NO. 9 (TIE) FLOYD PATTERSON
Height: 6-0
Active: 1952-72
Record: 55-8-1 (40 KOs)
Reign(s): 1956-59; 1960-62
Background: Patterson won the middleweight gold medal in the 1952 Olympics and started his pro career in the mid-160s, which gives you an idea of his natural size. Still, Patterson had a successful, two-reign career as a heavyweight. Slick and extremely quick for a heavyweight, he stopped Archie Moore in 1956 to win the title vacated by Rocky Marciano. He successfully defended four times before he was upset by Swede Ingemar Johansson in 1959, going down an embarrassing seven times in the third round before the fight was stopped. Patterson then became the first to regain the title by stopping Johansson in six rounds the following year and then doing it again in 1961. He then ran out of luck and into the bigger, stronger Sonny Liston, who annihilated him inside one round in back-to-back fights. Patterson hung around until the early 1970s but never again reached great heights.