Patterson, Floyd

Floyd Patterson (the upright figure) fighting Tom McNeeley, 1961.
AP/Wide World Photos

(born Jan. 4, 1935, Waco, N.C., U.S.) American professional boxer, first to hold the world heavyweight championship twice.

Patterson, who was reared in Brooklyn, learned to box while in a school for emotionally disturbed children. He won several Golden Gloves titles in 1951 and 1952 and won the gold medal as a middleweight at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Fin. His first professional fight took place Sept. 12, 1952. When he won the heavyweight title he had lost only one professional fight, a disputed decision in favour of the clever and far more experienced Joey Maxim, a former 175-pound light-heavyweight champion.

Patterson succeeded retired champion Rocky Marciano by knocking out Archie Moore in five rounds in Chicago, Nov. 30, 1956. He lost the title to Ingemar Johansson of Sweden by a three-round knockout in New York City, June 26, 1959, and regained the championship by knocking out Johansson in five rounds in New York, June 20, 1960. He was subsequently knocked out in one round by Sonny Liston in a title bout in Chicago, Sept. 25, 1962. He later was defeated by Liston and Muhammad Ali in his attempts to recapture the world championship and by Jimmy Ellis, World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, in a match for that version of the disputed world title. He retired from the ring in 1972 and later ran an amateur boxing club and was athletic commissioner for the state of New York.