After his second consecutive humiliating knockout loss Sonny Liston in the summer of 1963, Floyd Patterson went home to regroup. He returned to the ring against Santo Amonti on January 6, 1964 in Stockholm, and stopped him in the eighth round. Six months later saw Floyd take on the rough Eddie Machen in Solna, and win a 12 round decision. Patterson was not sellable in the states after his pathetic efforts against Liston, so he took to the road to rebuild his name.
Five months later, Floyd traveled to Puerto Rico to fight Charlie Powell on December 12, 1964. Patterson ended the bout in six, and now had three wins under his belt on his comeback tour. His toughest test came in his next opponent, the rugged George Chuvalo at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 1, 1965.
Floyd won a unanimous decision in the twelve round contest, and put his name on the list of possible contenders for the new champion, Muhammad Ali. Three months later saw him beat Tod Herring on May 14 in Las Vegas, this time with a third round TKO. Five straight wins put Patterson back in the title picture, and was promised a a shot at Ali if he defeated Sonny Liston in their rematch eleven days later.
Ali did in fact with the rematch with a controversial first round KO of Liston. It’s common knowledge that Sonny took a dive, and in Ali’s words, “The Bear is now in hibernation.” The negotiations with Patterson were soon finalized, and a November 22, 1965 date at the Las Vegas Convention Center was set.
Ali had nicknamed Floyd ‘The Rabbit’ while in training to fight him, and going into the bout, was a huge favorite. Patterson suffered a back injury in the opening round, and was basically a cripple the whole night. Ali toyed with him, easily outboxed Floyd, until the thing was mercilessly stopped in the 12th round. Muhammad had retained his belt. and Floyd was on losing end again after five straight victories.
Bowed, but not broken, Patterson healed, and regrouped and returned to the ring late in 1966 against Henry Cooper in England. Whether or not he could earn and win another shot at the heavyweight championship was another story altogether, and only time would determine that.
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