patterson was a headcase, called "freud" patterson because of this, he was psyched for both fights. Just the image of Liston, who was no slow poke or a one trick pony like Ingo, he was a real good fighter and a great athlete.
johansen was trying, no way would he want to be shown up in front of the press, I think he quit in disgust if I'm remembering the story right. I think it was Harold Conrad, old boxing man, who related this to the ali biographer. as for ingo, when asked on espn about the session "could he have beaten you then" Ingo: "no, not at that time" which you'd expect a fighter to say. Ali was already a really good fighter, in top condition and on his way to becoming the best heavyweight ever. So, He probably could have beaten anyone around even at that stage, though he still had some growing and learning to do.
Patterson froze, and just waited to get kayoed, he said so himself and said he wouldn't do it again, then he did it again. Liston scared the shit out of everyone but Clay in those days. And even ali says he was scared many years later.
not slow, out of shape against ali but not slow, just not fast enough for ali. He was also tired by the third round, watching his earlier fights where he'd beat a guy like machen for 10 rounds, it wasn't even comparable. He understimated Clay like everyone else, everyone, that's still one of the greatest upsets in boxing history. no one gave clay a chance but clay and his corner. The patterson/liston fight is similar to the foreman/frazier fight in that a guy with a good weight advantage just bludgeons the smaller man with glancing blows and takes him out. Patterson was a fine fighter, probably could have been an atg at lightheavy or even middle as some people thought he could shrivel down to, he didn't, he wanted the big bucks of the heavyweights. give him his due, ali called him the best boxer he ever fought, not bad for a guy who's left off of every list you can think of. good fighter. as for ingo? we know about him, a one trick pony, a pawing left hand, a left hook that tried to corral a man into the bingo punch, his personal life and love of women was well known, looking at the old shows you could see he was quite a handsome man and women are never good for the boxer's life.
naw, i think it's more accurate to just say he was psyched, it's a little different but similar to "quitting" some fighters just do it for another, I always thought Duran was psyched by Hearns but not by anyone else he ever fought. You can't fight your best when you're already convinced you'll get killed.
Chuvalo dropped off a precipitous cliff as well.
ya, i first heard it in SI's obit on floyd, oddly, he was very, very popular in his time (60's, early 70's) and is overlooked afterwards. In a cosell book, he called him something like the most popular boxer of his time or somesuch, it made my head tilt like a dog hearing a high pitched whistle, but it sounds like it was true. He did, after all, have the right attitude to please white people, he said all the right things, a sellout, ali called him an uncle tom, it probably suited him better than when he called frazier or terrell a tom. (Frazier, country as he was thought an uncle tom was someone who "peeped in windows").
his speech is fine, and he was sharp as a tack in the docu made a few years ago, that said, he seemed to be losing his marbles in a more recent interview when asked about tyson, and he responded that tyson could come all the way back if he got serious in training, like he was active or something.
Yet Liston got Patterson out of there twice. In 1 round.
just too small, we've seen it in boxing many times. a guy with a good size advantage can really do a number on a smaller guy just because even glancing blows can hurt them and then the follow up with more glancing blows does the same, so , not as much skill needed to win. Patterson was probably more skilled than just about anyone he fought, no chin and too small though and kind of a headcase.
