Floyd Patterson Versus Ken Norton

Well maybe not easy fashion but imo Patterson's hand speed gets him home here.

 

Not sure what you mean by moving? Norton was a club footed, go-forward aggressor.

 

I think Floyd would have the potential to make Norton look very foolish. But easy might be an overstatement.

 

Patterson could Crack, but he wasn't a Shavers, Foreman or Cooney type puncher. Therein lies the rub. We know that ATG heavyweight punchers could crack Norton's chin, but while Patterson could punch hard, he wasn't an ATG heavyweight puncher.

 

I don't know. Norton was only taken down by ATG heavyweight punchers. Patterson was a hard puncher, especially for his size. He wasn't quite a Dempsey or Marciano, but he could hit. I don't think Norton could afford to just walk through Patterson's punches, but I also don't know if Patterson has the firepower to do what Foreman, Shavers or Cooney did.

 

I agree.
Those defeats to big punchers are an ugly stain in Norton's resume, no doubt, but the idea that Norton had a weak chin has been blown out of proportions.

After all, Foreman ragdolled Frazier and Ernie knocked Larry Holmes cold. And Norton was already in his way out when he fought Cooney. Thus, Norton's losing to those monster punchers should be taken with some perspective.

If you go versus ATG hitters, like Norton did, and they catch you, sure you are going to look fragile. But it doesn't mean that everybody and anybody with a regular punch is going to crack you.

 

Floyd could land a bunch of cracking punches quickly though. His hand speed IMO was not far off Ali’s. Ali just had 20 or 30 pounds on him when they fought to go with his own speed.

 

Jose Luis Garcia could punch but was no ATG hitter & put a beating on Norton.

 

Maybe, yes. Or maybe you are in fact fairly fragile, & can use the extreme power of the men who knocked you out as cover for it. Except there’s the Garcia fight which shows Norton is in no way immune to Patterson’s frequently underestimated power.

 

Norton was taken down by one ATG puncher and two powerful but extremely limited punchers.

Patterson was also taken out by one ATG puncher.

You could also make a case Ingo was a great puncher. He was a far better puncher than Cooney and Shavers for sure even if not quite as powerful.

 

I favor Floyd here, provided he and his team recognizes the right game plan for the fight. If the Floyd from the Ellis fight, say, shows up, he will be constantly frustrated with Norton's jab in his face. The correct approach, in my opinion, is to stuff Norton's offense with superior activity. Floyd had more than enough power to sting Norton and he's shown he's able to find ways around the cross guard defense in his day.

 

He could box, he just didnt have to very often