Ken says himself,that it was in 1976,and his Yankee Stadium bout was his best performance. I believe that he was slightly over the hill in this bout,and his actual prime was 1973/75. My reasoning is based on the fact that Muhammad Ali was three years younger,a lot fitter,faster and sharper in his second fight with Ken than he was in the third,yet they were both still very close,no matter who you thought deserved the verdicts. Thoughts ?
By all rights, that 3rd fight..for Ali's title, should have been Ken Norton's coronation as heavyweight champion. Yes, I agree that THAT was Norton's prime...his best fight.
Norton's best PREFORMANCE is probably against Ali the third time, but his prime is kind of hard to spot. I'm going with the Bobick fight to be a little different.. Kenny was out to KO Bobick in this fight. I haven't really seen that kind of killer instinct before in his other fights.
It can be startling to realize Ken's final match before turning 30 was when he broke Ali's jaw. Yes, Jerry Quarry was shot when they met, but Norton was also very, very sharp in that one, especially with his jab. Then, with Garcia, he was out for payback, and used a body shot to take him out. After the Foreman debacle, he had something to prove in 1975, and took it out on two opponents he had wanted very badly for a long time. Norton-Garcia II was an excellent fight, perhaps the most entertaining of Ken's career, and his body attack was never on better display.
I think Kenny was still in his prime at age 34 vs Larry Holmes. Kenny looked great that night. It was his last hurrah. His last prime performance.
Kenny says his peak perfomance was against Ali in '76 and that he never had the same focus afterwards. Can't really see why I would doubt him. Add to this that reflexes and speed can detoriate quite sharply when you get a couple of years past 30.
ken looked good against quarry. boxed best against ali the first time with a scoring jab. ali improved in the 2nd fight but ken also raised his game, it was a close fight too. in the last fight ken just let ali hustle him out of a title, he should have done more. maybe ken was best of all for the 2nd ali fight?
One round in the third Ali fight, kept Norton from reaching a much higher level. He should have gone "all-out" in Round 15. referee: Arthur Mercante 6-8 | judge: Harold Lederman 7-8 | judge: Barney Smith 7-8 ~ ~ WBC heavyweight title ~ ~ WBA World heavyweight title ~