How would Ken Norton have done against the following ? -

On one of his better nights Norton would beat them all, but these are heavyweights, and Norton had issues with punchers above Ali's level.

I think his easier matches are Page and Berbick. Dokes would not be easy, but I think Norton TKO's him.

Thomas is close to 50/50, but I'd go with Norton. Witherspoon would be his toughest matchup, and I'd pick Witherspoon via stoppage.

I see it 4-1 for Norton, with 3-2 being the next most likely outcome.

 

I think Witherspoon beats him, Page too. Thomas might KO him, if not, a Norton victory. Ken would destroy Berbick, well, decision him anyway. I think Ken beats Dokes too

 

He beats them all in my book with Spoon maybe being able to pull a win.
Thomas getting more and more overrated as time goes by.

 

Norton wins against them all. Spoon has the best chance for an upset.

 

They are all the exact same level. Good contenders. Not champions.

 

I'd favour Norton against them all mainly because his had superior stamina, imo.

 

Norton beats the lot, with Terrible Tim at his very best having the best chance of a victory. I don't think any of them have the power to send shivers down Norton's spine, he was fitter than all of them and would outlast any of them and his consistency would win more rounds than he would lose. Thomas may outjab Ken at times but not enough; Page & Dokes would have intermittent success with their flashy skills; Ken would out-box Berbick very comfortably.

Norton had a very good jab & a pretty powerful right; his bodywork would be very useful against all these guys.

Holmes and Tyson aside I think the 80s crop were overall a notch down from the 70s elite of Ali, Foreman, Frazier & Norton.

 

Norton would beat all of them. Witherspoon wouldn't be beating him.

 

For the most part I pretty much agree. Witherspoon would have the best chance assuming he showed up 100%, but we only saw that perhaps once or twice in his whole career.

 

I don't see Witherspoon as the big puncher some seem to Goo, particularly against better opposition. Page, Thomas, Tubbs, none of them had any trouble at all going the distance with him. He hurt Holmes but this isn't totally rare, Sniped dropped him HARD (from a single punch) and Weaver had him hurt.

So i really don't think Witherspoon had the goods to stop Norton and i massively favour Norton to outwork him in a distance fight no matter what shape Tim is in.

Norton was hell if you couldn't consistently back him up or stop him. Holmes took Tim deep after being hurt and Norton would take him deep too.

 

I think Dokes from the Weaver fights has a better chance tbh. He came out hard and had blazing handspeed early. He also had a solid punch. He'd have a small chance of mugging him. If he didn't get him out in two or three rounds however Norton would grind away on him for the rest of the fight.

 

Absolutely. Tim's punching abilities were nowhere near those of Foreman's or Shavers'. No question. Every now and again though, he did land an overhand right that put an unsuspecting opponent flat on his back, and the overhand right was certainly a punch that Norton was subject to getting hit by. In addition, Spoon had a very awkward style that few were able to figure out. He worked the body well, was hard to hit flush through his defense and threw shots from weird angles.. With all that said, I concur that the much more skilled and better conditioned Ken Norton should take this by a comfortable decision. But on the right night and under the proper circumstances, Spoon could potentially upset anyone.

 

Norton against these guys are all 50/50 fights. Don't underestimate Trevor Berbick who was a tough customer, and had a very awkward style.