Did anyone have Ali beat Norton in their first fight?

Intriguing. I've never read of Ken saying that about the first fight.

 

I looked at it as a draw. i was surprised ali was handed the loss. he wasnt getting hit that much i think its because thats when ali started leaning on the ropes in his career and from the side it can look like he is taking more punishment when he is just blocking.

The second fight for example was close imo. norton was more effective in the second fight and i gave him 2 rounds less than ali

 

The fact that the decision split is just another major chunk in the huge pile of evidence confirming that Ali had the world in his pocket and there was very little fair play when he was fighting. Take that.

 

The Ali fights were quite a feather in Norton's cap,really. Overall,Ken was an even harder opponent for Muhammad than Joe Frazier was. Okay,Frazier was tougher in a physical sense but Norton was harder stylistically.


There will always be some debate about which one fought the 'better Ali' but take a look at Ali's form in his second fight with both men. Muhammad was at his seventies best in these two bouts and he was equally as good in both. Even though he was better in his first go with Joe than he was with Ken. This was purely down to conditioning. In the rubber with both men,he was clearly better against Frazier. Ali being far more shopworn than in Manilla explains this

 

I believe this as well. Styles made Ken Norton, a tough match up for Ali. I had Norton taking the 1st and 3rd fights, with Ali taking a close decision in the 2nd. Norton was tough for any classic boxer.
Holmes, always said that Ken Norton was the best opponent he fought. Kenny had a hard jab, that he used to good effect against Ali. Ali, never looked good against Norton in any of there 3 fights.

 

Jesús you are a piece OF **** troll poster, get a life ugly nerd

 

Hi swag! I think you're mixing the second and third fights up. Their second scrap was a 12 rounder. I've not seen the 2nd fight in some time but, at the time I thought Ali pulled out a razor-thin win by winning the final round. I'll have to look again.
Lastly, IMHO, prime Ali, maybe 69 vs. prime Norton, maybe 76 would be Ali victories, tho Ken's awkward style would give Ali problems (Mildenberger, etc.)
And, as I'd mentioned before, had Ali not been exiled, he and Norton may have NEVER met.

 

A prime Norton would have split a series of bouts with Holmes.

 

Norton was able to take Ali`s jab away in all their fights but especially the first one. A clear win for Norton though I do believe Ali took him lightly. Ali never peppered Norton like he did just about everyone else. He peppered Frazier, Foreman, Liston etc but he never could pepper Norton.