"Still Too Tender to be a Tiger"

"Still Too Tender to be a Tiger"

Floyd Patterson vs. Eddie Machen

The picture to the left of the text depicts a Floyd Patterson with a sheepish smile on his face. Although he has sweat dropping down his forehead and a towel around his shoulders like he just went through a difficult sparring match with his opponent, the text says otherwise. Part of the first sentence reads “…Floyd Patterson defeated Eddie Machen in 12 rounds of boxing that would never frighten Cassius Clay back into training…” Already, Patterson is being used as a foil for Muhammad Ali. The page then goes on to describe how unimpressive the fight was and that “Floyd is a nice man, too nice to be a professional fistfighter…” The portrayal of him as a nice person invalidates all the hard work he put in and matches he won that catapulted him from seventh to second overall challenger of the heavyweight championship.

Toni Cuevas

Sports Illustrated

Time Inc.

July 13, 1964

Tex Maule