Ali's comments after the third Norton fight

I know Norton was robbed and Ali knew it , his team knew it and the writers who covered the fight knew it.

 

On youtube you can find one of the post fight comments from Ali as he's heading to the locker room and he says out his own mouth he thinks he lost that fight.

His body language was not that of a warrior defending his title. He was showboating, throwing exaggerated bolo punches and hayemakers, covering up on the ropes and doing half assed rope a dopes, and only occasionally did he do some actual boxing in spurts. His heart was no longer in boxing by the late 70's and was just going through the motions. He had become an attraction not unlike a circus or bike stuntman. Ali was really a quiet and soft down to Earth guy and because of his terrible financial situation (failed investments, constant travelling, alimony, taxes, etc), he just wanted to get paid and retire to spend time with his kids.

It sucks for Norton because he worked his ass off and is sometimes the butt of jokes for being a hw champion "by default" since he didnt technically win his title by beating the actual champion (it was an eliminator against Jimmy Young). People regard Ali and Holmes as being top 5 on all time lists and Norton hung with them in thrilling wars but isnt held in nearly the same regard. If he was 2-1 against Ali and/or got the nod against Holmes or beat him in a rematch his legacy would have vastly improved.

 

Not really the case, writers covering the fight were split and had it very close, the Associated press card had it 9-6 Ali while the UPI card had it 8-7 Norton, very much in line with sports writers nation wide and the WWS viewing of the fight a week after the bout had a panel including boxing writers with Norton present for their scoring which was a collective draw. The three official judges as well as many viewers had the bout a draw after the 14th round and Ken made the decision to give the last round and the fight to Ali.

 

Ali had a cozy relationship with the writers, so I think we have to see just who had 9 rounds scored for him. Ali winning 9 rounds is utter nonsense. I have scored the fight and Norton is the clear winner. Punch stats heavily favor Norton as well in a round by round sense. If Ali had Norton hurt, maybe you could argue he could win a round where he was out-landed. That did not happen.

I'm not sure where the scoring was worse. Ali vs Norton 3 or Ali vs Young.

 

Total revisionist spin. Overwhelming press outlets in favor of Norton .. three out of four announcers on live coverage gave it to Norton with the fourth a draw. The fans booed the decision like hell. Ali went to this corner at final bell like a funeral .. Twice in three fights he got a gift decision.

This content is protected

(go to 1:25 and listen)

 

I agree exactly, Norton really was the heavyweight champ from September of 76-June of 78, nearly a 2 year reign, and his wins over Bobick, Zanon, and Young should have counted as title defenses. Norton got royally screwed, due to Ali's popularity.

 

It was included in the full fight coverage. Ali was well aware of the cameras on him and had an embarrassed look on his face because he knew the judges saved him. It was like 6 years ago when i saw it not about to watch every 48 minute youtube video of Ali Norton 3 to find it.

 

Here are the facts .. when Ali lost to Spinks he immediately started a PR campaign to insure he'd get the immediate rematch with Spinks opposed to the governing bodies guarantee that Norton, as # 1 contender and bypassed time and again by Ali since their third fight, get it .. AL by this time knew two things better than anyone :

1. He could not beat Norton.
2. If Norton fought Spinks first he'd crush Spinks and Ali would have to go thru Norton to regain the title ..

List to this ..

This content is protected

 

He did...but Holmes would have taken it away, anyway imo. I'm one of those guys whom have Holmes landing a solid victory over Norton, three points ahead. Norton landed with some very, very effective shots but despite his coming forward so much he simply didn't stay busy enough. And he ate so many combinations through so much of the fight, making Larry look at the time indeed like the successor to Ali. To me Holmes looked like the champ in that fight (and I'm a fan of Ken).

 

Ali lost against Ken I and III...and I'm still not sure he won that second fight. Last time I watched it I had Norton taking it.

 

There's nothing revisionist about it. The UPI round-up of ringside press verdicts shows how evenly split they were.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...BInAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UwMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1189,2637077

 

That's one of a dozen groups .. nine of them picked Norton a winner.