Yeah, back in the "good old days" (20s, 30s or whatever) the top boxers fought each other all the time - and many times, too! But how much extra oldtime knowledge/skills did (for example) Britton and Lewis pick up from their 20 (or thereabouts) fights against each other? What more was there to learn after their (say) 4th or 5th encounter? Maybe not all that much, I would argue!
Of course, they probably learn something in every new fight - but that many matches against the same opponent, surely can't be as "educational" as meeting different opponents (I would think).
He was in his prime for all of one of those bouts. Against a peak Foreman. He was passed prime for Shavers, and flat out shot for Cooney. His ranking was a joke. I've always believed that this "Norton loses to every puncher who ever lived" is a bit overstated.
rematches would teach a lot. They make fighters really focus on what they have to do with certain styles. Great point.
Ray Leonard Thomas Hearns Wilfredo Benitez Roberto Duran Marvin Hagler Hector Camacho Matthew Saad Muhammed Michael Spinks Aaron Pryor Alexis Arguello Mike Mccallum At one time all these boxers were active AT THE SAMETIME. Go ahead and show me a list of TODAYS boxers that compare to the depth of that list.
Agreed. You’ve already qualified where Ken was at upon each of those KO losses - and Garcia was early career. Atop that, they were the top 3 extreme punchers. Norton was a bit deceiving. As a fighter takes increasingly harder punches against different opponents, you might see incrementally greater effect - thereby getting a gauge on the type of power that might tip them over in quick time. But with Ken, he could takes shots that measured, say, 7.5 to 8/10 pretty damn well - without any strong hint that anything above say 8/10 would suddenly see him come completely undone - however, he did come undone - but as you said, Shavers and Cooney came much later in the piece.
I don't really count the Garcia loss since he blatantly cheated. Waited until the bell rung, and the ref looked away to unload. Despicable. I've always thought Norton pre-Foreman would've beaten Shavers and Cooney.
You might’ve posted it previously Swag, but what’s the source for Norton being hit after the bell? I quickly reviewed a few accounts but none mentioned Norton being hit after the bell or anything illegal. At any rate, Ken was dropped and hurt multiple times during the fight but as I said, he was green at any rate. Unless hit by King Kong punchers, I’d rate Norton’s chin from good to very good.
"Back in my day, boxers were better." "Back in my day, music were better." "Back in my day, movies were better." . . . I specifically asked one person: "Do you only listen to music from when you were a teenager, or do you also listen to music from before you were born?"
This is now an authentic document. No other list comes close- Djanders was in the ring with many of these guys, though some may say the distinct lack of Tunney and Holmes may be a byproduct of their famous street brawls.
So sorry. I forgot to get back to you. https://www.newspapers.com/article/philadelphia-daily-news/125212378/