Boxing: Patterson, Gentleman of the Ring, Dies at the Age of 71

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Floyd Patterson was the first heavyweight to win the Championship of the World twice in a career that lasted just over 20 years.

Patterson, who has died aged 71, is best known for his series of fights with heavyweight champions Ingemar Johansson, Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali, but he fought 64 times and met some of the best heavyweights of the time.

When Patterson turned professional he was trained and managed by maverick New Yorker Cus D'Amato and the pair developed a style dubbed "peek-a-boo". In the 1950s the degree of corruption in boxing was such that D'Amato refused to allow the mobsters running the sport to have options on Patterson, who had to wait four …