Boxing in the 21st century has in certain aspects become a pantomime. Gone, it seems, are the days of the best fighting the best and those fights being made on a regular basis. The sport of boxing is now a mix of multi-million-dollar offers to get the best in the ring together for nothing other than the allure of astronomical paydays or the power of influence.

Watch Floyd Patterson vs Pete Rademacher Full Fight HERE

We now have a trend of MMA fighters crossing over and/or mega-rich YouTube influencers fancying their chances in the ring against former or current fighters. If you’ve got a couple of million followers on social media, all you need do is call out a fighter of your choice and the deal is more than likely done.

This is the story of a man who, before the internet and social media, used all his charm, prowess and INFLUENCE to get the biggest fight of his life: a shot at the Heavyweight title.

Thomas Peter Rademacher will be forever immortalised in the boxing history books as Floyd Patterson’s second defence of the heavyweight title in 1957. However, it was no ordinary title defence. Patterson had beaten an aging Archie Moore the previous year for the vacant title to become the youngest heavyweight champion, successfully defending it six months later against Tommy Jackson.

Patterson was young, naïve and, according to Rademacher, “very beatable”. However, what made this fight no ordinary run-of-the-mill championship bout is the fact it would be Rademacher’s professional fight debut—a debut that would see him fight for the biggest prize in sport and damn near pull off the biggest upset in boxing.

Rademacher was no ordinary person. Gifted with a strong belief in his abilities, he would set himself tough, almost unreachable goals—yet achieve them all with hard work and dedication. He was an all-star Washington State offensive lineman before trying his hand at boxing. As an amateur he won numerous regional and national titles. He became the army champion, and was finally selected to represent the USA at the Melbourne 1956 Olympics, winning the heavyweight gold medal in impressive style.

Upon his return from the Olympics, Rademacher began to call out the young Patterson at every opportunity for a fight to be made—his pitch being Olympic Champion vs. World Champion. He was so convincing that a business partner put up the money for Rademacher to court Cus D’Amato, Patterson’s trainer, with a $250,000 deal. Seeing dollar signs and an easy victory for his man, D’Amato agreed. The fight was scheduled for Aug. 22, 1957, at Sicks’ Stadium in Seattle—the only city willing to grant the fight a licence amidst public and media protests.

Fight Night. A supremely confident Rademacher started the fight jabbing Patterson at long range, easily avoiding his crude, lunging hooks while firing in heavy right-hand counters. As the first round came to an end, those in attendance—including the media that had ridiculed the fight—sat up to take notice. Not only had Rademacher survived the first round, he had convincingly won it from a future Hall-of-Fame champion.

Round 2 saw Rademacher consistently jab and outbox Patterson, landing solid right hands seemingly at will. Patterson, failing to bob and weave his way past the challenger’s slick boxing style to land his own shots, suddenly found himself face-first on the canvas. Rademacher had landed a solid left hook, quickly followed up by two hard right hands to the temple of Patterson. Clearly shaken and dropped, a bewildered and confused Patterson rose to his feet to see out the round.

Patterson came out for the 3rd round with clear intention—to get back to the boxing style that had served him so well. While Rademacher made a good account of himself, the champion’s superiority began to shine through. With speed and deadly accuracy, the challenger found himself on the floor toward the end of the round.

Round 4 was even. The scorecard had Rademacher leading the fight going into Round 5. Looking and boxing like a totally different fighter, the champion stamped his authority on the bout, knocking down the challenger with a stunning left hook. Patterson had finally found his range, dropping the very game and determined Rademacher a further five times.

The end finally came in Round 6. Rademacher, throwing hopeful right hands, couldn’t deal with the speed of Patterson’s inside work followed by powerful left hooks. Finally, the referee stopped the fight as Rademacher picked himself up for the second time in the round—saving him from himself and further punishment.

Patterson was the confused, somewhat embarrassed victor of the fight that night, but would go on to achieve greater heights as the champion. Rademacher, on the other hand, had almost tasted instant victory in the unlikeliest of circumstances. He would go on to have an up-and-down pro career and live a long, prosperous life.

In a sport full of ups and downs, Rademacher learned that getting to the top is achievable for anyone. It’s staying there that’s the difficult part—that is, of course, unless you happen to be a modern-day multi-million-dollar YouTube influencer.