Floyd Patterson: 1935-2006!

You may have heard this news already but I just wanted to mention that former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson passed away today in New York at the age of 71 from prostate cancer and Alzheimer's Disease.

Patterson won an Olympic Gold medal in 1952 and was Ring Magazine's fighter of the year in 1956 and 1960, the two years Patterson won the heavyweight title.

When Patterson defeated Archie Moore to win the world heavyweight title on November 30, 1956, he was 21 years old and the youngest at the time to win the title.

Patterson became the first man to regain the world heavyweight title when he defeated Ingemar Johannson on June 6, 1960 in the second bout of the legendary trilogy of bouts between the two. The second bout was named Ring Magazine's Fight of the Year.

Among Patterson's other opponents were Sonny Liston, Jimmy Ellis, George Chuvalo, Jerry Quarry and a young Muhammad Ali. Patterson finished his career with a record of 55-8-1 with 40 KO's.

Patterson fought once in DC, on March 30, 1954 when he scored a second round TKO against Sammy Brown. No word on where in DC that bout took place.

In later years, Patterson served as head of the New York State Athletic Commission. He also was a frequent visitor to DC for the annual Fight Night charity boxing event at the Washington Hilton.

It was at the 1995 Fight Night event where I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Patterson. Of course, we talked about the famous three bouts with Johannson, but he also mentioned a very interesting point about his career that he used as a teaching tool for young people.

Patterson told me that out of all the heavyweight champions, he has been knocked down the most. By the record I've checked, Patterson was knocked down 19 times in his career, including seven times in the first Johannson bout. However, when a bout ended, he was always on his feet.

The lesson: Once you get knocked down, you can always get up!

Indeed, words to live by!!