I met Floyd once at a Golden Gloves event and though I was only about 12 at the time He took the time to talk to me and gave me his autograph. A wonderful man he was, left an impression on me to this day. My prayers go out to his family. Thank you Floyd.
Great article, nice portrait of a human being. I knew relatively nothing about Patterson until yesterday except for the name. What it must have been like to compete in the Olympics and win gold less than 7 years after WWII. Inspirational article, great post.
Patterson was a great fighter and a great human being as well. He had more class and heart than today's heavyweight division does collectively. At 5'10" and 185 lbs, he wore out many an opponent larger than he, and did it with grace and a minimum of grandstanding. His legacy and skills were/are greatly underappreciated, I believe. His death is a loss for far more than the boxing community.
