Floyd Patterson: The Fighting Life of Boxings Invisible Champion

About this book

"A well-researched and overdue tribute. Like one of Pattersons reliable left hooks Stratton sharply recounts the life of an important but often forgotten two-time world heavyweight champion." Gary Andrew Poole author of PacMan: Behind the Scenes with Manny Pacquiao In 1956 Floyd Patterson became at age twenty-one the youngest boxer to claim the title of world heavyweight champion. Later he was the first ever to lose and regain that honor. Here the acclaimed author W. K. Stratton chronicles the life of "the Gentle Gladiator" an athlete overshadowed by Alis theatrics and Listons fearsome reputation and a civil rights activist overlooked in the Whos Who of race politics. From the Gramercy Gym and wildcard manager Cus DAmato to the final rematch against Ali in 1972 Pattersons career spanned boxings golden age. He won an Olympic gold medal had bouts with Moore and Johansson and was interviewed by James Baldwin Gay Talese and Budd Schulberg. A complex misunderstood figure he once kissed an opponent at the end of a match he was known for his peekaboo stance and soft-spoken nature. Floyd Patterson was boxings invisible champion but in this deeply researched and beautifully written biography he comes vividly to life and is finally given his due as one of the most artful boxers of his time and as one of our great sportsmen a man who shaped the world in and out of the ring.