How's this one play out then? I's it the usual Norton gets stopped against any big hitter?? Or is the man good enough to beat *The Greatest *, to good to lose to Frank Bruno??
Bruno wasn`t aggressive like Shavers, Foreman and Cooney, Foreman dropped Norton with an uppercut, Shavers and Cooney with hooks, all inside punches, Bruno was an outside fighter throwing 1-2`s, Norton was good on the outside using his cross armed defense which is why he had more success against Ali, Frank would mainly throw jabs like Ali, he always fought at a methodical pace, Frank caugt Tyson with a hook because Mike got inside and was careless coming in, Norton was a careful fighter and harder to hit than Frank, I also feel Bruno had a jaw a wwak as wevery other figter Norton stopped, simply different levels, but it would be a good fight with Frank being dangerous bothering Norton with his long constant jab, I take Norton by late stoppage after Bruno gasses again.
50-50 for me. If Bruno shows up and goes for it, he could stop Norton If he chooses to box on the outside and remains passive, Norton stops an exhausted Bruno late.
Bruno always boxed on the outside behind a methodical jab, if he went for it early he could gas or get caught by counters.
I think I'd go with Norton. Bruno was the fastest puncher, that's for sure. If he connected he could KO Ken, but I think Ken would beat him up pretty bad and eventually KO him
Frank Bruno is a very stiff fighter, he has a punch but not of a punch to frighten Ken Norton. I see Ken counter punching Frank and keeping him against the ropes, working those hard shots to the body. Ken by KO 9.
This time I can't go with the big hitter beating Norton and keep my conscience intact. Good points about Bruno being an outside fighter and less aggressive. I actually have Bruno a pretty good underdog here. Bruno always seemed to tense to me. I think Norton has a better history of survival than Bruno does. After round 5, it's all Norton.
Well it looks as if it's either Bruno early or Norton late, but I'm pretty much in agreement with @mark ant and @William Walker who have both done a great job of laying out the reasons why, in my opinion, Norton late is the majority call. Bruno had the punch to upset Norton, but not the blazing, reckless abandon and aggression to open right up on Norton and blast him out early as Foreman, Shavers and Cooney did. He always fought tight and kept it relatively long. He may well shake Norton up at some stage, but I'm not sure he'd have that killer instinct to finish it off. Eventually Norton's pressure and strength tire him out, and you can guess the rest from there.
