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Heavyweight boxing · most active 1950s

Floyd Patterson

71″ reach · -1.48% reach advantage · 3rd percentile

Boxing record

55–8–1

Floyd Patterson has a reach of 71″ against a height of 72″ — a reach advantage of -1.48%, unusually short for heavyweight boxing and the 3rd percentile of the 317 compared here.

195019601970win v Lalu Sabotin, 1952, kowin v Lester Johnson, 1952, kowin v Sammy Walker, 1952win v Eddie Godbold, 1952win v Dick Wagner, 1953, kowin v Wes Bascom, 1953win v Gordon Wallace, 1953, kowin v Chester Mieszala, 1953, kowin v Jimmy Slade, 1954, decisionwin v Joe Gannon, 1954, decisionwin v Esau Ferdinand, 1954, decisionwin v Tommy Harrison, 1954, kowin v Jacques Royer Crecy, 1954, koloss v Joey Maxim, 1954, decisionwin v Jesse Turner, 1954, decisionwin v Alvin Williams, 1954, decisionwin v Sammy Brown, 1954, kowin v Yvon Durelle, 1954, decisionwin v Jimmy Slade, 1955, kowin v Calvin Brad, 1955, kowin v Dave Whitlock, 1955, kowin v Alvin Williams, 1955, kowin v Archie McBride, 1955, kowin v Yvon Durelle, 1955win v Esau Ferdinand, 1955, kowin v Don Grant, 1955, kowin v Willie Troy, 1955, kowin v Archie Moore, 1956, kowin v Tommy Jackson, 1956, decisionwin v Alvin Williams, 1956, kowin v Jimmy Walls, 1956, kowin v Pete Rademacher, 1957, kowin v Tommy Jackson, 1957, kowin v Roy Harris, 1958, koloss v Ingemar Johansson, 1959, kowin v Brian London, 1959, kowin v Ingemar Johansson, 1960, kowin v Tom McNeeley, 1961, kowin v Ingemar Johansson, 1961, koloss v Sonny Liston, 1962, koloss v Sonny Liston, 1963, kowin v Charlie Powell, 1964, kowin v Eddie Machen, 1964win v Santo Amonti, 1964, koloss v Muhammad Ali, 1965, kowin v Tod Herring, 1965, kowin v George Chuvalo, 1965, decisionwin v Henry Cooper, 1966, koloss v Jerry Quarry, 1967win v Bill McMurray, 1967, kowin v Willie Johnson, 1967, koloss v Jimmy Ellis, 1968, decisionwin v Charley Green, 1970, kowin v Charlie Harris, 1971, kowin v Vic Brown, 1971, decisionwin v Charley Polite, 1971, decisionwin v Terry Daniels, 1971, decisionwin v Roger Russell, 1971, kowin v Levi Forte, 1971, koloss v Muhammad Ali, 1972, kowin v Pedro Agosto, 1972, kowin v Oscar Bonavena, 1972, decision
WON ABOVE·LOST BELOW BAR = STOPPAGE·BROKEN BAR = SUBMISSION·TICK = DECISION 1952–1972

SOURCE·Floyd Patterson — English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)·derived figures computed here·REVIEWED 2026-07-16

How this record is compiled

  1. Measurements come from the fighter's English Wikipedia infobox; the bout list is parsed from the results table on the same article, read on 2026-07-16. Boxing tables are read by header name and MMA records by the fixed column order of the MMA record template — two different parsers, because reading MMA rows as a boxing table returns a fighter's boxing record in place of their real one.
  2. A bout enters the ledger with whatever fields the source states: result, opponent, method, round, year. Any field the source leaves empty stays empty here. A date that cannot be established is left blank rather than inferred, and the bout is still counted.
  3. A no contest is counted and printed as a no contest. It is never folded into the wins, the losses or the draws, and it never disappears to make a total balance.
  4. Where the article's infobox total disagrees with its own results table, both figures are published and each is labelled with where it came from. Nothing is averaged and nothing is reconciled against a second database.
  5. Percentiles rank this fighter among the 317 heavyweight boxing fighters in the dataset — the most specific group of at least 30 that this fighter belongs to.
reach advantage = (reach − height) ÷ height × 100

Sources, exclusions and known limits →

Bout record

Every bout the article's own results table lists, in order. A dash is a field the source leaves empty — it is not a zero and it is not a guess.

Bout-by-bout recordAUG 2026
YearResultOpponentMethodRd
1972 L Muhammad Ali KO/TKO7
1972 W Pedro Agosto KO/TKO6
1972 W Oscar Bonavena Decision10
1971 W Charlie Harris KO/TKO6
1971 W Vic Brown Decision10
1971 W Charley Polite Decision10
1971 W Terry Daniels Decision10
1971 W Roger Russell KO/TKO9
1971 W Levi Forte KO/TKO2
1970 W Charley Green KO/TKO10
1968 L Jimmy Ellis Decision15
1967 L Jerry Quarry —12
1967 W Bill McMurray KO/TKO1
1967 W Willie Johnson KO/TKO3
1966 W Henry Cooper KO/TKO4
1965 L Muhammad Ali KO/TKO12
1965 W Tod Herring KO/TKO3
1965 W George Chuvalo Decision12
1964 W Charlie Powell KO/TKO6
1964 W Eddie Machen —12
1964 W Santo Amonti KO/TKO8
1963 L Sonny Liston KO/TKO1
1962 L Sonny Liston KO/TKO1
1961 W Tom McNeeley KO/TKO4
1961 W Ingemar Johansson KO/TKO6
1960 W Ingemar Johansson KO/TKO5
1959 L Ingemar Johansson KO/TKO3
1959 W Brian London KO/TKO11
1958 W Roy Harris KO/TKO12
1957 W Pete Rademacher KO/TKO6
1957 W Tommy Jackson KO/TKO10
1956 W Archie Moore KO/TKO5
1956 W Tommy Jackson Decision12
1956 W Alvin Williams KO/TKO3
1956 W Jimmy Walls KO/TKO2
1955 W Jimmy Slade KO/TKO7
1955 W Calvin Brad KO/TKO1
1955 W Dave Whitlock KO/TKO3
1955 W Alvin Williams KO/TKO8
1955 W Archie McBride KO/TKO7
1955 W Yvon Durelle —5
1955 W Esau Ferdinand KO/TKO10
1955 W Don Grant KO/TKO5
1955 W Willie Troy KO/TKO5
1954 W Jimmy Slade Decision8
1954 W Joe Gannon Decision8
1954 W Esau Ferdinand Decision8
1954 W Tommy Harrison KO/TKO1
1954 W Jacques Royer Crecy KO/TKO7
1954 L Joey Maxim Decision8
1954 W Jesse Turner Decision8
1954 W Alvin Williams Decision8
1954 W Sammy Brown KO/TKO2
1954 W Yvon Durelle Decision8
1953 W Dick Wagner KO/TKO5
1953 W Wes Bascom —8
1953 W Gordon Wallace KO/TKO3
1953 W Chester Mieszala KO/TKO5
1952 W Lalu Sabotin KO/TKO5
1952 W Lester Johnson KO/TKO3

Showing 60 of 62 recorded bouts, most recent first.

21 of these opponents have their own page here.

SOURCE·Floyd Patterson — English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)·derived figures computed here·REVIEWED 2026-07-16

Reach in context

Reach advantage

-1.48%

71″ reach on a 72″ frame

Compared against 317 heavyweight boxing fighters. Median 3.99%.

-2.8%heavyweight boxing reach advantage12%
Measurements
Reach71″ (180.3 cm)5th pct
Height72″ (183 cm)22nd pct
StanceOrthodox
DivisionHeavyweight Boxing
competed at 2: light heavyweight, heavyweight — compared here against the last
Most active decade1950s — 36 of 62 dated bouts
CountryUnited States

Record

Boxing record

55–8

64 bouts on record

Finish rate

73%

of wins ended inside the distance — heavyweight boxing median 68%, 60th percentile

By knockout: 40 (73%)By decision: 15 (27%)
  • By knockout 73%
  • By decision 27%

The career, bout by bout

62 recorded bouts from 1952 to 1972. Every incumbent shows this as a table you have to read; here it is as a shape you can see.

1960 1970 win vs Lalu Sabotin (1952)win vs Lester Johnson (1952)win vs Sammy Walker (1952)win vs Eddie Godbold (1952)win vs Dick Wagner (1953)win vs Wes Bascom (1953)win vs Gordon Wallace (1953)win vs Chester Mieszala (1953)win vs Jimmy Slade (1954)win vs Joe Gannon (1954)win vs Esau Ferdinand (1954)win vs Tommy Harrison (1954)win vs Jacques Royer Crecy (1954)loss vs Joey Maxim (1954)win vs Jesse Turner (1954)win vs Alvin Williams (1954)win vs Sammy Brown (1954)win vs Yvon Durelle (1954)win vs Jimmy Slade (1955)win vs Calvin Brad (1955)win vs Dave Whitlock (1955)win vs Alvin Williams (1955)win vs Archie McBride (1955)win vs Yvon Durelle (1955)win vs Esau Ferdinand (1955)win vs Don Grant (1955)win vs Willie Troy (1955)win vs Archie Moore (1956)win vs Tommy Jackson (1956)win vs Alvin Williams (1956)win vs Jimmy Walls (1956)win vs Pete Rademacher (1957)win vs Tommy Jackson (1957)win vs Roy Harris (1958)loss vs Ingemar Johansson (1959)win vs Brian London (1959)win vs Ingemar Johansson (1960)win vs Tom McNeeley (1961)win vs Ingemar Johansson (1961)loss vs Sonny Liston (1962)loss vs Sonny Liston (1963)win vs Charlie Powell (1964)win vs Eddie Machen (1964)win vs Santo Amonti (1964)loss vs Muhammad Ali (1965)win vs Tod Herring (1965)win vs George Chuvalo (1965)win vs Henry Cooper (1966)loss vs Jerry Quarry (1967)win vs Bill McMurray (1967)win vs Willie Johnson (1967)loss vs Jimmy Ellis (1968)win vs Charley Green (1970)win vs Charlie Harris (1971)win vs Vic Brown (1971)win vs Charley Polite (1971)win vs Terry Daniels (1971)win vs Roger Russell (1971)win vs Levi Forte (1971)loss vs Muhammad Ali (1972)win vs Pedro Agosto (1972)win vs Oscar Bonavena (1972)
winlossdraw / NC1952–1972

Career span

21y

1952–1972

Longest unbeaten run

20

without a loss — draws do not break it

Busiest year

1954

10 bouts

Recorded bouts

62

62 with a date

Standing questions

What this record does and does not say

What is Floyd Patterson's record?
55–8–1 in boxing. That is the aggregate stated in the English Wikipedia infobox; the results table on the same article lists 62 bouts individually.
Does a no contest change a record here?
No. A no contest is not a win, a loss or a draw, and it is never folded into one. It is counted and printed separately, so a 20–0 record with two no contests is shown as exactly that rather than as 22–0 or as 20–0 with the no contests dropped. The same applies to a bout overturned after the fact where the source records the change.
What happens when sources disagree about a fight?
This site publishes one source — the fighter's English Wikipedia article, read on the date printed under every table — and it does not silently reconcile that against anyone else's database. Where the article's own infobox total and its own results table disagree, both are shown and the page says which one each figure came from. Nothing is averaged, and no field is filled in from a second source to make a total balance.

See what every site in this family answers

Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.