Ali-Norton 3 revisited

M D W Conteh,,,,,,,,,,those are too good,,,,,

Bill Gallo,,,,,'No offense to the blind,,,but Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and
Jose Feliciano could have done a better job, at least they would have had an exceuse'.

'These are probably the same 3 guys who voted that Petula Clark was a
better new artist than The Beatles,

 

It was a bad decision ... one of several breaks Al got through out his career ...

He could have lost to Doug Jones.
He was saved by the bell against Cooper.
Norton 2 should have been a draw.
Norton 3 was a BAD decision.
The Young bout was very debatable.
He was granted an immediate rematch against Spinks against all laws in the sport.

Again, watch the fighters and the corners reactions at the ending bell .... Norton and his corner are celebrating ... Ali and his look like someone died. That says it all ...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOYLRsM4-gI[/ame]

No doubt Norton should have been busier in the 15th but he still landed a half dozen flush hard shots that had Ali holding on while Ali slapped a sad jab ... all three commentators had Norton winning ...

 

The closed circuit ring announcers,,,,,all smart sports writers.

Dick Young,,,,,,,,9-6-0,,, Ken Norton
Red Smith,,,,,,,,,10-5-0,, Ken Norton
Stan Hochman,,,,8-6-1,, Ken Norton
Wayne McGee,,,,,,,6-6-3,, Even

All '3" sports writers had Ken Norton winning the 15th Round.
Wayne McGee, scored the 15th Round Even.

The '3" official judges all had Ali winning the 13th and 15th Rounds.
Referee; Arthur Mercante
Judge; Harold Ledderman
Judge; Barney Smith

 

The purpose of boxing is to land punches. Ali looked nice, floating about the ring, throwing his jabs, but very few of this jabs actually landed. Norton didn't throw enough punches in the round, but a good number of the ones he did, noticeably landed. People look at fancy stylists like Ali and are mesmerized by the flash, the movement, but don't always take into account whether their punches are actually connecting. Ray Leonard beat Hagler the same way...an iilusion of a victory, but not an actual victory.

 

Double 'V''.

Excellent point.
The fight announcers looked at 'aggression and dominance' which Ken Norton
exhibited.
Muhammad Ali fought 'afraid and passive', yet was rewarded by the '3' blind mice.

Amazing scoring,
Harold Ledderman had the fight 6-2-0 Norton, after 8-Rounds,
then gave Kenny only the 14th after that.

The New York Post, had articles asking 'Muhammad Ali, please go away'.
and 'nobody can get a decision versus Ali, why are judges afraid to score a round
for the other fellow'
Maybe the classic, 'the next time Muhammad Ali comes to Yankee Stadium, he'll
have to buy a ticket from the box office to see the Yankee's play'.

 

Good scholarly research, Il Duce, and very true. Ali showed his substance in many fights, but in this fight and several others, he only exhibited his style. Style may look pretty, but if it doesn't culminate in significant shots bouncing off the other guy's skull, then it's pretty meaningless. Poor Ken got screwed again...

 

Jack McKinney,

'It ain't fun watching a Heavyweight, and a Champion for that matter fighting like some
Flyweight from Japan'.

"We're a Steak and Potato fight crowd here, not Noodles with Vegetables'.

 

I will believe Norton won the 15th round and the fight until the day I die. Norton landed some flush shots on Ali and hurt him bad in that last round. Those shots nullified any pitter patter jabs that Ali landed in that round. Just look at Ali's face while the verdict was being read...He knew he lost and he wasn't all that exuberant when he heard he won either. I've said it before...boxing was not ready to lose it's most prized cash cow just yet. At his best Ali was the greatest HW to have ever put on the gloves but he was also given a few gifts along the way and this was one of them.

 

Very Simple,

Bob Arum and Don King were both competing for Ali, to squeeze a few more dollars out his name,,,,,,,,,,,'the hell with scrambled brains'

 

I still think fights 1 & 3 were pretty boring... # 2 is my favorite fight between Ali and Norton...
:bbb

MR.BILL

 

Had Leon Spinks done to Ali at Yankee Stadium what he actually did two years later, he would have gotten the decision too. Why? Because he decisively got the best of the champion.

Norton? The eternal bridesmaid.

The fight was close. Period. The boxer against the puncher. But the boxer was the champion. An aging, great champion. Any challenger to such a man has to do more than fight 15 rounds to a standoff.

If, in such a title bout, there is talk of the final round being decisive, the challenger still has work to do.

And Norton didn't do it. And it was his fault, and his alone. To wit:

There are two reasons why Norton just followed a dancing Ali around for 2 and-a-half minutes. The first is Norton could never cope with Ali's dancing and jabbing. He lost the first five rounds of their rematch as a well-trained Ali deployed this very tactic. It befuddled him. And it is no disgrace. For a heavyweight to float like a butterfly and land punches as Ali did throughout his career is quite a skill. And, here, at Yankee Stadium, Ali now deploys this tactic, after 14 hard rounds! For 3 minutes!

All the while, he is landing jabs and a couple of rights. Nothing bone-breaking, sure. But, again, this is a boxer's tactic. And it can be legitimately scored in his favor.

Norton does nothing for the first two and-a-half minutes, because he can't catch Ali, but also, for my second reason: his corner told him to be cautious, as the fight was in the bag.

Except it wasn't. Yet Norton heeded this patently unwise advice.

In contrast, look at Larry Holmes, two years later, fighting this very Norton: after 14 grueling rounds, Holmes' trainer Rich Giachetti tells Holmes the fight is in the bag; to be cautious, to stay away from the champion Ken Norton.

Holmes is on the record saying this didn't have the ring of sound advice to him. Be cautious? Stay away from him? Well, Holmes simply threw Richie's advice into the trash can and went out and put on --in that non-Larry-Holmes-fan Howard Cosell's words-- the gutsiest 15th-round stand the spitting commentator had ever witnessed in 25 years in boxing. That's what a true champion does.

The Norton-Holmes judges' scorecards bear this out: Holmes won a split-decision by one point. Cosell: "How close! How close!" Man, Holmes dominated Norton and had no business having to fight that last round tooth-and-nail.

But had Holmes not fought as if his life depended on it, Norton would have kept the title
and there would have never been a Larry Holmes.

As it was in Yankee Stadium, Norton came alive with a couple of solid shots in the last few seconds. Boo-hoo. Too little, too late. The champion --the aging boxer-- worked his butt off for three minutes, moving, looking for the opening and going for any tiny crevice, neutralizing his foe, fighting as a champion must, with every resource at his command.

I shed no tears with Norton.

 

I had Norton winning all 3 fights:

Ali - Norton II

1 10-9
2 10-9
3 10-9
4 9-10
5 9-10
6 9-10
7 9-10
8 9-10
9 9-10
10 9-10
11 9-10
12 10-9

112-116 Norton

Ali - Norton III

1 10-9
2 9-10
3 9-10
4 9-10
5 9-10
6 9-10
7 9-10
8 9-10
9 10-9
10 10-9
11 10-9
12 10-9
13 10-9
14 9-10
15 10-9

142 - 143 Norton

 

I had it a draw with Ali winning the last round

 

Yes,the decision was certainly questionable,though hardly a robbery. If we want to talk ROBBERY.then look again at Pernell Whitaker's 'loss' in his first bout with Jose Luis Ramirez,or John Conteh being jobbed at the hands of the judges in the Mate Parlov fight.

 

But on the 'bigger scale',,,,,,,nothing was more distasteful then the Ali decision over
Ken Norton.

Ali lost alot of respect from the general boxing public, for accepting that win.
He should have graciously appologized to the public for an undeserved win, and
given Ken Norton an immediate rematch,,,,,,,,,,,or walk away.

That would have been 'A Man'.

Thats what men like Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey would have done.......
they had no fear of losing........Ali did.