Patterson, Floyd

January 4, 1935

The second youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history, Floyd Patterson was born in 1935 in Waco, North Carolina, one of eleven children of Thomas and Anabelle Patterson, and grew up in the slums of Brooklyn. A wayward youth, he attended Wiltwyck School, a correctional institute (1945–1947), where he learned to read and box. He was taken up by Cus D'Amato, who observed his quick hands and punching power. He twice won the Golden Gloves and took the gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Olympics. He then turned pro and quickly became a contender for the heavyweight crown vacated by Rocky Marciano. On November 30, 1956, he KO'd forty-three-year-old light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore for the title.

Patterson seemed too gentle a person for his chosen career; once he helped retrieve an opponent's mouthpiece. After attaining the title, he defeated four nondescript challengers until matched with Ingemar Johansson on June 26, 1959. Patterson was knocked down seven times in the third round and lost in an upset. He went into seclusion, returning to the ring one year later to knock out Johansson in the fifth, becoming the first heavyweight titlist to regain the crown. On September 25, 1962, he fought the awesome Sonny Liston, who knocked out Patterson in the first round, a defeat that caused him to sneak out of Chicago in disguise. Their rematch in 1963 ended with the same result. Patterson retired in 1972, finishing with a record of 55–8–1.

Patterson has served as head of the New York State Athletic Commission and in 1985 was appointed director of Off-Track Betting. He was elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1987. Patterson resigned from the New York State Athletic Commission in April 1998.

See also Boxing; Moore, Archie

Bibliography

Patterson, Floyd, with Milton Gross. Victory Over Myself. New York: Random House, 1962.

steven a. riess (1996)
Updated by publisher 2005