"Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that."
Floyd Patterson
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WK Stratton, Edinburgh, Mainstream, 2012. ISBN 9 78178 0576206
Floyd Patterson was twice World Heavyweight Champion during the period 1956-62, having previously won Olympic gold. At 21 he was the youngest World Heavyweight Champion. The book is a biography.
The book describes Patterson growing up in a not particularly religious Baptist family, which seldom attended church. Through the influence of his future wife’s family he converted to Catholicism and was a lifelong devoted Catholic. One of his life highlights was an audience with Pope John XXIII. He became a Eucharistic minister, giving Communion to shut-ins in the parish. The book quotes Howard Cosell, a journalist: “Patterson converted to Catholicism and seemed utterly at peace with himself. He was that way then as a fighter”.
The book gives examples of Patterson’s integrity and sense of fair play. The issue of whether a Christian should be involved in boxing, is not addressed. The nearest is a quote from Patterson: “Some people think you have to hate to be a champion fighter. I have never hated an opponent except once” (The exception being Ingemar Johansson, who, Patterson thought, had disrespected him after beating him).