Editing Floyd Patterson (section)

==Early life==
Born January 4, 1935,<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2019/01/04/UPI-Almanac-for-Friday-Jan-4-2019/5471546221584/|title=UPI Almanac for Friday, Jan. 4, 2019|work=[[United Press International]]|date=January 4, 2019|access-date=September 4, 2019|archive-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190105012355/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2019/01/04/UPI-Almanac-for-Friday-Jan-4-2019/5471546221584/|url-status=live|quote=former heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson in 1935}}</ref> into a poor family in [[Waco, North Carolina]], Patterson was one of eleven children. Savannah Joe Patterson was his first cousin from out of Arkansas, he went and visited during the early summer years. He experienced an insular and troubled childhood. His family moved to [[Brooklyn]], New York, in the neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant otherwise known as Bed-Stuy. During this time, his parents were working extremely hard to provide for the family. There were eleven children to feed. Patterson felt helpless that he could not help his mother and father more. He felt stupid and powerless.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Remnick |first1=David |title=King Of The World |date=October 5, 1999 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0375702297 |page=27}}</ref> Starting at the age of nine, Floyd became a truant and petty thief. It began with him stealing little things like milk and fruit to bring back to his mother to help. However, as he transitioned into a teenager, he would frequently be seen in court for- stealing, truancy, and running away. He estimated that he had been in court, thirty to forty times. At age 10, a judge was so tired of seeing him in court that he was sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys, a reform school in [[Esopus, New York]], He was sent off there in September 1945. During this time, he was furious thinking he was being sent to jail until his mother explained the blessing.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Remnick |first1=David |title=King Of The World |date=October 5, 1999 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0375702297 |page=27}}</ref> He credited this to turning his life around. He stayed there for almost two years. He attended high school in [[New Paltz, New York]], where he succeeded in all sports.<ref>{{cite news |last=Springer |first=Steve |date=February 5, 1987 |title=Ex-Boxing Champion Floyd Patterson Saves a Lad, Gains a Son : Youngster Escapes a Bleak Past |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-05-sp-1073-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=July 16, 2018}}</ref>

Patterson took up boxing at age fourteen, and was training with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Boxing Association Gym.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/486008310/ Big Apple rates edge vs. Chicago], By Tom Hanrahan, ''Daily News'', New York, April 24, 1981, p. 46.</ref> Three years later, he won the gold medal in the 1952 [[Helsinki, Finland|Helsinki]] [[Olympic Games|Olympics]] as a [[middleweight]]. In 1952, he won the [[National Amateur Middleweight Champions]]hip and [[New York Golden Gloves]] Middleweight Championship.<ref>{{cite news |last=Litsky |first=Frank |date=May 11, 2006 |title=Floyd Patterson, Boxing Champion, Dies at 71 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/11/sports/othersports/11cnd-patterson.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=July 16, 2018}}</ref> At that time he was spotted by [[Cus D'Amato]], and trained at the Gramercy Gym.

Patterson's younger brother Raymond (born 1942) also became a professional heavyweight boxer and has lived in [[Gothenburg]], Sweden, since 1965 and has worked as a truck driver at Volvo Lastvagnar after his boxing career.<ref>{{cite news |last=Abrahamsson |first=Hans |date=12 May 2006 |title=Brodern Raymond: Jag vill komma ihåg honom som han var |trans-title=Brother Raymond: I want to remember him as he was |language=sv |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/a/7l3k3V/brodern-raymond-jag-vill-komma-ihag-honom-som-han-var |work=Aftonbladet |access-date=November 21, 2020}}</ref>

===Olympic results===
* Round of 16: Defeated Omar Tebakka (France) on points, 3–0
* Quarterfinal: Defeated Leonardus Jansen (Netherlands) by a first-round stoppage
* Semifinal: Defeated [[Stig Sjölin]] (Sweden) by disqualification in the third round
* Defeated [[Vasile Tiță]] (Romania) by a first-round knockout

Patterson's amateur record was 40 wins (37 by knockout) and 4 defeats.

Patterson carried his hands higher than most boxers, in front of his face. Sportswriters called Patterson's style a "[[Peek-a-Boo (boxing style)|peek-a-boo]]" stance.