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MY BOY'S BATTLE
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Floyd's boxing career was phenomenally
successful until he met Ingemar Johansson;
here's how he conquered his despair
and came back from that stunning defeat
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Tne in "Tht Laretla Vouno Show" and "Owrfanrf Trail" BC-TV Network
farm all my own, and woods to walk in."
He seemed to set that as his goal right
then and there.
Floyd spent about a year and a half at
Wiltwyck, and when he came home I had
no more trouble with him. He went to P.S.
614, a school that had a special vocational
training program, and in his spare time he
followed his brothers, Frank and Billy, who
were amateur boxers, to the gym to watch
them train. Before long his interest in box
ing was all-out, and I tried to encourage it
Floyd didn't need much of a push. Around
the house, while the other kids would be
playing music or dancing, Floyd would be
shadowboxing in front of a mirror, pounding
a pillow, or simply flicking his left hand at
the light cord. Yet he didn't seem cut out for
fighting. He was so gentle and didn't seem
to be the kind that could hurt a man once
he'd gotten the upper hand. But when Floyd
started fighting, he rocketed to the top.
Wins Olympic Championship
When he was only 16, he won the New
York and Eastern Golden Gloves titles. The
next year, 1952, he won these titles again and
went on to Helsinki, Finland, where he won
the Olympic middleweight championship for
the U.S.A. Can you imagine how I felt?
There was my little problem boy standing
on the Olympic victory pedestal for all the
world to see!
Things didn't end there, of course. When
he came back home and turned professional,
sportswriters began predicting all sorts of
wonderful things for him. Floyd didn't do
anything to disappoint them. In 1956, when
he was not yet 21, he became the youngest
man ever to win the heavyweight champion
ship. He knocked out Archie Moore.
I never expected any more problems with
Floyd after that As champion he began to
take home big purses, $250,000 and $300,000
at times. He was so generous, too. He bought
a big house in Mount Vernon, N. Y., for
Thomas and me and the children. He bought
another home for his wife Sandra and their
children in Rockville Centre, N. Y. Andf he
bought a restaurant for his brother Billy
'and set Frank up in a floor-polishing busi
ness. He told his other younger brothers and
sisters that he'd help them go to college.
Only if your family has been real poor can
you know why all this seemed like a dream.
Then we all woke up. It was June 26, 1959,
and Floyd was defending his title against
Ingemar Johansson at Yankee Stadium.
Everyone said Floyd was going to win easily.
I think Floyd must have believed it, too. In
the third round, though, Johansson took
the championship away from Floyd. I was
there at the ringside when it happened, and
Family Weekly. August 7. 1960
it was the most horrible moment of my life
as I saw my boy knocked down seven times
before the referee stopped the fight
The boxing world was surprised by Floyd's
defeat but not as much as Floyd himself.
When I talked to him after the fight, I saw
that we had the same old problem on our
hands. His quiet confidence, which had
grown so well since his days at Wiltwyck,
was gone.
I stayed with Floyd and Sandra for a week
after the fight, hoping to cheer him up. But
it was no use. Floyd hardly spoke to any
body. He pulled down the shades of the
house and refused to go outdoors. He had his
telephone number changed so he would not
have to speak with friends.
Floyd hid in his shell until he went off to
set up his training camp in the fall. He picked
out a former country inn, tucked away
in the hills of Newtown, Conn., about 65
miles from New York City. The place was
like the beautiful countryside at Wiltwyck.
When I went to see Floyd at Newtown
several weeks later, I noticed a big change.
There in the country that he loved best his
confidence seemed to return. He laughed and
talked a lot, and he took me for a stroll down
the wooded paths just like in the old days.
. Press Picks Johansson
Floyd stayed in the Newtown hills for nine
months, figuring out his next fight against
Johansson. Few people gave him a chance
to win, but that seemed to make the challenge-so
much more important to Floyd.
Sportswriters wrote that his rise to the world
championship had been some sort of a freak.
They called him a "cheese" champion and
. wrote that Johansson's right hand would
send him away once and for all. They even
criticized his quiet retreat, which was quite
different from the luxurious resort where
Johansson trained.
Floyd's camp was just the setting he
needed, however. The villagers of Newtown,
like the folks at Wiltwyck, helped him build
up his confidence. They invited him to talk to
their youth groups the Little League and
such. They waved to him like old friends as
he chugged along the back lanes, doing his
roadwork. Many prayed with him every Sun
day at St Rose Roman Catholic Church.
On June 20, Floyd drove down from New
town to the Polo Grounds in New York City.
I saw him before the fight, and when he gave
me that little half smile of his I knew what
was going to happen. And it did in the fifth
round. Floyd was champion again.
That was a comeback the whole world
knows about But I don't think it could have
been possible without that first comeback a
long time ago.