Not the greatest version of each but good enough to take ATG s the distance . Charles from the first Marciano ft Up against Norton from the Holmes ft ? 15 rounds of course .
https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/ezzard-charles-v-ken-norton-x-4.622179/ My opinion hasn't changed. Norton wins 1 and arguably deserves to win 2, Charles wins 3
I agree with Lach. I'd say Norton pushes Charles close and takes 1, or possibly 2, but Charles probably takes the series. For this fight in particular I'd take Norton on a razor close decision. Could go either way type thing.
Charles all day everyday. On the surface taking a better fighter like Holmes so close logic would say norton beats Charles. However, that fight was the making of Larry, his first step up into elite level rather than a fight between two seasoned elite level guys. Larry one fight later was a better fighter altogether. Charles of the Marciano fight And Norton of the Holmes fight is certainly a bout between two very seasoned elite level heavyweights. Norton had a similar stance to Rocky but he’s taller with a slower output so I think Ezzard can adopt the same gameplan that worked so well for him against Rocky where Charles stood his ground, perfectly closed the distance, turned Rocky and countered him. Difference being He’s just never going to get hit as much or as hard against Ken as he was against Rocky. The only thing that won Rocky the fight was the 3 big onslaughts where he managed to hurt and outpunch Charles with sheer volume. Otherwise, Charles was perfectly containing Marciano. And he would against Norton who is not capable to turn on the nonstop onslaughts that would breakup the boxing edge Charles has. This could look like Charles vs Louis.
