Straight Writes and Jabs: An Inside Look at Another Year in Boxing

Literary Notes

Boxing’s literary tradition continues to grow. Literary Notes There are no first-rate biographies of Floyd Patterson. Floyd Patterson: Boxing’s Invisible Champion byW.K.Stratton (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) tries to fill that void, succeeds in some ways, and falls short in others. The outlines of Patterson’s story are known to older fans.At age ten (after an early-childhood filled with self-flagellation, petty crime, and school truancy), he was sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in upstate NewYork. From there, he segued into boxing. Cus D’Amato oversaw his early development in tandem with Frank Lavelle (an amateur trainer who began the process of molding the young fighter). Eventually, D’Amato pushed Lavelle out and replaced him with Dan Florio. During Patterson’s championship reign, D’Amato was jettisoned. Stratton calls Patterson “an overachiever who bootstrapped his way to the top.”That description could apply to most boxing champions. He also regards Patterson as an important figure in the civil rights movement because of his support for integrationist ideals in the face of opposition from racist whites and, later, the Nation of Islam as personified by Muhammad Ali. Stratton’s book benefits from some good research on the early stages of Patterson’s life and his amateur years.The writing flows nicely and there are some poignant scenes, such as Patterson visiting Sonny Liston in the latter’s dressing room after Liston was knocked out in the first round by Ali in Lewiston, Maine. But Floyd Patterson: Boxing’s Invisible Champion is wanting in several respects. Patterson won a vacant title by beating forty-year-old Archie Moore after Rocky Marciano retired. He defended it against a series of nonentities (losing to Ingemar Johansson, before besting Johansson in a rematch). He avoided credible challengers like Cleveland Williams and Zora Folley, and was dropped like a bowling ball by Sonny Liston in their two encounters. Later in his career, he was knocked out twice by Muhammad Ali. 200 THOMAS HAUSER In the face of this historical record, Stratton writes hyperbolically that Patterson had “a left hook as powerful as any ever seen in boxing” and that “no one had ever seen faster hands.” He calls the Patterson-Johansson trilogy “one of the most celebrated rivalries boxing has known” and Patterson-Liston I “the most talked-about heavyweight title bout since Louis-Schmeling.” He also devolves into fantasy with the claim that the “real reason” Rocky Marciano retired was fear that, if he fought Patterson, he would “suffer a humiliating defeat.” Indeed, Stratton writes,“Word spread that some people close to the champ feared Marciano risked getting killed in the ring with Floyd.” Authors are entitled to their opinions, but there are also nagging factual inaccuracies in the book.At one point, Stratton says that Johansson was a “heavy favorite” over Patterson in their rematch.Two pages later, he reports that the odds were 8 to 5. He writes that a decision by the New York State Supreme Court paved the way for Ali to return to the ring in the Empire State against Oscar Bonavena and Joe Frazier after his exile from boxing. In truth, it was a decision by a federal court (the United States District Court for the Southern District of NewYork) that opened the door. Presenting an idealized version of Patterson, Stratton recounts how, prior to fighting Chester Mieszala in Mieszala’s hometown of Chicago, he refused to train in the same gym as his opponent because “Floyd feared he might inadvertently pick up some tips by watching Mieszala that would give him an unfair advantage in the fight.” Isn’t it more likely that Patterson (and D’Amato) feared Mieszala’s camp would learn by watching him? As for D’Amato; too often, Stratton opens doors that might lead to a thorough exploration of his life but doesn’t walk through them. The book raises questions regarding D’Amato’s relationship with several mob figures at the same time he was self-righteously feuding with James Norris and Frankie Carbo. But it doesn’t answer them. It follows Patterson’s tumultuous relationship with D’Amato to the end of Cus’s life, but never mentions MikeTyson. And the book touches on the issue of D’Amato’s sexuality but then drops the subject. More specifically, Stratton references “D’Amato’s peculiar behavior,” including the fact that he sometimes slept in the same bed as Patterson. STRAIGHT WRITES AND...