I've watched several Orlin Norris fights and I have to say: I can't remember seeing such a small fighter with short arms outboxing and outlanding much taller opponents so consistently. Most fighters with this "body type" rely on power and pressure, but Norris was more like an in and out fighter. Despite his muscle mass he had very good stamina and a decent handspeed with his ultra short, almost "squared" arms. I see a clear win over Tucker '91. + Official decisions vs. - Jesse Ferguson '88 - Greg Page '89 - Oliver McCall '90 So guys...what do you think: 1.Would a prime Norris give a good fight to some other HW Contenders of that era? 2. Could he beat guys like Carl Williams, Pinklon Thomas, Razor Ruddock, Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks, Frank Bruno, etc. at ~88-93?? 3. Would he have had a chance to win a major HW title if he kept the focus on this weight class? Maybe WBA Champion vs Seldon 1995?!? I like to hear your opinion on this
Tubbs outboxed him but tested positive for coke. Page was way past it. Ferguson and McCall could be outboxed. Tucker couldn't move as well after the coke addiction induced inactive period. I would favor prime movers like Tucker Page Carl Williams and Michael Spinks to beat him. Also buster Douglas. Witherspoon Thomas and Ruddock would be too strong.
. Spot on above !. I would add the lack of power from Norris would make him vulnerable to some one like Bruno who hit hard and needed someone hard hitting to keep him cautious.
He was definitely an anomaly for a shorter heavyweight. Usually a guy built like him is an inside fighter or a banger. Norris definitely performed well on the outside. The only guy that I can think of in recent years that fought somewhat like him was the 5'7 lightheavyweight Montell Griffin who was an even slippery fighter than Norris. Both of those guys fought their entire careers at extreme height disadvantages and were able to succeed despite having punching power.
You have expressed that very well. I see it the same way. What are your thouts...from a hypothetically perspective? Could he have achieved more in the HW Division? Could he've been a stylistic nightmare for other taller fighters?!?
To answer your question, I think it's possible that he could knock off a few top heavyweights but I would not favor him over any. The main problem he had was he wasn't a big puncher so to beat those guys he would have to out point fighters with greater size/reach. I think Montell Griffin at lightheavyweight was more talented and was easily a top three guy at one point in his division but Norris to me was never anything more than a 10-15 guy at heavyweight.
Norris is one of my favorite fighters... if he could have initially fought at the cruiserweight limit of 200 instead of 190 when he went down to cruiser... he would have had a much longer career. at cruiser. i think he was perfectly suited for 200 pounds...
