Ken Norton v Buster Douglas

Split decision win for Norton imo.

 

Kenny with the late stoppage.

Good fight for awhile, but that 2 handed body assault causes major problems to surface for Buster. He'll drop those hands to protect that body. His advantage in mobility will be neutralized. Norton's jab will become more effective as the rounds go on.


Sometime late in the bout, Kenny will launch one of those wide looping right hands of his and it'll be all over. buster will be guarding for a right hand to the body and get clipped with a hard shot to the temple.

 

the Douglas that fought Tyson would take Norton apart and ko him eventually I think. I can't see any version of Norton beating that version of douglas. Would be a good fight though.

 

norton knocks out buster douglas late in the fight around rd 9

 

This is just the fight Norton would win and probably by late round knockout. He would weather the right hands and jabs and eventually Douglas would get tired and Norton would knock him out.

 

Ken looooooved boxers. And Buster didn't have a pristine chin. No matter how motivated, Norton would keep at him and that overhand right and hook would eventually start landing.

I noticed many of Ken's TKOs came due to a wearing down process, in that specific sense he wasn't unlike Frazier. Buster would probably land some fine jabs and even a few excellent right hands...but after the fifth round he starts winding down. By the 8th he's getting helplessly clobbered and the ref has no choice but to stop the fight.

For basis of comparison (and though it pains me to say), Tyson probably would have taken out even prime Ken within 3, 4 at the very latest.

 

Kenny points win

 

Truth be told, I've never got this. He didn't love fighting boxers, in fact he wasn't even that bad a match up as they were for him. Norton as big an issue dealing with Ali, Young & Holmes as they did dealing with him. Whilst Norton always seemed to falter against the hardest of hitters, he also showed massive issues when having to track Ali & Holmes down when they boxed long, he thrived when they slowed and had to rely on physical strength to push him back. He also crouched low on offence, right into an uppercut.

Douglas, whilst not as good as the versions of Ali & Holmes that Norton beat/faced, was a slippery mover, with a good jab and a good uppercut, he was also strong enough to hang(at worst) with Tyson. I think he'd have a solution to the problems Norton presented, and not the other way around.

 

This makes me even more interested and thinking about the topic.

 

I'll have a stab at it.

Ali is considered by many the GOAT of the Heavyweights. Norton is what, maybe top 20? In his first fight with Norton he was beaten as a 5-1 favorite.

Norton then runs Ali, 12-5 fave extremely close in an immediate rematch.

Foreman then completely decimates Norton. Foreman was 3-1 fave.

Ali then knocks out Foreman. Sure it's not pre-exile Ali but it's around about the best of the post exile Ali.

Ali is a boxer and ranks much higher than Foreman (who is a puncher) on every Greatest heavyweight list excepting Combatdeboxeo's or whatever he was called.

Years later Ali and Norton go life and death over 15 in a controversial fight. Ali says "Kenny’s style is too difficult for me. I can’t beat him, and I sure don’t want to fight him again. I honestly thought he beat me in Yankee Stadium, but the judges gave it to me, and I’m grateful to them."

Sure Ali is well declined and while i believe he would beat Norton comfortably pre-exile is having immense amounts of trouble with him.

There's barely a split hair between them over three fights (two of which contained a great version of post exile Ali) - one of them is The GOAT and the other a footnote between #10 to #20 odd.

Years later a declining Norton took a rising Holmes (a boxer) to a split decision in a great bout. 9 months later Shavers, a puncher, deprived him of his senses in under 2 minutes. We know there is an immense quality gap between Holmes and Shavers yet the puncher barely raised a sweat while the boxer was involved in a grueling fight.

I don't think there's any doubt whatsoever that Norton was immensely more suited to fighting Boxers. Jimmy Young had beaten Foreman (who of course battered Norton) yet Norton beat Young.

The boxers Norton was having close fights with were the GOAT, an ATG in Holmes and a very tricky effective fighter in Young. For someone that couldn't last 2 rounds against Foreman and Shavers that is pretty good going. Norton was never near the level of "greatness" of a Holmes or Ali but he could sure bridge that gap in the ring based on his stylistic ability to be effective against "boxers".

 

Norton

 

Great post, George.

 

As for the fight. Norton's seen seen it all before in Ali and Holmes - great jabs and sizzling right crosses. Buster moves no better than post Exile Ali and Holmes. Both have extraordinary determination and more mental strength than any versions of Buster.

Norton was susceptible to a certain level of power/aggression which Holmes, Ali and Douglas did not quite reach. He would grind Douglas down and stop him over 15. Over 12 Buster might hear the final bell but i wouldn't bet money on it.

 

IM WITH YA MAN