Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1956 to 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after losing it. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Summer Olympics. In 1956 and 1960, Patterson was voted Fighter of the Year by "The Ring" magazine and the Boxing Writers Association
World Heavyweight Championship (Omaha) World Heavyweight Championship (Omaha) The World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship sanctioned by a group of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promoters led by the NWA affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. These promoters chose to recognize Édouard Carpentier as NWA World Heavyweight Champion following his disputed win over NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz on June 14, 1957. The majority of NWA promoters continued to recognize Thesz as their champion. It was often contested alongside the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, and the two titles were finally unified when AWA champion Verne Gagne defeated Omaha champion Fritz