Tommy Morrison vs Ken Norton

Norton was out cold on his feet against the ordinary plodding Scott LeDoux in which really he should've been stopped.

Is that any better than Morrison struggling against Hipp ?

Williams was 6'5 outboxer with an 85 inch reach different style to a come forward fighter like Norton.

Whilst Norton would historically do better than Morrison against outboxers like Holmes, Ali, and even guys like Usyk I think Norton would give him fits.

But it doesn't necessarily mean Norton matches up well with a very heavy handed brawler like Morrison.

And whilst you bring up Morrison's limitations and yes he does have quite a few. Morrison atleast showed he could recover from being hurt or knocked down.

The issue with Norton is once he's hurt he stays hurt and he hasn't really shown in his career the survival instincts to recover after being badly hurt.

 

What an interesting match up. You have Morrison who could crack vs Norton who was the better boxer but had problems with punchers.
The problem I see for Norton is that Tommy throws that hook very short and fast.
The problem for Tommy is Norton can jab pretty good and is very awkward. And Tommy didn't have the greatest chin either.
If Tommy does not get to Norton in the first 3 rounds Tommy is in for a long night.

 

No he would not .

Norton can punch , but nowhere the same dynamite level as Morrison.

He's not getting the same 1st round KOs that Morrison did.

Not happening.

 

The fact remains that Morrison never stopped anyone as good as Duane Bobick or Jerry Quarry.

Tommy was made to be a Hype Machine in style and image. And the hype never materialized at the elite level because, unless you are a Tyson or Dempsey, you can't go in there and sell out on your power to bomb guys out every fight. You need a Plan B. You need skills and a gas tank and the mentality to play the long game. Knocking over cans does not get you to that level. And even Dempsey and Tyson were forced to make this adjustment to their game.

 

The fact remains that Norton doesn't match up well against Monster punchers and he loses to them.

Shavers didn't have skills or a Gas Tank and Yet he still caught Norton in round 1 and blew him out of there.

Morrison didn't have equal power to Shavers but he still a monster puncher nonetheless who was even faster with more agility and better reflexes with better timing than Shavers too.

Its REALLY not looking good for Norton in this one.

 

Quarry was considerably past it when Norton got to him.

Morrison did show a plan B against Foreman and outboxed him fighting on the backfoot.

Could Norton fight on the backfoot ? No especially the way he dragged his right foot.

Norton even against the 1993 version of Foreman would be bombed out early.

 

Norton was a slow starter with Chin vulnerabilities. Morrison was a front running fast starter with stamina issues. Its not impossible to think Morrison gets Norton out of there fast based on this alone. Morrison's problems were more due to his lifestyle choices than his actual Chin - now I'm not saying he had a good or even great Chin but its hard to train and be prepared for a fight when you are out getting blackout drunk several times a week in camp. Anyone that saw the ESPN 30/30 on Morrison should know its amazing he got as far as he did in his career considering all the chaos around him.

 

He was 14 months away from KO'ing Shavers in 1. And still better than anyone Tommy KO'd.

Turning your back and running away from a geriatric in concrete shoes is not a Plan B. It is a plan that would only ever work against one fighter a decade. Thus, Tommy was never was able to pull it off again versus another opponent.

Norton KO6. Levels, people, levels.

 

You're criticising Morrison for beating Foreman by fighting a smart fight on the backfoot.

Yet Norton wouldn't be able to replicate that and would be poleaxed by the "geriatric" as you put it.

And that same "geriatric" would win the Lineal title the next year.

 

Both fighters had their flaws and you could argue it either way.For what its worth i favour Norton

 

Valid points and well articulated.

I’ve always thought Kenny’s chin issues were blown out of proportion tbh. Sure Garcia stopped him when he was green and Foreman destroyed him but George was a ****ing brute. I give Kenny some leeway for the Shavers and Cooney losses because Kenny was shot to pieces against two of the divisions legit monster punchers. Put it this way I’ve seen fighters go down and get stopped against Ali and Holmes with less than what they hit Kenny with.

Ken was a higher caliber of fighter than Morrison, better conditioned and had enough power himself to hurt and stop Morrison in return. It’s not a one way street thats for sure.

Would I stake my life on Kenny winning? No because a guy with Tommy’s power and hand speed is always a danger but Kenny gets chronically undersold in these type of H2H matchups with any decent puncher despite his chin limitations being massively overstated imo. Kenny was a bloody good fighter.

 

Appreciate the polite reply.

I do agree with you that sometimes Norton's durability does get a bit undersold and that people assume he loses to any Heavyweight who can punch a bit.

But my issue with Norton is that he kind of freezes when he gets hurt and that's what gives me some pause TBH.

Whilst Morrison’s chin is below average he did have alot of heart and did show he could recover from being hurt.

I think Norton is a better fighter than Morrison but stylistically I think Morrison is a big threat to him but that's just my opinion.

 

Kenny was probably the slowest starting of all HW title claimants. Bobick was a crazy anomaly in Norton's career with Ken actually being a mid rounds guy. Norton took a count around 11 times in the first couple of rounds, and Jerry Quarry articulated precisely how and why Ken's power was overrated when providing commentary as Norton-Middleton commenced. (What JQ said is on YouTube.) The Duke absorbed some very good shots from mature Foreman and Ruddock, two opponents I can't see Kenny surviving.

Starting slow on Tommy is suicide. Mercer said Morrison hit him so hard that Ray was farting during their battle, and Duke was renowned for his handspeed. Norton never beat a top shelf puncher in prime condition.

I could continue piling on Ken, but am closing this submission by stating I'd put money on Morrison duplicating what Shavers and Cooney did. Norton let them unload first. He'd allow Tommy to do likewise.

 

This is a very hard fight to predict and I see why people are split.

Neither of them were very durable, although Norton had amazing stamina if he got past the early rounds. He's also got the edge in skill and ring IQ by a decent margin. Morrison has power and combinations. Both could crack to the body.

I think if Morrison makes Norton back up early to the ropes the way Shavers did, Norton would be in trouble. As skilled as he was, he almost never managed to survive getting hurt badly and tended to freeze against huge punchers who don't let up. One thing that's a myth is that Norton's cross arm left him helpless to hooks, he did block some hooks iirc against Holmes, Young, etc. Now granted Morrison's hooks were like grenades compared to those guys water balloons in terms of force, but if Norton can keep his guard tight and counter with a right hand down the middle, Morrison would hesitate to just bomb away.

What it boils down to is if Morrison can impose his will and shut Norton down before getting drug into deep waters. Like many punchers, he didn't know how to save his power for the later rounds. And while he has the edge in strength, Norton but plenty hard to hurt Morrison who could also be vulnerable when stung by even moderately hard shots. There's a slim possibility Tommy decides to get on his bike a la Foreman fight, but if Norton can press and corner guys like Holmes and Ali, it would be a walk in the park for him to shut down Morrison's lateral movement. I just can't see Morrison winning under a decision under any circumstances.

But gun to my head, I think the odds are slightly in favor of Morrison managing to bomb out Norton within 3-5 rounds.i would say that's what would happen roughly 60-70% of the time unless Norton himself goes for broke and manages to crack Morrison's chin during the onslaught.

 

Foreman was losing to guys like Schultz at that point in his career. Couldn't stop Stewart or Grimsley.

What makes you think Morrison is even better than Bobick?