Article: Hype that stirs bad blood

"I NEVER disliked anyone I fought," Floyd Patterson said last week. "That sort of stuff began when Cassius Clay came into the ring. Before him, it didn't happen. But he would talk down to his opponent, trying to frighten him. And that started a lot of fighters doing it. Before Clay, maybe guys would look at one another, try to outstare each other while they were taking the referee's instructions, but that was all. The only trouble I ever had at a weigh-in was in my two fights with Cassius Clay."

Patterson was speaking in measured, courteous tones, just as he has since 1956, when, as a 21-year-old, he became the heavyweight champion of the world. The first man to regain the title, he was ...

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