Ali/Norton 3: Horrendous Robbery ?

Ali was good for business. You loved him or you hated him, but you wanted to see him fight.

 

No, Norton certainly wasn't given the rub of the green. But he doesn't seem bitter at all, though. Seems to be a genuinly nice guy.

 

You are a hard man.

 

Ali needed to win the last round which he did to defeat Norton for the second time. In his prime, a better prepared Ali would have finished Norton by the middle rounds.

 

Yup.

Straight bull****.

 

I've never seen Ali-Norton III yet. Will probably get it from my supplier in the near future.

 

On the Young fight...

Dundee knew it. The thousands in the crowd knew it, and were quite vocal about it. Cosell was hanging off Ali's balls like he always did, Norton wouldn't give his full opinion when asked by Cosell because of the upcoming potential third fight with Ali.

From Wikipedia...

Longtime RING magazine writer Lester Bromberg scored the fight 11 rounds to 4 for Jimmy Young. Bromberg called the official decision "a travesty of a decision." Even Ali's ever loyal trainer Angelo Dundee admitted it was the champion's worst fight.

Almost exactly what I scored it.

This bull**** justification is...

A) A product of people who've never actually seen the fight.

B) People who seemingly missed all the bodywork Young did in the fight, as opposed to sticking his head out of the ropes to **** with Ali three times near the end of the fight.

Crowd loved Ali getting clowed too, actually.

 

Boring fight. Norton forces the action, Ali throws a few gnat-stinging punches at him, sparingly. Norton lands all the heavy blows.

 

The "Bugner thrashing" was a cut eye stoppage in the second round.Bugner was down in the first but ok when the fight was stopped,plus he was at 245 considerably out of shape.

 

I thought the fight was pretty close scoring from TV,Ive seen a lot worse decisions,but I would have given the edge to Norton,just.

 

Robbery? No, not even close.... The fight itself was close and it was either man's fight going into round 15, in which all Norton did was chase after a moving and jabbing Ali to blow the final round.... If Ali wasn't so popular and remarkable as a true champion, he probably would've still retained his title with a draw...

Bottom Line... I'd give Norton the benefit of a draw verdict at best, but no way did he really beat Ali to the point in which one can scream robbery on the cards....

All in All, The '76 rubber match at Yankee Stadium wasn't really all that great of a fight anyway.... No knockdowns, cuts or even a serious war of attrition in any particular rd of the scheduled 15 rounder....

Ali was in great shape at age 34 and 221 pounds, as was the 31 year old Norton at 217 1/ 2 pounds..... Ali used every trick in the book to go all 15 rds and to get the nod, while Norton was indeed motivated as well to get the job done, but also too predictable and he also sometimes failed to let his hands go in crucial moments of the fight in order to sway the changes in his favor....

IMO.

MR.BILL

 

Yes, a major robbery, a popularity contest, that has warped heavyweight history for all time. Ali gets way too much credit for the 1970's, when the truth is he got his ass kicked several times. It was a gift to Muhammad by an adoring public that felt he was still owed for being exiled years earlier.

And contrary to the myth some perpetuate that Ali pulled it out in the 15th...Norton won the 15th. Ali's jabs were missing, his dancing useless, and while Norton was overly cautious and picked his shots, when he threw, he landed, and often hard.

 

Thank you, sir. Good recap.

As in every Ali-Norton fight, the final round was key.

Here, the bout was close. It seemed a rippling Norton could tear through a seemingly soft, mummified Ali at any time in the fight.

Except he never did. Because he couldn't.

Contrary to popular belief, Ali was throwing all night. Yes, he threw a truckload of punches. Norton respected Ali. He knew Ali was full of tricks and all night he was wary of punching himself out or getting caught with a sharp, definitive right hand.

And Ali, as befits a wily diminished champion, played to his strengths. He showed up in great shape (for his condition); mixed the many tactics at his command; and threw and threw, knowing boxing is won on points--punches landed. Many pecks landing lightly can carry the day over several heavy blows landed on arms, a few landing on body and head, particularly if you are the champion, holding off a challenge. Whoever does not understand this does not understand what an all-time great does--use every legitimate resource to win--and is no Muhammad Ali! :thumbsup

 

The judges were also Ali fans, and they had no concept of reality.