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Article: Patterson Reaches Out to Save a Boy-and Gain a Son
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- February 17, 1987
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Floyd Patterson spent much of his youth avoiding the light. He
loved the night, hated daytime. He craved solitude, avoided people.
So when he saw 13-year-old Tracy Harris heading down a similar
dark, lonely path, it was only natural that Patterson would try to
steer him in the opposite direction.
Patterson, the former two-time heavyweight boxing champion, saw a
lot of his younger self in Harris.
It wasn't just that Harris hung around Patterson's gym in New
Paltz, N.Y. Nor was it that Harris took immediately to boxing,
falling easily into the bob-and-weave peekaboo style that propelled
Patterson to the top of the heavyweight division in 1956.
No, there were other kids in Patterson's gym ...