1973 Ken Norton vs 1970 Mac Foster. Who wins and why? Does Norton's jawbreaking power overwhelm Foster? Or does Mac's punching power negates Ken's jaw in meeting a power puncher?
I see Ken beating Mac by fairly comfortable decsion. Foster could hit but he was n't in the top division of punchers such as Foreman,Shavers etc. And I can't see him outboxing Norton.
If there’s any truth to Foster beating Norton in sparring then we have to factor that into the equation. But from what I heard this happened when they were amateurs and not in an actual match either. Norton took some time to develop even in the pros as we saw from his early defeat to Jose Luis Garcia. Meanwhile Mac foster although very powerful never beat a good prime opponent in the pros. He was dominated pretty handily by quarry as well. Ken of course had a shaky chin which would always be an issue but wasn’t necessary a guarantee to beating him as Quarry, Bobick and Cobb all discovered. It’s a tough call but I’m leaning towards Norton by decision
I addressed all that in my post and even said some other things explaining my reasoning though I could be wrong
Mac Foster was a heavy puncher, he fought what fighters were put in front of him, remember promoters promote, fighters fight, not everyone can be Muhammad Ali and call guys out. While Norton did beat a near at the end of his career Jerry Quarry on March 24 1975, styles make fights. Jerry Quarry defeated Foster in 1970, Quarry at that time was No.1 contender. What if Norton had fought Jerry Quarry at his peak? Quarry went 7 hard rounds with champion Joe Frazier on June 23 1969 before being stopped by Smoking Joe. Norton was also stopped by hard hitting Jose Luis Garcia in 1970, then in March 1974, Ken was obliterated by champion George Foreman in two rounds in Caracas, Venezuela. Norton had an easier time with boxers who could not hurt him. This fight against Foster would be competitive, but I see Foster edging this fight after rocking Norton at different times during this battle.
Kenny has too much variety and speed for Foster and gets the stoppage in 8/9 rounds after a cautious start
Close match up Foster stopped some good names Folley, Williams, etc. And whilst I really like Norton as a fighter. He could be vulnerable to punchers, although to be fair Norton was only stopped once in his prime to Foreman who was a monster. Shavers and Cooney are legit some of the hardest hitting Heavyweights ever also, and Norton was past his prime to be fair in those fights. I don't think Foster is on their level regarding power, but he still hits hard and would be very dangerous to Norton. I actually can't decide on this match up honestly, but it's either Foster within first 3 rounds. Or Norton gets himself a late stoppage, the longer the fight goes the better for Norton.