Foreman KO Norton (Alternate angle)

It was two years in between that, Frazier wasn't shot, but he wasn't in Fight of The Century form ever again.

 

That second to last shot...that right hand...is one of the most brutal I've ever seen...the oomph...the body that Foreman put behind it....that final left was just unnecessary...Norton was out before that left landed.

 

If you push yourself way beyond normal limits and take a ton of punishment in the process of that best performance, you might never be the same again.
It stands to reason.

 

No, I wouldn't say totally shot.

I'd say depleted. But he was still expected to beat Foreman, who was suspected of being a vulnerable fighter (hence his padded record).

 

Damn George battered him like he owed him money. Vicious

No knock on Norton's chin, these punches would have KO anybody.

 

Beyond brutal. Foreman had stated that he went into this fight upset that he was not getting the respect he believed he should have been getting. He thought that perhaps if he actually killed an opponent maybe then he would. George was certainly throwing his shots with the meanest of intentions.

 

A lot of people nowadays look back on the "Rumble in the Jungle" and remember that Muhammad Ali was given little chance of beating Foreman, but it was mainly Foreman's KO of Norton that swung so many towards that way of thinking.

Prior to Foreman KOing Norton there was far more comment circulating that Ali would be too clever and experienced for Foreman, and that there were still a lot of question marks surrounding Foreman. The win over Frazier was regarded as perhaps a little flukey, perhaps the result of Frazier being at his career worst or being overconfident, and adopting a bad strategy and having never recovered from the "FOTC", or just a styles thing.


But when Foreman went and did the same to the only other fighter who had defeated Ali, the logic kicked in. Ali's chances were looking close to nil.
Then Ali went and turned the logic on its head by defeating Foreman in Zaire.

 

Is that a joke or what, try getting beaten half to death and see how much of an effect it has on your body. Getting punched in the head for 15 rounds isn't good for your health in any way.

 

In the You Tube vid of this fight that I'm most familiar with, after the fight was stopped and Norton was seated on his stool, Foreman, his fist held aloft by the referee, still looked to menace Norton by advancing right up to him and glowering down on him...not a bit of remorse...check it out and see what I mean.

 

Shows what heavy hands Foreman had. He was actually slightly off balance and reaching w that shot. The final left, unnecessary, was a sharper shot. Whatever, the man was possibly the best of the strongest heavyweights that ever lived. A physical monster.

 

It affects every fighter differently, that fight likely took something out of Ali as well.

 

I have read interviews in which it was discussed by both Norton and Eddie Futch.

It is mentioned below:

https://sunnikhalid.com/2000/08/13/interview-with-eddie-futch-august-2000/

Yancey Durham also tried to get Joe to retire before he died.