Is there actually one? Ken, at his best vs the title Challengers as they were when they faced the Brown Bomber.
Let's see, who fought Joe for the title? Tommy Farr Nathan Mann Harry Thomas Max Schmeling John Henry Lewis Jack Roper Tony Galento Bob Pastor Arturo Godoy Johnny Paychek Al McCoy Red Burman Gus Dorazio Abe Simon Tony Musto Buddy Baer Billy Conn Lou Nova Johnny Davis Tami Mauriello Jersey Joe Walcott There are only a couple here who have a chance against Norton, those two being Schmeling and Walcott. Not even the great Billy Conn stands a chance against Norton. Norton would pulverize him after getting the runaround for several rounds. I believe someone posted on a Norton-Walcott match recently and sentiment was about evenly split between them. As for Schmeling idk. I also think that could go either way, but I will throw out there that I do think Schmeling is capable of knocking out Norton.
I don’t favor any of them to beat Norton but that doesn’t mean one of them couldn’t. It probably wasn’t obvious that Jose Luis Garcia would stop him.
Norton was 16-0 to Garcia’s 12-2-1. Garcia had been stopped just 6 months prior too so I don’t think it was overly obvious at all or evident that Garcia would stop Norton but that’s just my personal opinion.
Yeah, you were right (not that I necessarily thought you were wrong). It was like a battle of young prospects. The experience I remembered associating with Garcia came after the Norton fight primarily. His two biggest fights prior to fighting Norton were against future light heavyweight champion Vincent Rondon and Allen Thomas, both of whom he lost to.
He did whip back into shape briefly though for that Ocasio rematch. He did look great there. Otherwise agreed.
Admittedly some of the guys that challenged Joe were beyond their best years such as Burman, Schmeling, Lewis, so I think these three were too long in the tooth to beat a prime Norton. Guys like Farr, Godoy, Simon, Buddy Baer, Conn, Galento, Pastor, and Walcott all have a chance at beating Norton.
I think we’d have to eliminate the slick boxers and look to the bigger punchers. Max and Buddy Baer would be potentially dangerous fights, although Max didn’t challenge him for the title.