![]() Remembering that this fight boiled down to Ingo’s right hand versus Patterson’s left hand, all that Ingomar Johansson had to do to scientifically secure a connection was to move to a position where his right shoulder was inside of Patterson’s left. Patterson managed to connect on several occasions but because Ingemar was moving away from Patterson’s left hand at the time there was little impact. Patterson was easily the fastest heavyweight of his day, and was supposed to represent a further evolution of boxing, yet the simple act of circling away from Patterson’s left hand left him stumped. Johansson defused Patterson with surprising ease however. ![]() A look at the uncoordinated right lunge punch that Patterson makes at the 1:42 mark brings to mind the wild, stepping punches of a young Alistair Overeem before he began to work diligently on his hands. From his squared position he could not rotate his hips into his right punches much whereas his left punches could be thrown with great venom from the coiled stance that he took. His main choice of counter, the inside slip or duck to left hook – also made it difficult for him to focus his attention on throwing his right hand anyway. Patterson’s right hand was clearly less powerful than his left and far less dexterous – serving only to fill space in his rapid combinations ordinarily. He had power in his right hand, his knockout of Pete Rademacher two years before this fight should serve as evidence of this. Patterson, however, had the habit of becoming something of a one dimensional fighter. In the Johannson – Patterson trilogy, especially as Patterson was known for his weak jaw and brutal counters, a single punch could change the course of the fight. Roberto Duran’s bragging that he had the right hand of Ingemar Johansson should indicate that Ingo’s Bingo was considered the premier power punch in the world for some time. Heavyweight matches are often advertised with the “whoever connects first” angle – but it is rarely true as both men miss until one is exhausted but both Patterson and Johansson rank among Ring Magazine’s 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time. Johansson provided the hype for the match and one of the better quotes in boxing history as he noted shaking hands with Patterson was “like shaking hands with a lace curtain”. Patterson meanwhile had become the youngest man to ever win the world heavyweight title at the tender age of 20. Johansson had a lot to make up for after being disqualified for timidity in the gold medal match of the 1952 Helsinki olympics, and had since gone on a dominating streak as a professional.
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