20. Ibid.
21. During Ali’s three-year ring absence, Dundee trained and managed Jimmy Ellis.
22. Conrad, Dear Muffo, 179.
23. Arthur Mercante, with Phil Guarnieri, Inside the Ropes, 190.
24. Conrad, Dear Muffo, 180.
25. Howard Cosell, Cosell, 165.
26. Author interview, Charles Valan. Boxing expert Harold Lederman, familiar to many HBO viewers as the “unofficial official” during the network’s fights, concurs with Charles Valan. He says Harold Valan was in fact afraid that Patterson wouldn’t give him work once Floyd became a member of the New York State Athletic Commission in the 1970s. “But Floyd never even thought about it. Floyd used Harold Valan as if nothing ever happened. I think Harold was shocked by that, but that was Floyd’s nature. He held no grudges against you.” (Kieran Mulvaney, “Patterson An All Time Great outside the Ropes,” Boxing, espn.com, originally published May 12, 2006.)
27. Cosell, Cosell, 165.
28. Author interview, Doug Lord.
29. Author interview, Edwin “Bud” Shrake.
30. Red Smith, “Patterson Gains Decision over Bonavena at Garden,” New York Times, February 12, 1972.
31. Tape recording of Floyd Patterson’s visit to the White House, August 8, 1972. Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
32. This fight occurred at the fourth incarnation of Madison Square Garden, which opened in 1968 atop Pennsylvania Station on Eighth Avenue between Thirty-First and Thirty-Third Streets.
33. Murray Chass, “Ali-Patterson Is Set for Garden August 28,” New York Times, July 7, 1972.
34. Cosell, Cosell, 166.
35. Ibid., 222.
36. Dave Anderson, “Ali Seventh-Round Victory over Patterson,” New York Times, September 21, 1972.
37. Author interview, Vic Ziegel.
38. Author interview, Andy Schott. Schott was a young amateur training under Patterson in New Paltz, New York, at the time the negotiations took place for a possible third Ali-Patterson bout.
39. Author interview, Andy Schott.
40. Floyd managed and trained other professional fighters, including, briefly, Donovan “Razor” Ruddock. Following the death of Cus D’Amato, Floyd offered to train D’Amato’s last boxing discovery, Mike Tyson. Patterson’s offer was turned down.
41. Michael Leahy, “Floyd Patterson: His Own Man,” Sports Illustrated, June 1, 1992.
42. Author interview, Bill O’Hare. O’Hare and his brother, Dan (a Catholic priest), were among Floyd’s closest friends.
43. Author interview, Thomas Hauser.
44. In fact, in boxing circles, there was talk of Floyd’s decline for several years before New York Governor Pataki appointed Patterson to chair the athletic commission. Michael Katz, a one-time sports editor of the International Herald Tribune, related a story about Floyd’s trip to Pas-de-Calais, France, in December 1992 for Tracy Patterson’s title fight against Daniel Zaragoza. Spotted in Paris by an old acquaintance, Patterson was asked, “Floyd, what are you doing in France?” A befuddled Patterson responded, “I’m in France?”
45. The Associated Press, “Losses Still Haunt Former Champ,” August 2, 1998.
46. Gregory Kane, “A Champ at Living a Life of Grace and Dignity,” Baltimore Sun, May 13, 2006.
47. “Fellow Champ Torres Remembers Patterson,” Weekend Edition, NPR, May 13, 2006.
Epilogue: Invisible Champion
1. Carlo Rotella, Cut Time: An Education at the Fights, 220.
2. Mark Kram, Ghosts of Manila: The Fateful Blood Feud between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, 122.
3. Gerald Early, The Culture of Bruising, 33.
4. W. C. Heinz, “The Floyd Patterson His Friends Know,” Sport, November 1960.
5. W. C. Heinz, Once They Heard the Cheers, 62.
6. Author interview, Gay Talese.
Floyd Patterson’s Boxing Record
55 (40 KOs)–8–1
KO=knockout; TKO=technical knockout; SD=split decision; UD=unanimous decision; RTD=“retired,” meaning the referee stops the fight after a round when both boxers are in their respective corners (similar to a TKO and counts toward a boxer’s knockout total); PTS=“points,” meaning the fighter wins on judges’ points; MD=majority decision, meaning two of three judges score the fight for the winner, and the third scores it a draw.
Index
Abramson, Jesse, [>]
Action Sports Inc., [>]
Adams, Caswell, [>]
Agaganian, Hranoush, [>]
Agosto, Pedro, [>]
Ahlquist, Edwin, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Alan, Mickey, [>], [>], [>]
Alexander Hamilton Vocational High School, FP attends, [>]
Ali, Muhammad, [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]
vs. Bonavena, [>]
boxing abilities of, [>]
conversion and name change, [>]
Henry Cooper almost defeats, [>]
and Cosell, [>]
Gerald Early on, [>]
and Ellis, [>]
and FP, [>]–[>]
Ali’s criticism of, [>], [>], [>]
Ali’s praise of, [>]–[>]
confrontation with, [>]–[>]
fight against (first), [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>] n.47, [>], [>]
fight against (second), [>], [>]–[>], [>]
FP attends Ali-Liston fight, [>]–[>]
and FP as rival, [>], [>]
FP’s criticism of, [>], [>], [>]
FP’s defense of, [>]–[>]
FP’s obsession with, [>]
and FP’s marriage to white woman, [>]
rematch discussed, [>]
third fight proposed, [>]–[>]
and Archie Moore, [>]
and name change from “Clay,” [>], [>] n.40
predicts Chuvalo victory over FP, [>]
return of after end of suspension, [>]
vs. Leon Spinks, [>]
stripped of title, [>], [>] n.11
See also Clay, Cassius Marcellus, Jr.
Ali-Liston fight (first), [>]
Ali-Liston fight (second), [>]–[>]
All the Young Men (movie), Johansson in, [>]
Amateur Athletic Union boxing championships, [>], [>]
American Boxing Association, heavy-weight rankings of, [>]
Amonti, Santo, [>]
Anderson, Dave, [>]
Anthony, Tony, [>], [>]
Aragon, Art, [>]
Arcel, Ray, [>], [>]
Armstrong, Henry, [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Arnesen, Cliff, [>]–[>]
Arum, Bob, [>]–[>]
Atlanta, as venue for Quarry fight, [>]
Aurora Downs, Liston training camp in, [>]
Baer, Max, [>], [>]
Baker, Bob, [>], [>]
Baldwin, James, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>]
Baraka, Amiri, [>]
Barrodale, Barry, [>], [>], [>]
Bascom, Wes, [>]
Basilio, Carmen, [>]
Battling Battalino, [>]
Battling Siki, [>]
Bear Mountain Inn, FP’s training at, [>]
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, [>], [>]
escape from for FP family, [>]
social services lacking in, [>]
Bengtsson, Olle, [>]
Besmanoff, Willi, [>]
Bethea, Wayne, [>]
Bimstein, Whitey, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Birmingham
civil rights demonstrations in (1963), [>]–[>]
young girls killed in church bombing in, [>]
Black, Charley, [>], [>]
Black Muslims, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>] n.40
FP’s fear of, [>]
Bolan Al, [>]
Bolan, Tom, [>]
Bonavena, Oscar “Ringo,” [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Boston Garden
FP wins AAU championship at, [>]
as planned site for McNeeley fight, [>]
Boxing
D’Amato on, [>]
> diminished importance of (1970s), [>]
“in the pocket,” [>] n.8
integration of, [>]
lighter-weight vs. heavyweight divisions in, [>]
organized crime in control of, [>]–[>]
and regaining of heavyweight championship, [>]
as sole major sport for blacks, [>]
title vacancy after Ali stripped, [>]–[>]
Brad, Calvin, [>]
Braddock, James J., [>], [>], [>]–[>]
Brando, Marlon, [>], [>]
Brenner, Teddy, [>], [>], [>], [>]
Breslin, Jimmy, [>], [>], [>]
Brooklyn, Bedford-Stuyvesant, [>], [>]
escape from for FP family, [>]
social services lacking in, [>]
Brown, David, [>]
Brown, James, [>]
Brown, Jim, [>], [>]
Brown, Sammy, [>]
Brown, Vic, [>]
Brown [>]. Board of Education of Topeka, [>], [>]
Buck, Al, [>]
Bunche, Ralph, [>]
Burton, Lewis, [>]
Callahan, Mushy, [>]
Cannon, Jimmy, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Canzoneri, Tony, [>], [>]–[>]
Capone, Al, [>]
Carbo, Frankie (Paolo Giovanni), [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>] n.13
Cardiff Giant, [>], [>] n.8
Carlton Avenue YMCA, [>]–[>], [>]
Carnegie, Dale, and Ali’s demeanor (Chass), [>]
Carnera, Primo, [>], [>], [>]
Carroll, Diahann, [>]
Carson, Johnny, FP interviewed by, [>]
Carter, Harold, [>]–[>], [>]
Cassady, Neal, [>]
Chamberlain, Wilt, [>]
Charles, Ezzard, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Chass, Murray, [>]
Chocolate, Kid, [>], [>]
Chuvalo, George, [>]–[>]
Ali on, [>]
Bonavena defeats, [>]
in fight with FP, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
in tournament of contenders, [>]
Cicala, Freddie, [>]
Civil rights
beginnings of movement toward, [>]
Birmingham demonstrations (1963), [>]–[>]
Father Delaney in, [>]
and FP, [>]
in Birmingham demonstration, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
criticized as Uncle Tom, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]
and early experience of segregated arena, [>]
and King assassination, [>]
lauded for participation in, [>]–[>]
on trip to Mississippi, [>]
and FP’s family in Brooklyn, [>]
in Freedom Summer (1964), [>]
NAACP, [>]
and social turbulence, [>]–[>]
and Watts riots, [>]
See also Race relations and racism
Clay, Cassius Marcellus, Jr., [>]–[>], [>]
FP celebratory poem by, [>]
FP idolized by, [>]
Johansson embarrassed in sparring with, [>]–[>]
as leading contender, [>]
and Liston in Las Vegas, [>]
at 1956 Olympics, [>], [>]
See also Ali, Muhammad
Clay, Rudolph Valentino, [>]
Cleaver, Eldridge, [>]
Cleveland, Patterson-Daniels fight in, [>]
Cohen, William, [>]
Cohn, Roy, [>]–[>], [>]
Cokes, Curtis, [>]
Cold War, and Rademacher win over Soviet fighter, [>]
Comiskey Park, Patterson-Liston fight in, [>]
Connor, Eugene “Bull,” [>]
Conrad, Harold, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
Conrad, Robert, [>]
Cooper, Clarence, [>]–[>]
Cooper, Henry, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Corbett, James J., [>]
Cosby, Bill, at MLK funeral, [>]
Cosell, Emmy (wife), [>], [>]
Cosell, Howard, [>]–[>]
and Ali on fight with FP, [>]
Ali as new interest of, [>]
and FP, [>]
on FP before second Liston fight, [>]
FP discarded by, [>]–[>]
and FP vs. Johansson, [>], [>]
and FP on rats in training facility, [>]
on FP’s air of penitence, [>]
on FP’s financial plight, [>]–[>]
on Patterson-Ali fights, [>]
and Patterson-Ellis fight, [>], [>]
at second Patterson-Johansson fight, [>]
visits to help with FP’s depression, [>]–[>]
Cosell, Jill (daughter), [>]
Costen, Vivian, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Crecy, Jacques Royer, [>]
Crispus Attucks High School, Indianapolis, [>]–[>]
Culture of Bruising, The (Early), [>]
Cut and Shoot, Texas, [>]–[>]
Dade, Harold, [>]
Daley, Arthur, [>]–[>], [>]
D’Amato, Cus (Constantine), [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
James Baldwin on, [>]
and Cassius Clay offer, [>]
on Cohn operations, [>]
and Cosell, [>]
and Eastern Parkway, [>]
and Gramercy Gym, [>]
and Graziano, [>]
and IBC/organized crime, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
battles with as impoverishing, [>]
and FP fights outside New York, [>]
and Weill, [>]
and Jim Jacobs, [>]
and Lavelle, [>], [>]–[>] (see also Lavelle, Frank)
loses NY boxing license, [>], [>], [>], [>]
and Mathis, [>]–[>]
retires upstate, [>]
Talese on, [>]
and Torres, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
AND FP’S CAREER, [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]
and age controversy, [>]–[>]
D’Amato’s complaints against FP and legal action, [>]–[>]
and D’Amato’s confidence, [>], [>]
and D’Amato as spokesman, [>]
and deal for TV retrospective, [>]
in early amateur fights, [>]
end of relationship as manager, [>], [>], [>], [>]
and exhibition tour between Johansson fights, [>]
as failing to line up contenders, [>]
and fights around country to build reputation, [>]
and FP as pro, [>]–[>]
on FP’s abilities, [>]–[>]
and FP’s age, [>]–[>]
in FP’s autobiography, [>]
and rejected manuscript, [>]
and FP’s depression following Johansson defeat, [>]
golden crown presented to FP, [>]
as hanger-on at training before third Johansson fight, [>], [>]
and Harris fight (title defense), [>]–[>], [>]
and heavyweight championship, [>]
and intimations of homoerotic feelings, [>]–[>]
irregularities in negotiations over London fight, [>]–[>], [>]
and Jackson title defense, [>], [>]–[>]
and Johansson fight (first), [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
and Johansson fight (second), [>], [>], [>]
Liston confrontation with over chance to fight FP, [>]
and Liston fight, [>]
and Liston rematch, [>]
and London fight, [>], [>]–[>]
and Mailer on FP’s loss to Liston, [>]
management of title defense, [>], [>]
and McNeeley fight, [>]–[>]
and Archie Moore fight, [>], [>], [>]
peek-a-boo stance taught, [>]
pro contract signed, [>]
psychological support in early training, [>]–[>]
reconciliation, [>]
and Schulberg on McBride fight, [>]
versatility developed in FP, [>]
D’Amato, Damiano (father), [>]
D’Amato, Elizabeth (mother), [>]
&
nbsp; D’Amato, Gerry (brother), [>]
D’Amato, Nick (brother), [>]
D’Amato, Tony (brother), [>]
Daniel, Daniel M., [>]
Daniels, Terry, [>]–[>], [>]
Darren, James, [>
Floyd Patterson Page 30
