Talk:Pete Rademacher

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I met Pete Rademacher when he was training at "The Arena" in Columbus Georgia for his fight against Floyd Patterson. I was learning Judo from Marcel Carles, the hand-to-hand combat instructor for the Rangers at Ft. Benning. Pete was punching the heavy bag when Marcel said to him: "Come on over here with us, Pete." To which Pete said "I'm not crazy enough to come over there with you, Marcel". As I stood there with Marcel, I wondered what was wrong why the heavyweight contender refused. I soon found out how bad/tough/fast Marcel really was. Captain Jim Cummings

[edit] A possible Great ruined

Much is made of the fact that Pete fought his first pro fight for the world heavyweight title against Patterson. It makes Rademacher a trivia question, but misses the point about his talent or the career he could have had if he'd gone the regular route as a pro. A pro heavyweight needs two years to be a legitimate contender. Pete, had he gone this way, would have likely won 20 straight fights against third and second-tier heavies. He also would have been the most celebrated young contender perhaps ever, up to his time at least. He might have had a loss or two, but would have eventually went for the belt against Patterson, Liston or Ali, or any combination of the three, perhaps all of them. If Pete goes this route and waits two years before facing Patterson, he likely beats him. So this is a possible world champion we are talking about. But he and his promotors threw it away for a shot at the title in his first fight. Going the right way, Rademacher might have had 40 or more career wins with a career that would spanned much of the 1960s, with 6-9 losses or so. He might even have been champ. Instead, he's trivia question and a could-have-been.