In the second round the balding apple-knocker from the Yakima Valley let loose a looping right, and it caught the champion, high on the cheek. For four satisfying seconds, the thin crowd in Seattle's Sick's Stadium sensed that it might be getting its money's worth. There was World Heavyweight Champion Floyd Patterson on the canvas. Perhaps this amateur challenger named T. Peter Rademacher had a professional punch after all. It was all so surprising that Referee Tommy Loughran was as flustered as Floyd. He forgot to count.
Patterson found his feet before Referee Tommy found his tongue. The 22-year-old pro (6 ft., 187 Ibs.) spent the next four rounds bouncing the big (6 ft. 1¼ in., 202 lbs.) Olympic champion (28) off the canvas. In the intervals when Rademacher was upright, Floyd showed signs of solicitude almost shocking in an honest fistfighter; he waltzed the challenger around, cuffed him into position, held him erect as if part of his job was to make Pete look good. In the sixth round, after seven knockdowns. Rademacher was a rubber-legged wreck and had taken the ten-count for a knockout.
Long before Pete finished counting his bruises, Deacon Jack Hurley, the irascible Seattle promoter who perpetrated the farce, sorrowfully counted the house. He had hoped for a $400,000 gate; there was only $243,000 in the till. With the skill of a veteran pitchman preparing to milk the marks once more, Hurley started the spiel for a new fight. "This guy may not have the staying power of a pro yet. But he's as confident as Einstein doing long division. He can draw a crowd better than anybody but the champion."
It will take more than talk, though, to get Pete Rademacher back in the ring with Patterson. This time it took a $250,000 guarantee put up by Pete's employer, an amorphous corporation named Youth Unlimited, Inc. founded in Columbus, Ga., for the avowed purpose of promoting clean-cut professional athletes who will be a credit to sport. For their money, Pete's backers promoted themselves little more than a trip to the Northwest. Their share of the gate was less than half of what they spent, and there are rumors that Patterson's manager, Cus D'Amato, plans on returning part of the guarantee. If he does, the rest of the paying customers may decide that they rate their money back, too.
But Pete Rademacher (who got nothing out of the fight except his Youth Unlimited salary, a reported $7,000 a year) seemed satisfied enough. Said he after the fight: "I'm pleased to have met the champion. I found him exceedingly strong, exceedingly quick and exceedingly fair. I had a fantastic dream of fighting the champ. Mr. Cus D'Amato found it exciting and intriguing, and it came true."