Ken Norton (who beat Ali) Vs. FOTC Joe Frazier

I am a Frazier mark but even if I wasn't, I think the Frazier of that period wins it. That left hook of his was dynamite and even a fighter of Norton's class would be hard-pressed to combat it.

 

Only one guy moving forward here and that's Joe. Frazier by stoppage

 

Frazier by KO or stoppage within 5-6 rounds. Norton always had problems with big punchers.

 

Frazier was already too much to handle sparring, nevermind fighting the FOTC form

 

Joe mid to late round stoppage.

 

Both liked to fight coming forward even though they had different styles - Joe being a swarmer and Ken a boxer/puncher. Neither man was effective while being forced backwards. The winner would be the one who could consistently force the other onto the backfoot. This would be the one who was one of the most pressurising heavyweights of all time. This was Frazier who would stop Norton sometime soon after halfway mark. Ken would be a major threat early on outboxing Joe at centre ring.

 

Frazier by tko

 

Frazier beats him down, Chinny Kenny wanted no part of that smoke.

 

They were both trained to beat Ali by Futch. I'm curious how he would hypothetically train each to beat the other. I would choose Frazier by UD. He went to the body more and was a more nuanced fighter. Norton would have to get up off the canvas from one of Frazier's left hooks to the jaw.

 

Frazier by ko, before the 8 th.

 

Best for best Frazier wins. Norton might get stopped but it's not completely certain for me. The more rounds the fight is set for the harder it becomes for Kenny.

As a matter of fact if (and it's a solid "if") Norton can ship Joe's power reasonably well he may well give him some tough moments. Norton is hardly featherfisted, he hits quite hard with both hands.

 

Frazier by TKO .. Norton did not have the chin to last ..

 

Re comments about Ken's chin: I never have found him particularly "Chinny" Jose Luis Garcia stopped him when Ken was still pretty green. Earnie Shavers and George Foreman were two of the hardest punching heavies of all time,and Gerry Cooney hit hard too.
Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes may not have been hard one shot hitters but were hardly feather fisted either. Norton soaked up a lot of punishment from both but stood up to them both very well.

 

In my opinion, definitely Joe Frazier.
I think the Ali vs. Norton matchup was a worse stylistic fit for Ali than Ali vs. Frazier. That said, there are some similarities—defense, stance, pressure... Apparently, Joe sparred with Ken, and they were good buddies. I wonder what those sparring sessions were like.