Norton may be the most underrated heavyweight of the modern era. I think he won the 3rd fight against Ali - if Ken Norton takes 2 of 3 from Muhammad Ali, history's perception of his greatness would be completely different. Throw in the razor-thin decision loss to Larry Holmes (who I certainly consider an ATG hevavyweight) which could easily have gone the other way, and Ken Norton might just be the unluckiest elite heavyweight ever. Versus Louis? I see Norton winning most of the early rounds, but Joe gets to his questionable chin late, 10th round or later.
Louis is outboxed for about one and a half a round untill he catches Norton on the ropes and destroys him with a four punch combination. Norton gets up but from there on it's all Louis untill the referee stops the fight.
Louis tells his manager that he will only need one cigar for this fight and confiscates the other fourteen like he did before the second Schmeling fight.
:yep Here you can clearly see how biased he is. Against Louis it would be one of Norton´s worst matchups I can think of, and even than Hank picks Norton, it would be the same if I pick Briggs to easily outpoint Ali...
Norton is very underrated here and may have beaten many champions in history on his day. BUT this match up is all wrong for him. Norton would be ko'd sooner or later. The Norton of 71-75 may have got a points lead and given Louis problems before being stopped late. I think after Holmes Norton was not the same fighter and was effective past his prime when he faced Shavers. Louis by KO
It could go either way on points, or Louis by mid-to-late rounds KO. Lots of jabbing and defensive boxing in this one.
Norton had an awkward style , it can't be denied , it was a nightmare for Ali - a boxer who sticks you with his jab and moves and is in and out all night. This is because of Norton's stance and the way he held his right hand by his face. It's different against Louis though. Louis could get to anyone , I think Norton would cause him more trouble than he did Foreman , but I strongly think Louis knocks him out.
Louis spells all sorts of stylistic trouble for Norton, who whilst a good fighter struggled against near enough every ATG puncher he ever fought. Louis by an early stoppage. Louis TKO4 Norton
This is how I see it too. In addition to a good jab, and a strong right, Norton really hit Ali with some excellent body shots. I highly recommend watching Ali vs Norton I to see what Norton could do. I tend to think Norton could do well vs Louis in the early rounds, unless Louis came out smoking like he did vs Schmeling in the second fight. Either way, I'd pick Louis to win via TKO. An upset is possible here, but not likely.