Patterson, Floyd
Biography:
Boxer. In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Patterson won the middleweight gold medal with five knockouts in five bouts. Then, in a 20-year professional career, he won 55 bouts, lost 8 and fought to 1 draw. His total purses reached $8 million, a record then. He won the heavyweight title twice, knocking out Archie Moore and Ingemar Johansson. He lost it twice, defended it successfully seven times and failed three times to regain it. He generally weighed little more than 180 pounds, light for a heavyweight, but he made the most of mobility, fast hands and fast reflexes. -- New York Times Obituaries, May 11, 2006
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Archival Collections and Reference Resources
- Alabama Media Group Collection (Alabama Department of Archives and History)
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection (Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection)
- WSB-TV newsfilm clip of former heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson speaking to a reporter about the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963 May 9 (News)
- WSB-TV newsfilm clip of former heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson speaking to a reporter about the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963 May 9 (Moving images)