Ken Norton vs Evander Holyfield

holy via dec

 

Could go either way. A trilogy would help settle it. I like Norton.

 

Tough 50-50 call, :huh, im on the fence here, if my life was on the line i would say Norton by Split decision...

It would be one of those fights were it went down to the final minute of who wanted it more, because those guy's both had so much heart, i think Norton's bigger bulkier body, and awkward style, helps him prevail.

 

Precisely whom I think would win and why. Great fight.

 

Great fight and one between two guys who would both be in spectacular condition. Even odds for me, but I lean towards Evander.

 

Physically they match up Extremely Well and few can say that when compared to these two. both starting at the lower 200's and ending up approx 220's give or take a pound or two, and i'm sure Norton would not perceive Holyfield to be the One-Shot threat of a shavers or a foreman and if thats the case Evanders in for a Hard Night.

But i think ulimately Evanders more precise Combinations should see him home, Great Boxers Ali, Holmes and Young, who would seek to stay at long range found Ken's Cross Armed defence a real problem to deal with from a distence, and found it hard to discourage Ken's Advance, However Holyfield as we know will be seeking to cross that No Man's Land, and peel off his combinations from up close, As against Foreman and Cooper, those Uppercut-Hooks which Evander often starts his barrages with would find themselves a target coming in under Kens Crossarm Defence, Lifting his head into Volley Valley, if you are willing to come up close and personal, and have the ability to peel off these Hard and Accurate Combo's, then Ken's troublesome Defence starts to take on a more Swiss Cheese appearence.

But Ken could and would be tenacious His Side on Jab may give Evander a lot of Distraction and could act as a somescreen for the Big Overhand Right Norton often liked to suprise opponents with, and he could conceiveably find Evender like Bert Cooper Did, I cant see Evander Blasting out Norton, or Norton being "Edgy" as he sometimes appeared with the Big Hitters, Norton will be Tenacious and I cant help thinking its a Full distence Give-an-Take going down to the wire,

But ultimately i can see Evanders more cultered attack Winning through for a close hardfought decision. Ken's sometimes looping Shots, may lend him to being countered and beaten to the punch by Evander, and Evanders footwork probably has the edge on Ken's, Would Evander utilise his Movement and Boxing Ability ? he may try to, but with Norton Attacking with big hooks, and perhaps trying to Target Evanders Body, Evander will do what Evander does, Meet Fire with Fire, I think that they both get badly singed in this match, with Evanders willingness and capability to Rally Back form Kens Pressure perhaps making Ken that little bit more cautious in his persuit then he was against mobile "Pure Boxers" in Ali, Young and Holmes, Evander by a Singed whisker for me, could be a split vote denial for Ken

 

Anyone feel that Norton's jab could offset Holy's and his body attack pay dividends in the later rounds?

If Norton were to invest heavily in a body attack early on it could catch up with Holy later?

This is a winnable fight for both guys, but I think that the above allied to the fact that Kenny was in all likelihood a naturally bigger stronger guy and Holy being a puncher closer to the Ali/Holmes level than the Foreman/Shavers/****ey level, finds me favouring Norton by about 55/45%.

Having said that, I would rank Holy above Ken in an all time HW list...funny how these things work...

 

Holyfield wasn't the killer puncher that Foreman, Shavers and ****ey were...and he's not defensive whiz's like Young and Ali, so I'd give Kenny a chance here...the thing that might sway it in Holyfield's favor is footwork...he didn't fight with his "foot in the bucket" like Norton, and so greater mobility may have been a factor favoring Evander. I still like Kenny's chances though...I think he's the smarter fighter...but not quite as rugged and ready to brawl like Holyfield...

 

Just a side note, but Young, prime George Foreman destroys them both.

 

Ken Norton 6'3" with an 80" reach. Evander Holyfield 6'2 1/2" with a 77 1/2" reach. Both are 210-215 Lbs. and ripped.

Norton went 1-2 vs. Muhammad Ali but all 3 fights were close. He lost a close decision to Larry Holmes. He won a close decision over Jimmy Young. He stopped Jerry Quarry in the 5th round. He also stopped Henry Clark, Boone Kirkman, Jose L. Garcia, Ron Stander, Larry Middleton, Duane Bobick, and Lorenzo Zanon. Late in his career he was stopped by Ernie Shavers and Gerry ****ey... he also beat Tex Cobb by decision and drew with Scott LeDoux. Early in his career he was stopped by Jose L. Garcia but as mentioned above, he avenged this loss. He was also stopped in the 2nd round by George Foreman in a HW World Title Fight. He went 0-3 in HW World Title fights but was the WBC Champ for a short period. He was proclaimed the WBC Champ when Leon Spinks avoided him to fight a rematch with Ali... he lost the title to Holmes. Norton gets a lot of credit for some of his losses, as he should.

Norton lost close and sometimes questionable decisions to Ali x2 and Holmes. Young had lost a questionable decision to Ali for the HW World Title, Young beat Foreman by decision, Norton beat Young. Norton was also "ripped off" in the eyes of many in his 3rd fight vs. Ali (for the HW World Title). Norton's loss to Holmes was by SD and some felt he deserved the win (at this point Norton was starting to fade but was well prepared vs. Holmes). Norton was "The People's Champ" to a lot of people.

At age 30 Holyfield was 28-0 (22) overall and 10-0 (7) in World Title fights at CW and HW. He had defeated Qawi x2, DeLeon, Ocasio, Booze, Tillman, Tillis, Thomas, Dokes, Rodrigues, Stewart, Douglas, Foreman, Cooper, and Holmes among others.

He would go on to beat Bowe 1 out of 3, Moorer 1 out of 2, Mercer, Czyz, Tyson x2, Bean, Ruiz (they went 1-1-1 vs. each other), Rahman, and others. When he was 46 he was robbed vs. Valuev for the WBA belt. He also drew with and lost to Lewis at age 36 1/2 and 37.

Let's look at those losses-

Bowe L12 (November 8, 1992) was a close fight and Bowe got away with as many low blows as he felt like throwing without ever losing a point until their 3rd fight. The knockdown was questionable... Holyfield ducked and made Bowe miss with a big hook, Bowe followed up with a hook from the other side and lands it to the back of Holyfield's head/base of the skull... Holyfield needed the ropes to keep from going completely down... but was this really a knockdown? Holyfield underestimated Bowe who had quit vs. Holyfield in a sparring session. Holyfield fought much smarter in the rematch (November 1993) and won by decision... but this time Bowe came in a bit overconfident.

Bowe LKOby8 (November 1995) was exciting but Holyfield was far from 100% for whatever the reason. He had dropped Bowe and almost had him out in the 6th but couldn't get the job done even though there was plenty of time left in the round. Holyfield was exhausted but really should not have been that tired at this point in the fight. Bowe stopped him in the 8th. Holyfield was 33 and suffered the first KO loss of his career.

Moorer LMD12 (1994) was a close fight due to Holyfield's inactivity. In round 2 Holyfield dropped Moorer but one judge scored the round 10-10. Had that round went 10-8 for Holyfield, Holyfield would have kept retained his titles. Holyfield dropped Moorer 5 times and stopped him after 8 rounds in their rematch (1997).

Lewis D12 and L12 (1999) were decent fights. Most felt Lewis deserved the first fight, myself included... but a lot of people felt the past prime Holyfield did enough to beat Lewis in their closely contested rematch, myself included. None of the losses after this point really mean anything.

Norton vs. Holyfield-

I'll get back on that

 

Holyfield by close hard fought decision. I see both men getting rocked but Norton gets rocked more often IMO. Holyfield was faster (hands and feet), had better footwork, was more accurate, and had a much better chin. Norton used the jab more but Holyfield was quick enough to slip many of them... and a good enough inside fighter to smother some of them as well.

 

Holyfield seemed tougher mentally. Nobody psyched him out! Norton would probably be stronger but Holyfield could get inside his those wide swings. Close fight but I'd lean toward Holyfield. Norton could win though.

This would look like a Rocky fight! All time physique match up!

 

I like Norton by decision. I think his jab is a problem for Holyfield. Kenny was also better defensively than Evander. Just as strong neither guy is gonna stop the other but I think Norton has the edge.

 

That's exactly what I think. That oddball jab will be effective and Evander never did that well solving the jabbers. That jab scores lots of points in a long going to the scorecards bout.

And Evander takes shots to the head well, but not to the breadbasket. Lots of the concrete chin guys are like that and so very few are like ali when it comes time to absorb to the body. And Kenny throws 2 hands to the body. I think late in the fight, Evander gets alligator arms from that sustained body attack. and strictly covers up the body & gives the head away. He'd resort to that left hook counter to do everything. I also wonder if one of those wide looping right hands Norton throws late would have an effect on the temple like the Bowe shot/Ruiz shot? I think that's where he's vulnerable, not the chin like Norton himself is. Those wide looping shots in like the 11th round are tough if a guy gets hit clean on the temple.

I also like 2 other things to tilt things Kenny's way; better conditioning. And I sure do like the Futch touch to work against Holyfield. Even Slayton to do a better job than the Holyfield corner.

Really a good tough fight for both and in a 3 fight series, neither goes 3-0. A fan's fight for sure.