And might even stop him? Some may assume that AJ s size and power ends it early. But Norton was built for upright textbook heavyweight s . His awkward cross armed defence , constant pressure and inside work dragged elite fighters in to his type of fight . And AJ shows discomfort when pushed and forced to fight at a high pace. If Norton gets past the early rounds then the fights his imo.
The opposite in my view. Norton will not enjoy that power at all and AJ, while not an amazing boxer, is good enough to get it to land.
I'd like To see Norton get thru the early rounds , I'd have more confidence in him the longer the fight goes on.
Unfortunately, I just don't see it. I am not an AJ fan but he does throw a good straight right hand and uppercut. I am unsure that I can see Norton doing well enough over 12, let alone 15 rounds, to keep a pre-Ruiz AJ from taxing that chin eventually. AJ post Usyk now - I can entertain the thought process and think that Norton's dedicated body work and ability to time and negate AJ's tentative jab could make things interesting past round 8.
I would clearly take Norton over Joshua. Norton is the superior boxer, and, has more than enough power to trouble Joshua. I agree that his superior pace would have Joshua gassed by the second half of the fight. I think it would play out somewhat similar to Joshua-Usyk. There is a small chance Joshua stops Norton, but, I doubt it. Norton stopping Joshua would not be totally out of the question, either, although I would expect a decision win.