Ali vs Norton 3

Not to undermine a good post, but there were definitely other times a fighter won the HW championship on points before 76. FOTC and Schmeling/Sharkey 2 come to mind.

 

I remember watching this fight with 5 people, 2 boxers, a fight referee in the golden gloves and boxing fans in general .5 of 6 were Ali fans and when it ended no one thought Ali had won the fight. When the scores were announced Jack the ref said,,I expected that, it's Ali.

 

This is Ali Post Inoki disaster when his legs clogged up from those kicks and nearly risked amputation.

Norton (coasted last rounds), Young (stuck his head through the ropes) and Shavers (lack of boxing iq) struggled with a flat footed post Inoki Ali.

 

Agreed. Not to mention it isnt like Norton came out ran away. He was trying to fight but Ali was just avoiding exchanges. Norton should have won þhe last round anyway IMO.

Again Ali is the only boxer in history that gets credit and wins rounds without scoring punches. (Referring to older Ali).

 

I saw the fight and have watched replays over the years.

That was a robbery, Norton clearly won. Didn't Norton say something like "Ali is bigger then boxing" soon afterwards?

 

I still don't see why people thought Norton won the 15th, he landed nothing of note until the final seconds which wasn't enough to make up for 2.5+ minutes preceding it.

 

9-6 for Norton. A bs robbery. Norton out landed Ali in nearly every round

 

it would have been a wise decision to make this a draw by the referees.
this wouldn´t have changed much, ali would have held his title, but (maybe) everyone could have lived better with that verdict.

in his book "fight doctor" (which was published after ali had lost his title to spinks), ferdie pacheco, who was in his corner that night, describes the 3rd norton fight as the night "when muhammad ali stopped being muhammad ali".

 

Jesus Christ, I'm starting to doubt half the people in this thread actually watched the fight!

 

That's a good argument, plus I don't think anyone would accuse Weaver of being the fighter Norton was, even at age 35.

 

So you've seen this one?

 

Norton won the three fights ...

 

It was a boring fight. Ali did just enough. Norton was no ball of fire. I was at this fight.

 

I think this one would have been a perfect stopping point. Nothing after this added to Ali's legacy and certainly not his health.

 

I think you're right, @ETM

As much as I like the fact that Ali won the title three times, he should have given it up after this.

I think Holmes could have quit after Cobb FWIW. He didn't have anything more to prove.