The Question: What do you think of Floyd Patterson as a heavyweight boxing champion?

JACK DEMPSEY
Former Heavyweight Champion
Patterson is a good fighter, but he is very young and has a lot to learn. However, ambitious as he is and good as he is, I thought that if he licked Archie Moore decisively he could be a real champ. That he did, but I'm wondering if Moore was in top physical condition.

GENE TUNNEY
Former Heavyweight Champion
Patterson is not the type to beat heavyweight champions like Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. I don't want to depreciate the fighters of today but, when Archie Moore, 40, claimed the heavyweight championship prior to his bout with Patterson, the situation speaks for itself.

NAT FLEISCHER
Editor, The Ring Magazine
As yet, Patterson cannot be compared with heavyweight champions of the past. That will come after a few title defenses, but he is as good a heavyweight as was Rocky Marciano when he was rising to the top. He stands alone. There's no one today coming along fast enough to challenge him.

LOU STILLMAN
Owner, Stillman's Gymnasium
Patterson is not a heavyweight. He is a light heavy. That, alone, should make no difference because when Benny Leonard was the lightweight champion there were times when I thought Benny could lick the heavyweight champion. I thought the fight with Moore would tell. It certainly did.

NORM ROTHSCHILD
Syracuse, N.Y.
Fight promoter
Patterson is the best prospect since Joe Louis. He has been intelligently guided by his manager, Cus D'Amato. It looks as if he will be a great champion. However, there is one unknown factor: his ability to take a punch from a hard-hitting heavyweight. Moore didn't supply the answer.

LARRY ATKINS
Cleveland
Fight promoter
Floyd Patterson has youth and he figures to improve with each fight, just as Joe Louis did. There was a big "if" in his future—his fight with Archie Moore. Since he easily beat Moore, fight fans are now hoping for the real test, a bout with Rocky Marciano. That should provide the answer.

JOHN A. ROOSEVELT
Chairman of the Board, Gyrodyne Helicopter Company
He is an average champion among a poor crop of fighters. Television is to blame. Small boxing clubs throughout the country can't compete with televised bouts. Many have folded. Fewer boys are being trained as fighters. Now that "old man" Moore is gone, who can test Patterson?

JACKIE LEONARD
Hollywood
Matchmaker
He is one of the outstanding champions of all time. He can box and he can punch with either hand. He'll be a 190-pounder, a cross between Gene Tunney and Ezzard Charles. Patterson will also be a popular champion because he's a former Olympic champion and a gentleman outside the ring.

JIM FISK
Minneapolis
Northwest Airlines
Captain
Floyd Patterson is a splendid light heavyweight. He isn't big enough to be a great heavyweight. The big question is: Can he take a punch on the chin like Marciano and Joe Louis could? Archie Moore was a poor test of Patterson's ability. Moore was flabby and appeared afraid to fight.

TEN PHOTOS

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