Which fighter do you rate higher in the Heavyweight ranks? And head to head, Prime, who would win, 15 rounds? Both had that one great official win over an ATG, both had devastating ko losses to champs too. I actually think a fight between the two makes for a classic. Thoughts please?
I think that Schmeling was successful against a wider range of styles. On this you might give him the nod both on legacy and head to head.
Legacy I say Max. Head to head, its a blooming tough one to call, I lean slightly to Ken. But it might have to be a rematch or even a trio.
It would be certainly an interesting style clash. Schmeling was likely more durable and I like his chances to stop Norton later though.
This is a really tough fight with both at their best, Good arguments can be made for both men. I want to lean Norton with his penchant for giving boxers trouble who couldn't hurt him but I wouldn't bet 2 nickels on who wins. I think it goes the distance though.
We’d have to look at what both men have: Schmeling’s pro record: 56-10-4-39. Not all these fights were at heav. Norton’s pro record: 42-7-1-33. Norton’s best win: aging post exile Ali. Schmeling best win: Young Joe Louis Note: both Ali and Louis went on to do great things following these losses. Other notable wins: Schmeling: uzcadan, Hamas, stribling, Sharkey. Norton: Quarry, Young, Bobick, Cobb, Clark. I think the quality of their wins and depth are pretty close if not even. Norton had only 7 losses and one draw while Schmeling at 10 losses and 4 draws. Of course Schmeling had 56 wins while Norton had only 42 but again a lot of Max’s fights weren’t at heavyweight. In conclusion I think it’d a tossup. History probably remembers Schmeling better because he held lineage but in truth their resumes are very close
For my money, In a fantasy fight, the winner has to be the one who did better in his own era. So Legacy wise it is Max. and it’s not even close. Aside from a couple of blips Schmeling was nigh on the best active heavyweight from 1929 until the loss to Joe Louis. And don’t tell me Schmeling didn’t fight in a good era. He had to beat a prime Joe Louis. Norton never had that kind of dominance. He beat Ali yes, but was it the best version of Ali? He didn’t fight Frazier and we saw what Foreman could do to him. He’s like the third best guy of his own time. To be fair, there was a period where Ken was the about the best active heavyweight. Perhaps by 1977-78. but even by then he struggled with Young. He had a come from behind win over Lorenzo zanon and I still don’t understand how he managed not to clearly defeat a faded Ali who was ripe for the taking. when you weigh it up, Quarry was past it. In their last fight, Ali was past it. Young and Shavers were about as good as they got around the time Ken was prime…and I don’t think Norton exactly shone against either of them. So I think Schmeling at his best would be too fresh for Norton who I think benefited too much from the previous generations top men doing well in his era.
Very interesting fight. Max a methodical beat'er-upper. Norton might frustrate the method, but could be susceptible to the grind (if grind there is).
I think that you shouldn't assume that Schmeling couldn't hurt him. I also wouldn't call Max a "boxer" in typical archetype sense.
Fair enough. I suppose Schmelings win over Jack Sharkey who is viewed as a great in some circles gives him some additional points. Young stribling his highly regarded by some too. I still think their resumes are close but I guess there’s no rule as to how we rate these wins
One piece of nuance of Schmeling's record, that is sometimes hard to see through the fog, is that he beat a lot of men at the high point of their careers. If you look at Risko, Uzcdun 1, Stribling, Walker, Neusel, and Hamas 2, that was about as far as those fighters ever got, before Her Schmeling derailed them. His decisions to fight Baer and Louis when he did, were consistent with his pattern of going after the most highly qualified contenders, though of course they both went on to be champions.
Fergy, I hope it's not another of those corny Halloween threads like Max Schmeling with Ken Norton's body buddy. You are much too intelligent than to post threads like that, next thing we know someone will post Cus D Amato with Tyson's body or something to that effect.
