The Norton that fought Holmes and/or Ali should beat Machen. Norton seemed to have just a little more ability to win than Machen.
Machen in his prime? Eras aside? IMO I see Eddie copping a UD. Ken would land the body shots and corner Eddie on occasion but I don't think he'd land any sort of 'blockbuster'. He went 12 with 'prime' Liston. I've got that fight and will have to watch it again; many say Machen just fought to survive but I saw a little scrap in him throughout the fight. Maybe he just realized he couldn't get to Sonny without getting 'got to' himself and fought a bit more cautiously.
Bump. Norton outmuscles him to a decision, Machen has nothing whatsoever to keep Norton off, doesn’t have the physicality or power, and he won’t be able to keep the fight at range as Norton is great at closing off the ring and taking away the jab, and when the fight is up close, Norton is much bigger and is also more skilled on the inside, Machen also isn’t slippery enough to spin off the ropes, roll and avoid being closed off, if Ali wasn’t slippery enough then Machen certainly isn’t, I don’t see a case to be made for Machen here, he’s outmatched stylistically.
Could be interesting, but I do not think Machen could get around Ken's defense, I'd probably bet Norton UD after Machen gets complacent.
Norton had a lot of success against this type of fighter. By this type, I mean nice boxer who lacked the big shot that was Norton's bane. Norton would fight the Ali's, Holmes's and Young's to the wire and Eddie fits right in there. Now, Eddie is not without a punch, but it was generally after wearing a fighter down first like Nino Valdes and Johnny Holman. Sometimes he showed a nice counter early or if he took it upon himself to go after a fighter like Pat McMurtry and Duke Sabedong, but generally speaking, he boxed, moved and would sharp-shoot when the opportunity arose. This again, would feed into the Norton success but Eddie was a handful and I see this bout going to the wire. Eddie had a great jaw and it would be tested. Eddie was also an explosive counter-puncher, which would test Ken's chin. I find this matchup mouth-watering.
