exchampion." He learned to appreciate experience over youth, and he would develop a respect for Maxim.

When he came back to the ring, as was often the case after he took time off, he won his next eleven fights with straight knockouts. Among these fights was his first official heavyweight bout against Archie McBride. With his rising celebrity in the world of boxing, Patterson would merit fights on the West Coast, where he'd hobnob with stars. Yet he missed Sandra, his girlfriend back in Brooklyn. He proposed to her in 1956 and they married. Then, following his conversion to Catholicism, Patterson remarried her two years later. They moved to Mt. Vernon, New York.

The Heavyweight Title is Open

On April 12, 1956, Rocky Marciano retired, which left the heavyweight division wide open. Patterson, who wanted badly to have the belt, fought Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson at Madison Square Garden for a purse of $50,000 on his road to a title fight. In spite of a broken hand that gave Patterson trouble throughout the match, he won the fight in a split decision.

He was now free and clear to fight for the heavyweight championship. D'Amato signed him to fight Archie Moore , whom he knocked out in the fifth round. The fight took place on the same night Patterson's wife was in labor with their first child, and after the fight, in the dressing room, Patterson was shown a picture of his daughter, Seneca.

In 1960, in a bout to defend his Heavyweight Title, Patterson took on Ingemar Johannson, from Sweden, who was undefeated in twenty-one fights, with thirteen knockouts of his opponents. In the weeks leading up to the fight, Patterson was duped by Johannson's claim of a bad right hand, and lulled into believing it was true. During the fight, however, Patterson began leaving his left side open. Johannson took advantage of it, puncturing Patterson's left ear drum, which left him dazed. The referee finally stopped the fight. Patterson fell to the mat an amazing seven times, but each time he always got back up.

After the loss to Johannson, and losing the World Heavyweight title, Patterson fell on hard times. He endured sleepless nights full of self doubt and pity. This in turn became a fierce, burning desire to rematch Johannson, which he did later that same year at the Polo Grounds in New York. Patterson literally knocked Johannson senseless during the match. Yet after the fight, Patterson realized that his motivation for winning wasn't something he liked. In fact, he hated his motivation. He later told Sports Illustrated, "I was so filled with hate. I would not ever want to be like that again." Patterson fought Johannson one more time, and though he struggled, he eventually won.

As long as Patterson fought, he would hear from critics. They claimed he wasn't fighting true contenders for the crown. Then Sonny Liston , an ex-convict who was dominating opponents came along. D'Amato didn't believe Patterson should fight Liston, and his feelings were backed up when the NAACP expressed their desires that Patterson avoid Liston because of his ties to organized crime. In 1962, in Chicago, Patterson and Liston fought. Liston, twenty-five pounds heavier, bludgeoned Patterson, knocking him out in the first round.

Patterson, as had been his style with Johansson, wanted a rematch. Again, the results were similar. Liston knocked down Patterson three times, and then KO'd him in round one. Many thought Patterson's career was over after his first two formidable defeats by Liston. He was twenty-nine, and though not old by boxing standards, he'd taken a beating. He kept coming back, returning to fight Muhammad Ali in 1965. Then, in 1968, after losing to Jimmy Ellis in a title fight in Sweden, he left the ring for two years.

Patterson made one last go of it in 1970, lending credence to his critics' harassment that he was fighting mostly has-beens. He had one last chance to prove them wrong, against Ali in 1972. Ali, who wanted to stay in shape for his rematch with Joe Frazier , agreed to fight Patterson on Sept. 20, 1972. A cut over Patterson's right eye prompted the ring doctor to stop the fight in the 8th round. It was his last fight, and he would finish his career at 55-8-1 with forty knockouts. The defeats, however, when they came, were often to formidable opponents and gained him more publicity than his wins.

Tough Time As A Black Fighter

Though he was firmly in control of his own destiny in the world of boxing, and at twenty-one should have felt that the sky was the limit, his impressive status didn't matter at all when he'd visit the segregated south. America was still functioning under heavily racist tendencies, and Patterson encountered many hardships while he traveled on his fighting circuit. He was unable to get meals in Baltimore, or eat inside a restaurant in Kansas City. Fed up with the racism, Patterson, "vowed that he would never box in front of a segregated crowd again. He insisted that promoters desegregate seating and avoid scheduling him to train in segregated towns."

Patterson became a proponent of desegregation. He fought for his rights both inside and outside of the ring. He even fought for those of his wife, whom he joined to become part of an anti-discrimination lawsuit filed against a beauty parlor that refused service to her.

Where Is He Now?

Since his resignation from the commission, Patterson has spent his days on his 17-acre farm in New Paltz, where he takes care of his animals and lives without the interruption of modern life, choosing not to even own a television.

Archie Moore, the man he'd defeated for the heavyweight championship. He resigned from the commission the following month.

"Boxing has given me everything," Patterson said in 1994, in an article in the Colorado Springs Gazette. "Without it I'd be nothing."

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: Floyd Patterson, c/o CMG Worldwide, 8560 Sunset Boulevard 10th Floor Penthouse, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY PATTERSON:

(With Milton Gross) Victory Over Myself, Bernard Geis Associates, 1962.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Brooke-Ball, Peter. The Great Fights: 80 Epic Encounters from the History of Boxing. Southwater Publishers, 2001.

Fleischer, Nat, and Sam Andre. An Illustrated History of Boxing, 6th ed. New York: Citadel Press, 2002.

"Floyd Patterson." Great Athletes, vol. 6. Farrell-Holdsclaw. Hackensack, NJ: Salem Press, Inc.

Levinson, David, and Karen Christenson, eds. Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to Present. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Mullan, Harry. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing: The Definitive Illustrated Guide to World Boxing. Edison, NJ: Chartwell Books, 1996.

Newcombe, Jack. Floyd Patterson, Heavyweight King. New York: Bartholomew House, 1961.

Patterson, Floyd, and Milton Gross. Victory Over Myself. New York: Bernard Geis Associates, 1962.

Schulman, Arlene. The Prize Fighters: An Intimate Look at Champions and Contenders. New York: Lyons and Burford, 1994.

Periodicals

D'Amato, Constantine "Cus," and Murry Olderman.

"Everybody Wants a Piece of Patterson." True (October 1956): 34.

"Floyd Patterson resigns as NY State Athletic Commission chairman citing memory loss. Jet (April 20, 1998): 46.

Graham, Frank Jr. "Prizefight Prodigy." Sport (April 1954): 20.

Gross, Milton. "The Floyd Patterson Story." New York Post (September 9-11, 1957).

Licis, Karl. "Patterson happiest teaching young boxers." Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. (February 4, 1994).

Sports Illustrated (March 22, 1993): 70.

Sports Illustrated (November 18, 1996): 4.

The Sporting News (April 1, 1988).

Other

"Floyd Patterson Biography." http://www.cmgw.com/sports/patterso/bio.html/ (November 10, 2002).

"Floyd Patterson." http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/ (November 10, 2002).

Sketch by Eric Lagergren

PATTERSON, Floyd

(b. 4 January 1935 in Waco, North Carolina), the first boxer in history to hold the heavyweight title twice, he later served as athletic commissioner for the state of New York.

Patterson was the third of eleven children born to Thomas Patterson, a laborer, and Annabelle Johnson. The family moved from North Carolina to Brooklyn, New York, in 1936 to allow Patterson's father to find work (which he did; in construction, as a longshoreman, in sanitation, and in a fish market). Patterson became involved in gangs, and after a series of arrests for petty thievery was sent at age ten to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in Esopus, New York, a school for emotionally disturbed youths, where he learned to read and box. After Wiltwyck, he attended P.S. 614, a vocational elementary school. Here he got the idea that he could use boxing to earn money for his family.

In 1949 he began working at Gramercy Gym with trainer Cus D'Amato (later Mike Tyson's trainer and manager), who gave him boxing equipment and taught him the fundamentals of the sport. In January 1950 Patterson entered and won his first Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) tournament in the 147-pound weight class. In the next year he won his weight class as a 160-pound fighter and went to Chicago to box in the national AAU Championships. In 1951 he won the Golden Gloves middleweight championship. Patterson, now sixteen, wanted to turn professional that year, but D'Amato would not let him, perhaps with the idea of saving him for the 1952 Olympics. The next year Patterson won the New York Golden Gloves light heavyweight title. On 2 August 1952, fighting as a middle-weight, Patterson knocked out Vasial Tita one minute into the first round to win an Olympic gold medal in Helsinki, Finland. Patterson fought forty-four bouts as an amateur, winning forty, thirty-seven by knockout.

Patterson made his professional debut on 12 September 1952 as a light heavyweight, defeating Eddie Godbold by knockout in the fourth round. Over the next two years, he bested twelve more opponents, knocking out nine. On 7 June 1954 he lost a contested decision to former champion Joey Maxim, but went on to win sixteen consecutive bouts over the next twenty-four months.

In 1956 Rocky Marciano retired from the ring, leaving his title vacant. To win the championship, Patterson first defeated Tommy Jackson by decision in twelve rounds. On 30 November 1956 he knocked out Archie Moore in five rounds, becoming, at twenty-one years, five months old, the youngest man ever to win the heavyweight title. That same year Patterson married Sandra Hicks on 11 February in a civil ceremony. After Patterson converted to Catholicism later that year, the two were married again in a religious ceremony on 13 July. The couple later had had four children. They moved into an expensive home in Scarsdale, New York, until a racial incident forced them to relocate to Great Neck, Long Island.

Patterson became prominent during the heyday of New York boxing and was immensely popular with the crowd at Madison Square Garden. His troubled youth left him sensitive, introspective, and shy; his nickname was "Freudian Floyd." Admirers regarded Patterson as a perfect gentleman and noted that he had once stooped to pick up an opponent's mouthpiece in the middle of a round. Before bouts, Patterson prayed not for victory, but to avoid serious injury to his opponents or himself. His boxing method was unique. He held his gloves high in front of his face, then stunned opponents with lashing, unexpected hooks. At five feet, eleven inches tall, and usually weighing around 195 pounds, Patterson used speed, timing, and finesse to overcome his opponents. D'Amato carefully guided him through his career, but because of D'Amato's disputes with the boxing powers-that-be, top contenders such as Nino Valdes and Ezzard Charles would not fight Patterson.

Patterson successfully defended his championship four times in the two and a half years he held the title (November 1956–June 1959), starting with Tommy Jackson on 29 July 1957. He then beat two journeymen boxers and the English champion Brian London. In a stunning upset, however, Ingemar Johannson, the Swedish challenger and number-one contender for the title, knocked out Patterson in the third round on 28 June 1959. Deeply ashamed, Patterson wore disguises to avoid public criticism, a habit that by 1966 cost him $3,000 annually. Patterson made boxing history when he became the first to regain the heavyweight championship by knocking out Johannson in the fifth round of their re-match a year later on 20 June 1960. A second rematch followed on 13 March 1961, but Johannson survived only one round longer, losing by KO in the sixth round.

In the next two years Patterson defended his title only once, stopping the lightly regarded Tom McNeeley in the fourth round on 4 December 1961. He could not avoid a more serious challenger, however, and on 22 September 1962 Patterson lost his crown when the glowering Sonny Liston knocked him out in the first round and then repeated this humiliation in their rematch nine months later.

No longer champion, Patterson stayed in the ring. He beat five opponents, the best known of whom was George Chuvalo. When Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) upset Liston for the championship and then proclaimed his victory was due to Allah, Patterson took offense. A devout Roman Catholic and staunch integrationist, Patterson vowed to take the crown away from Ali (who had proclaimed himself to be a Muslim, not an American), and give it back to America. He insisted on referring to his opponent as Clay, which Ali called his "slave name." Such prefight posturing became politicized in the ring. Ali taunted Patterson throughout the bout, yelling, "Come on White America," at the defenseless contender. Black Muslim spectators at ringside shouted, "Play with that Uncle Tom!" Although Ali said later that Patterson had taken his best punches and proclaimed him a good man, many observers, including Joe Louis, felt that Ali deliberately refrained from knocking Patterson out until the twelfth round.

Patterson's advisors encouraged him to retire, and his wife, Sandra, divorced him in August 1966 after he insisted on staying in boxing. Still a contender, Patterson won his next three bouts, then fought to a draw with Jerry Quarry, only to lose in the rematch. After Ali was stripped of his title for draft evasion in 1968, Patterson lost a unification bout for the championship to Jimmy Ellis on 14 September 1968.

Patterson announced his retirement after the match with Ellis. Then, after a two-year layover, he resumed his career in September 1970. He won seven fights against little-known boxers before winning an unimpressive decision against the rugged Oscar Bonavena on 11 February 1972. Patterson's father had died two days before, and he acknowledged later that he had not been at this best during the bout. After a six-round win over Pedro Agosto on 14 July 1972, Patterson lost his last title match to Ali on 20 September 1972. He retired permanently after this defeat, with a professional record of fifty-five wins (forty by knockout), eight losses, and a draw.

Patterson, his second wife Janet, and their three children retired to their home in New Paltz, New York. In 1973 Patterson opened the Huguenot Boxing Club, a youth center intended to give youngsters an alternative to drugs; by 1988 the center had helped over 1,200 teenagers. Patterson was a member of the New York State Boxing Commission from 1977 to 1985, and used the position to push successfully for the adoption of a thumbless boxing glove for amateurs. In 1985 he was appointed head of the Off-Track Betting Commission in New York, and was named Boxing Commissioner for New York State ten years later. Patterson served until 1998 when he resigned after disclosing that he suffered from severe memory loss, probably caused by years of boxing. He was elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1977 and to the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1987.

Patterson's autobiography, coauthored with Milton Gross, is Victory over Myself (1961). Another biography is Jack Newcombe, Floyd Patterson: Heavyweight King (1961). Magazine articles include Gay Talese, "Portrait of the Ascetic Champ," New York Times Magazine (5 Mar. 1961), and Pete Hamill, "Floyd's Fight to Save His Pride," Saturday Evening Post (27 June 1964). See also "Floyd Patterson: Still Making a Mark in the Ring," Ebony (Mar. 1987), and "Boxing's Last Gentleman," the New Yorker (31 July 1995).

Graham Russell Hodges

PATTERSON, Floyd

(b. 4 January 1935 in Waco, North Carolina), 1952 Olympic gold medalist in boxing, the youngest heavyweight champion in history, and the first boxer to lose and subsequently regain the world heavyweight title. He was best known during the 1960s for his fights against Ingemar Johansson, Sonny Liston, and Muhammad Ali.

The third of eleven children born to Thomas Patterson, a construction worker and longshoreman, and Annabelle (Johnson) Patterson, a homemaker, Patterson moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York, in 1936 when he was barely a year old. As a child Patterson was so backward and withdrawn that his mother feared he was mentally retarded. His father had gone north in search of work but found the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant detrimental to his son, who early became involved with gangs. After several arrests for truancy, shoplifting, and other petty crimes, Patterson was consigned to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in Esopus, New York, an institution identified as being for emotionally disturbed boys. At Wiltwyck he learned to read and write, and perhaps just as important, acquired the boxing skills that ultimately became the source of his livelihood and his fame. Not until his release from Wiltwyck, however, did Patterson consider boxing as a career.

Patterson's journey to the heavyweight championship began in 1949 at the Gramercy Park Gym of legendary trainer and manager Constantine "Cus" D'Amato. In January 1950 Patterson won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) tournament in the 147-pound weight class. After winning the New York Golden Gloves light heavyweight title in 1951 and 1952 Patterson, fighting as a middleweight, captured a gold medal at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, when he took only seventy-four seconds to knock out Vasile Tita of Romania. Patterson won forty of his forty-four amateur bouts, thirty-seven by knockout.

Patterson made his professional debut as a light heavyweight on 12 September 1952, scoring a fourth-round technical knockout over Eddie Godbold. He won his first twelve professional contests before losing to Joey Maxim on 7 June 1954 and then enjoyed a string of twenty-three consecutive victories, broken by his loss to Johansson in 1959. Patterson's first shot at the heavyweight championship came in 1956 when the retirement of Rocky Marciano vacated the title. On 30 November, Patterson made short work of the heavily favored veteran Archie Moore, knocking him out in the fifth round. At the age of twenty-one years and five months, Patterson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.

On 20 June 1960 Patterson made history when he knocked out Ingemar Johansson in the fifth round of their bout for the world heavyweight title, becoming the first man to regain the championship after having relinquished it. Nine months earlier, on 26 June 1959, Johansson had taken the crown from Patterson when he caught him with a powerful right cross that sent him to the canvas in the third round.

Because D'Amato refused to match Patterson against any fighter associated with the promoter James Norris and his corrupt International Boxing Club, Patterson fought a series of inferior opponents and meaningless exhibitions until his first confrontation with Johansson. Patterson battled Johansson a third time, a six-round melee on 13 March 1961 that Patterson won by knockout. After defeating Tom McNeeley on 4 December 1961 to retain the heavyweight title, Patterson had to defend it against the man whom critics suggested he had been avoiding: Charles "Sonny" Liston.

Patterson's title fight with Liston, held in Chicago on 25 September 1962, was among the shortest on record. Liston demolished Patterson two minutes, six seconds into the first round. Deeply humiliated, Patterson wore a false beard and mustache in public for months to conceal his identity. In the rematch on 22 July 1963 the results were the same, except that Patterson lasted four seconds longer than in the first meeting. Although no longer the champion, Patterson continued to box. After falling to Liston, he scored an eighth-round technical knockout over Dante Amonti on 6 January 1964 and went on to defeat in turn Eddie Machen, Charles Powell, George Chuvalo, and Tod Herring, though only Chuvalo posed a serious challenge. During the 1960s Patterson also fought twice more for the heavyweight championship, losing by technical knockout to Muhammad Ali, who had earlier taken the title from Liston, and by decision to Jimmy Ellis.

The fight between Ali and Patterson on 22 November 1965 was overshadowed by racial and religious tension, assuming the character of a holy war of Christian against Muslim. A convert to Roman Catholicism, Patterson said, "The image of a Black Muslim as the world heavyweight champion disgraces the sport and the nation. Cassius Clay [Patterson refused to call his opponent Muhammad Ali] must be beaten and the Black Muslims' scourge removed from boxing." To shame Patterson, Ali taunted him with racial slurs and needlessly prolonged the fight until the referee at last called a halt to the mismatch in the twelfth round.

Following the loss to Ali, Patterson's advisers urged him to stop fighting. When he refused, his wife, the former Sandra Hicks, whom he had married in a civil ceremony on 11 February 1956 and, after his conversion, remarried in a religious ceremony on 13 July 1956, filed for divorce. (They had four children.) On 29 September 1966 Patterson, still regarded as a leading heavyweight contender, knocked out Henry Cooper in the fourth round. He defeated Willie Johnson and Bill McMurray in his first two bouts of 1967 before battling Jerry Quarry to a draw on 9 June and subsequently losing the rematch in October.

When Ali was stripped of his title for draft evasion, Patterson got a final opportunity to reclaim the heavyweight championship. He lost a close decision to Ellis on 14 September 1968 in a bid for the World Boxing Association (WBA) title, a fight that many at ringside believed him to have won. Following the match with Ellis, Patterson at last announced his retirement. Yet two years and one day later, on 15 September 1970, he returned to the ring, knocking out Charlie Green in the tenth round.

Patterson continued boxing until 1972; the finale came on 20 September with a second loss to Muhammad Ali in a bout for the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) heavyweight championship. In a career that spanned twenty years Patterson compiled a record of fifty-five wins, eight losses, one draw, and forty knockouts in sixty-four professional fights.

Retiring to New Paltz, New York, with his second wife, Janet, and their three children, Patterson opened the Huguenot Boxing Club in 1973. Elected to the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1987 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, Patterson served on the New York State Boxing Commission between 1977 and 1985 and as director of the New York Off-Track Betting Commission. In 1995 Governor George Pataki appointed Patterson chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, a position from which he resigned in 1998 after disclosing that he suffered from acute memory loss, to which injuries sustained during his career undoubtedly contributed.

Among the smallest of the modern heavyweight champions, the six-foot tall Patterson never exceeded a fighting weight of two hundred pounds. A gracious demeanor concealed the ferocity he displayed in the ring, earning him a reputation as one of the true gentlemen in his sport.

With coauthor Milton Gross, Patterson wrote his autobiography, Victory Over Myself (1961). Jack Newcombe, Floyd Patterson: Heavyweight King (1961), remains the standard biography. Although somewhat dated, John D. McCallum, The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship: A History (1974), contains a useful chapter on Patterson. Profiles of Patterson during his years as heavyweight champion include Gay Talese, "Portrait of the Ascetic Champ," New York Times Magazine (5 Mar. 1961), and Pete Hamill, "Floyd's Fight to Save His Pride," Saturday Evening Post (27 June 1964). More recent essays on Patterson are "Boxing's Last Gentleman," New Yorker (31 July 1995), and Steve Pinto, "Patterson 'Very Involved' Despite Memory Loss," in the Middletown, New York, Times Herald-Record (3 Apr. 1998). James B. Roberts and Alexander G. Skutt, The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book (1997), offers a brief but informative overview of Patterson's career, including a detailed summary of his professional bouts.

Mark G. Malvasi