Usyk vs Ken Norton

Funny enough it another one of those things you see a lot of things like Muay Thai and MMA they you don't really see too much in boxing with some exceptions. Ik Miguel Canto liked to do it a lot. As for why its a good idea I think it generally is a good idea when you're a taller fighter fighting a smaller one because it allows you to keep them at range and not let them get close but also keep yourself safe as you're trying to maintain range. Though it can still work if you're smaller as Canto showed though admittedly not sure how you can make it work as well if you're a smaller guy.

 

Usyk will do what Holmes and Ali couldn't and knock Norton out.

 

Jimmy Young rocked Norton but didn’t go for the finish, I think that in a rematch Holmes TKO’s KN, Usyk probably gets it first time around.

 

Usyk in a very good fight.

 

It's an extremely interesting matchup, and a tight one IMO.

 

I haven't seen any of the 'framing' videos, but it sounds like it might go back to the very old school notion of 'stops.' It is in a lot of the older boxing manuals. An example would be- when you slip inside a jab to throw a right hand to the body, you partially extend you left arm, to put your left glove on his right to prevent him from throwing it. If my memory is correct, in the Norton v Foreman fight, George was extending his right glove and catching Norton's jab almost as soon as it started.

 

Holmes was better than both Cooney and Shavers, but he couldn't knock out an old Norton. Styles.

Not saying Norton would win, but Cooney and Shavers were very different fighters from Usyk.

 

Still on the fence on this one.

Maybe Usyk wins, but I don't see an stoppage here.

My man Kenny was vulnerable to big sluggers with an aggressive go-forward style and the punching power to back it. Foreman, Shavers, Cooney fit that description. But as others have already pointed, Usyk is nothing like them regarding physical characteristics and style-wise.

A very interesting match up: two skilled and adaptable boxers. Kenny's defensive stance versus Usyk's southpaw antics.
This will be a intense battle of smarts that goes the distance since nobody is getting KOd

This fight goes to the cards.

 

Not sure how many southpaws Ken Norton ever faced in his career let alone one who was as talented or well rounded as Usyk. Ken was always in great shape, athletic, could go fifteen rounds and dealt with some of the very best boxers. Therefore I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he has a shot here. But again he’s up against a different kind of animal than what he was used to seeing

 

It all comes down to what kind of experience ( if any ) Norton has at dealing with southpaws and how he’d react to this one in particular. I can absolutely see why people would favor Usyk. But I’m not writing it off as a given either. Eddie Fetch trained Norton to slip the jab better than almost anyone except Joe Frazier. Ken had a good jab and hook himself. While he wasn’t a big puncher he could certainly crack when needed. Had incredible stamina and workrate and was a stickler for hard training. While Norton wasn’t accustomed to someone like Usyk it’s possible that the opposite could also be said. He certainly wasn’t one of the large slow moving targets that Usyk has been fighting as of late

 

Never quite made sense to me how a guy with world class genes for track/field events shuffled around a ring. He was a one-man track team in high school, once coming in first place in 7 out of the 8 events he was entered into (and, iirc, he came in second for the one event he didn't win). Yet in the ring he was a crab with a broken back leg. Don't get it.

And, iirc, Muhammad Ali was not fast in a sprint at all!

Different types of footwork clearly.

 

Actually, Norton said in his book that he was always lazy about training and working out, rarely gave it his all in camp or in any other kind of athletic training. He was the beneficiary of incredible genes for athleticism.

 

I never knew that