How good was Terry Norris really?

Often.

 

Duran P4P was far better than Norris and beat much better fighters, Norris wasn`t robust like Roldan or Barkley or Hagler all of who were bigger and stronger than Norris, nobody could rough up Hearns below 160 except Leonard, but he had a far better chin than Norris, Hearns would have destroyed Brown easily, so would have Duran.

 

He was very talented. He just lacked a world class chin.

 

To avoid sending you into another autistic tantrum...he was the goat..nobody stood a chance he was unbeatable except the times he lost which was on purpose to show everyone how humble and great he was

 

Yes, Norris never had to deal with a jab like Tommy`s and he nevder met anyone that was a master at setting up the right hand like Heans who wa a far more accurate puncher than Jackson, I think a fight with Cuevas could go like the Norris v Jackson fight also, Norris was very fragile.

 

No I said Duran would destroy Brown who blew away Norris in their first bout, at least Laing didn`t stop Duran and Laing might have beaten Brown also because Brown didn`t like movers, as McGirt proved and Norris in his second bout v Brown.

 

Taylor was a lot faster than Curry and Mugabi at that stage of all their careers, but he was really easy to hit and didn`t have the chin or power to go toe to toe at welter ot at 154.

 

Taylor could (for 50 seconds!).

 

Norris was awesome. Would've loved a rematch against Jackson and a showdown with Sweet Pea. Actually, a SuperFight against Trinidad would've been explosive. So many potential SuperFights at that 154-160 weight class in the 90's.

 

154 was kinds weak when he was champ. Quick hands. Chin was weak. His best wins were against Taylor, Mugabi, Leonard. They were way past it. Taylor had no business fighting him.

 

Trinidad and Jackson had faster hands than Pernell at 154.

 

You are talking about a far-over-the-hill Leonard from 1991 who hadn't been in the ring for over a year.

I'm talking about a prime SRL at 25, not 35.

You might as well tell me that Trevor Berbick would beat prime Ali or that Kevon McBride would have beaten prime Mike Tyson.

 

A strange case of a fighter whose physical gifts and ring IQ were polar opposites. This wasn't a case of Meldrick Taylor or Amir Khan, where there is merely a considerable gap between those two things...In Terry's case, they really were lightyears apart. Made even worse by the fact that he was erratic and a bit of a headcase in general. His chin was problematic, but I genuinely think the fact that he was off his rocker played just as big a part in his downfall.

He really shone when he was in against the right kind of opponent. When he was in full flow he was a joy to watch as his fights against Castro, Brown (the rematch of course!) and Daniels demonstrate. But I think Norris himself was never quite as confident in his durability or gifts as others were, hence why he spent his whole championship career at 154 when the defining fights were usually 6 lb north of there, and why he was calling out the likes of Chavez in the mid nineties or waiting for De la Hoya to step up in 1997 before Mullings put paid to that one. He has a plethora of great names on his record, but almost all of them were damaged goods by the time he fought them.

Brilliant raw talent but he's no all-time great. Maybe in terms of the Light-Middleweight division, but that's it. Just too prone to lapses in concentration and discipline, and a little too careful with his matchmaking even when he looked a lot less vulnerable during those 1992-94 peak years. A shame, because as I said he's a fighter I could watch all day.