This is possibly the greatest 154 match up of all time. i rate norris higher at the weight but would favour hearns head to head. both had shaky chins and big punches
I go with Tommy in this one. I was a big fan of Norris too so it would really bother me to see him get ko'd (again).
Norris got flattened by a slow, extremely hard puncher with a sometimes shaky chin at 154. He'd get flattened by a fast, extremely hard puncher with a sometimes shaky chin too.
I like Norris skills, but would you bet on a chin that get cracked by Brown and Mullings ?? And against Hearns fabled right hand ? Hearns knowing Norris has a VERY weak chin would come out blazing, and for all the talk of Norris speed. Hearns wasn`t called the Mortor City Cobra for being slow. He`d come out fast and aggressive. pumping that jab to the head and body. At some point he`d feint it downstairs ,then bang , he`d nail Norris with the overhand right. There is now way Norris chin holds up against Hearns right. Hearns in the second. Now before anyone says it isn`t giving Norris any credit by saying only 2 rds. If Hearns could establish (early) that he could hurt his guy, then he`d finished them quickly. He had height, reach and speed and he`d get to Norris first...
Did you forget power-punching KO Keith Mullings and Simon `Bomber` Brown ? How the hell does a `great` fighter get KO`d by those two ???
I was hoping that eventually people would just realize what a stupid thing this is to say over and over on their own instead of having it fed to them. However, as soon as one person says something you have to immediately step on it or dumb parrots such as yourself will just keep repeating it over and over, never mind that you never heard of Simon Brown until you read this thread, and never mind the fact that your stupid basic premise here is that if Norris ever lost a fight, that makes him a pushover. Simon Brown was a bad dude, and only lost a SD to Marlon Starling and dropped a decision to Buddy McGirt in championship fights prior to fighting Norris. Norris didn't get knocked out by a jab against Brown, and all the monkeys repeating that should be ashamed of yourself, but when you're the type that blindly repeats something you see on a message board as if your second hand knowledge you just 'learned' a few seconds makes you an expert, it's a pretty safe bet you're totally shameless. Brown caught him dead on the button with a jab he stepped into and knocked him down, but he knocked him out with a right hand a couple rounds later. In other words, Brown wasn't just some clown picked out of the audience. Tommy lost to Iran Barkley, and you could easily make a case that Brown was a better fighter than Barkley.
Catch him solid in an exchange and follow up. He had the power to make it happen. It's not the most likely outcome, but it's certainly possible. If they were around today and the match was made, Norris would be a 3-1 dog at the casinos at worst, probably not even that lopsided.
I remember very clearly how highly regarded Norris was, but he was also considered vulnerable against anyone who could punch... There is a reason he stood away from the elite mws of his day, you never heard him mention there names. He was always calling out the smaller guys at welter and even Julio at JW. Can you imagine what would have happen to Norris had he eaten the shot Hagler did in the 1st round of their fight:dead:dead.. Or the ones Duran,Schuler,Cuevas ate:dead:dead you mentioned Barkley as an inferior fighter who beat Hearns but do you remember the bombs and beating Barkley took before landing the hail mary shot, do you think Norris could hang with that? Norris was a fighter and liked to take the fight to you even if he didnt have the best of chins that was how he fought... He did fight an impressive and disciplined fight in outboxing Simon the first time but, he isnt outboxing Tommy and if he tries to take the fight to him it would be a short night.
I didn't say he would be favored, I said he was very very dangerous and Hearns doesn't walk thru him. It's a ****ing fight, and a good one.
Hearns fighting Benitez and Duran at the weight makes him higher rated than Norris. Hearns had 5 title fights at 154.