Ali's comments after the third Norton fight

Ali didn't do anything in the 15th other than try to make it to the final bell. Norton won the round.

 

You keep saying that like it's a fact. Compubox statistics are not some magical, infallible insight into what happened in the ring, it's just some guy watching the fight on video pressing a button every time he thinks a punch landed. It gives TV commentators something to talk about between rounds, it doesn't override the ringside scorecards.

 

No it contradicts ringside scores and puts them under a microscope as fictitious ..the numbers are the numbers .. in this case one man out jabbed and out power punched the other by significant margins over fifteen rounds and did not get the decision. The facts are the facts. It was not the worst decision I've ever seen but it was a bad one and ultimately it hurt Ali who stayed around too long.

 

How about a straight answer ? Why do you feel Norton, who out jabbed Ali and outpour punched him by significant margins over all fifteen rounds did nt deserve the decision ? Do you give points for non-effective aggression like dancing in a circle and missing jabs ?

 

Professional boxing bouts are not won or lost via punch stats. Amateur boxing, sure.

This was a tale of two fights. Norton won 5 out of the first 8. Ali won 5 out of the last seven.

One must remember that Arthur Mercante was the ref here and he was one of the scorekeepers. A more respected referee never existed. He scored the bout 8-6-1 for Ali.

The two commentators for this bout were NOTORIOUS Ali haters. Dick Young and Red Smith.

While it was true a majority of the writers at ringside gave the bout to Norton most agreed it a close fight.

I attended this bout in 76 and gave it to Norton by one round buy I was a big Norton fan. Today I generally score this bout for Ali by one point.

Several weeks after this bout it was replayed on prime time tv. A panel of experts scored the bout including Pep, Graziano, Louis, Moore,...a dozen in total. A compilation of the scorecards revealed a draw. A very close bout.

Norton IMO blew the fight but doing nothing for 2.5 plus minutes in the last round as Ali worked. Norton’s rush in the last 20 seconds did not win for him that round. The loss of that round lost for him the fight.

 

I read it .. what rounds do you feel Ali won and why ? If you have the patience I'd be curious .. if not I appreciate your gentlemanly responses and can agree to disagree.

 

Maybe Ali winning the last round sealed the SD?
My $0.02

 

No biggie .. cool and thanks .. nice to debate and not deal with a total ass.

 

Norton won at least 10 rounds , Ali lost, and he knew he'd lost .

 

I don't usually say this, but this is a case of, if you gave that fight to Ali, scoring boxing might not be your thing. I could never get to a card where Ali won, even when trying. I don't think this fight was all that close. The closest I get is 9-6