It was close and close enough that Ali could justifiably retain his title. If anyone won, Ken might have edged it, but that makes it a close fight, a point in it. A draw would probably have been the fairest result on the night. Ali was an icon in boxing back then and he got the close ones. Ken just didn't seem to do enough in a few of those rounds. If anything, Ali conned him out of it.
Meh at least Frazier put on a betrer account of himself against Foreman. A personal victory in itself.
I think that this fight served as an advantage for Ken Norton, it was a motivational factor for him. He destroyed Duane Bobick, went on to score that split decision win over Jimmy Young, which would eventually make him the WBC Heavyweight Champion, Leon Spinks refused to defend his newly won title against Norton, instead chose to fight Muhammad Ali. Ken then fought Larry Holmes, losing his title on June 9 1978, by a split decision. Ali vs Norton III was extremely close, but Ali won it when Ken did not close the show as he did in their previous meeting on Sept 10 1973, in Inglewood, California.
The punch stats were lopsided in Norton's favor. 17 out of 20 writers at ringside gave it to Norton. It's true the bout was close. It shouldn't have been.
Ali died after the curtain fell on his rivalry with Frazier the man we saw was just doing an impression of Muhammad...
Ali landed nothing. He was just moving flicking out a jab that wasnt close to landing. Norton was pursuing trying to make the fight. The Aggressor+ scored the only punches of the round= Kenny Norton
Subconsciously its seems like Ali wins the round unless the other fighter dominates him. Most of those rounds Norton methodically but clearly outboxed Ali.
"And the fact remains that in a close fight, every round is precious. Prior to the final stanza, Norton’s corner made the fatal error of telling their man the decision was in the bag and instructing him to play it safe for the last three minutes to make sure the crafty champion didn’t somehow get lucky. By contrast, Ali fought round fifteen like his life depended on it, summoning the strength and energy to dominate its first two minutes and thereby save his title by the slimmest of margins."