Floyd Patterson: First to regain heavyweight crown on this day 55 years ago

By Gavin Duthie - 06/20/2015 - Comments

By Gav Duthie: On June 20, 1960, Floyd Patterson was attempting to become the first man in boxing history to regain the heavyweight championship of the world. Eight men to date had tried and failed. James Corbett, Jim Jeffries, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jack Dempsey, Max Schmelling, Joe Walcott and Joe Louis couldn’t do it and according to the worlds media Floyd Patterson was no different.

Pre-fight build up

Ingemar Johansson (22-0) was the favorite going into the rematch with Floyd (35-2) and with good reason. Their first fight was as one sided as they come. Patterson had been knocked out in the third round the year previous only 6 days short of a full year in fact. In total Floyd had been on the canvas no fewer than 7 times attributed to Johansson’s seemingly mystical punch he called ‘Thunder’. The way the playboy Swede pronounced it the media named it ‘Toonder’ and it was also referred to as ‘Ingo’s Bingo’ and ‘The hammer of Thor’. In reality it was a simple straight right hand which he threw off the jab but it had knocked out Patterson and top durable contender Eddie Machen in 1 round the fight previous.

At this point Floyd was seen as nothing more than a fake champion. His manager Cus D’Amato had been avoiding big fight defences yet Patterson had been knocked down against Roy ‘Cut N Shoot’ Harris and Pete Rademacher (Rademacher was 1956 Olympic champ and got a title shot in only his first fight). Floyd was too nice to be a champion, he had power but no killer instinct they thought. He once helped a hurt fighter find his gum-shield rather than go in for the kill, he would ask the ref to stop fights if he thought they were hurt and rather than celebrate victories he would help his opponent up off the canvas and sometimes even kiss them. The 7 knockdowns to Johansson was the final straw. Floyd it seemed had little chance to regain the crown.

Contrasting fortunes

Patterson had been so low after the loss he went into hiding. He wouldn’t speak to anyone, his ear bled onto the pillow from a burst eardrum and he couldn’t stand to look at himself. He wore a fake beard and mustache to avoid detection when he went out. Before the rematch to avoid post fight embarrassment he had a victory car waiting and a car out back for defeat. His fake facial hair was packed so he could sneak away. This was a practice he also administered for both fights with Sonny Liston. Floyd had very little confidence in himself.

Ingemar was loving life. The big punching Swede spent most of his time as champion in America with his model girlfriend Birgit Lundgren taped to his arm. He was a huge celebrity, the new Jack Dempsey many thought. Film star good looks, a great singing voice, he was in talk shows across the country and appeared in movies. At this time being a white champion was still a big deal and Ingo appeared to have it all. Perhaps he was taking his eye off the ball in training but he thought there was no way he could lose.

A re-focused Floyd

A letter from ring victim and friend Archie ‘The Old Mongoose’ Moore helped get Floyd out of his slumber.

“The first fight is over. I know how you must feel. I hope you don’t continue to feel bad. You can find your way out of a seeming tunnel. First Johansson was not so great. You fought a stupid battle. Not once did you lead with your jab. If you concentrate on your jab and move around this guy you will be the first one to regain the crown. You can do it.

Your friend Archie Moore
(See W. K. Stratton’s book on Floyd for full letter)

Patterson later said the only time he ever hated an opponent was Ingemar Johansson. Although the two later became friends The Swede was very dismissive of Floyd. He said Floyd wasn’t a proper champion and Patterson used his anger to train as hard as he could.

Fight Night

Floyd was bigger than he had ever been before weighing in at 190lbs. He was only 4lbs lighter than Ingo whereas the Swede had a 14lb advantage in fight 1. All the extra weight was muscle. Floyd’s fight plan was to execute a double jab to get inside and throw combinations up close to not give Ingo the chance to execute the right hand. It was working as Patterson through relentless punches to the body and head in round 1. Inevitably though Johansson did land a big right in round 2 which stunned Floyd but he stayed on his feet. It put Patterson on the defensive for the rest of the round but in round 3 he came out firing again. Floyd was dominating and in round 5 hurt the champion with a left hook to the body. Johansson tried to respond with two lazy jabs to fend Floyd off but in the process dropped his right hand allowing Floyd to land a big left hook dropping him. He got up at 9 and Floyd went after him, The Swede tried to tie Floyd up but the ref was having none of it. Floyd leaped in with a perfect left hook to knock Johansson out. One of the greatest punches in heavyweight boxing history kept Johansson out cold for over 4 minutes. In true Patterson style he celebrated only briefly before heading over to the fallen champ to embrace him.

Floyd Patterson had become the first man in history to regain the heavyweight crown.



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