Ken Norton Vs Frank Bruno

Battle of excellent jabbers. Norton likes to exchange a little too much. I think Bruno would catch Norton with a big punch and finish the job in about the sixth or seventh round. However, beyond that ,Bruno's suspect stamina comes into play and Norton could sweep the last few rounds down the strech. This bout could easily have two very realistic scenario's.

 

You 2 have basically done this thread already! Alll that's left is to make picks now, i'm gunna go with Norton personally, i think some big overhand right might do it

 

Norton was a much better fighter and would have stopped Bruno late ...

 

Bruno was a tall fighter who punched extremely hard. Norton always had difficulty with those fighters but looked good against boxers. Norton against Foreman, Shavers, and Cooney all look like this fight to me.

 

^ agree but depends on what bruno turns up. sometimes he wanted to be the boxer using his long jab and his high guard but sometimes he wanted to pulverise the guy.

this was one of the talking points before he fought tyson. would he try and ko the smaller guy or use his experience to use his jab and hieght to outbox and outhustle the younger guy?

i feel he could catch norton cold. have no doubt about it that bruno could ko him in a one shot victory. just can it be done? bruno usually came foreward behind his jab, but norton had one of the greatest counter jab techniques. which made him so effective against boxers and weak against hookers.

my guess is that bruno would stop him early. he wasnt a swarmer but he wasnt the non aggresive type. and after his jab wouldnt get through his rigth hand would start battering down the gates and when norton is rocked bruno wouldnt let him off the hook.


the norton-lewis fight would be much more interesting subject

 

Kenny generally only lost big-style against ATG punchers/finishers: whilst Bruno was a relatively hard hitter, he lacked in that second category, plus when it came to the crunch he lost against any top level fighter he ever faced: Norton is better than most of Bruno's career opponents with a couple of obvious exceptions. Bruno doesn't quite possess the sheer power of a Foreman or Shavers or the finishing ability of a Tyson or Lewis. I'll maintain that Norton gets a pretty raw deal these days: he'd lose to a fair share of truely great bangers, but not this guy. I think whilst Norton will maybe have one or two rocky moments early on, he'd brave it out and sweep the later rounds to take a decision


Norton: UD

 

Norton could have real issues surviving the firt 12 minutes or so, but if he does, he goes on to win by late stoppage as Bruno once again blows a lead against quality opposition.

Norton TKO11

 

I pretty much agree with this assessment. I tend to disregard Norton's loss against Cooney because I believe he was a shell of his former self. So that leaves a prime Foreman and Shavers who shelled Norton. I don't think Bruno is in that realm as a puncher. Norton stopped Quarry who was a pretty hard puncher. Was Bruno's right hand better than a prime Holmes? I don't think so. Even if it was, he didn't have the skill to land it as frequently as Holmes did. Norton beat Ali at least once. I think there's too much evidence to suggest Norton would weather the storm and stop Bruno mid to late rounds.

 

I second that.

 

Very interesting match up. 50/50. But if i were pushed I'd think Norton gets rocked early but survives and wins a close UD

 

Knee jerk reaction for a lot of people here would be to guess Norton gets ko'd early, but I disagree.

Bruno had a really good shot, but Norton wasn't too far behind from that perspective. Plus, Norton was undoubtedly a better overall boxer. I see Bruno staggering Kenny once or twice, but by the 8th or 9th Bruno gets stopped, hard.

 

We're all pretty familiar with Norton vs. big punchers. However, I think Bruno is the exception to the rule. He struggled with very basic fundamentals imo, and though certainly a big puncher, he lacked the brilliance, accuracy, and execution of a big puncher such as Foreman, and at the very least, the sheer aggression of someone like Shavers.

Btw, I find it very interesting that you match these two. Both were known to hold back a while, and had problems loosening up in the ring.

 

I'm going to say, it's not one round and done, with Norton out on the ground. Quite the opposite. I see Frank maybe shaking Norton up early but never really getting him hurt enough to stop him. This will turn into a fight where Ken gradually finds his mark and starts to chip away at Frank.

Bruno s confidence trickles away as does his strength.
A fired up Norton, steps up and nails Bruno repeatedly, until he's out on his feet.

Norton wrsf 11.