How did Norton get stopped by 188 pound Garcia?

Garcia had some pop and he was a lot heavier for the rematch that came some 5 years later.

Norton might’ve been green but Garcia only had about 15 fights behind him before the first fight - as much a much as Norton.

Haven’t seen the first fight so I assume it doesn’t exist.

The rematch was a cracker though, and Garcia definitely shook Kenny up good several times during the fight - IIRC my last viewing correctly.

 

Garcia had a damn good kick, and Norton was rather green and getting cocky. He recalled Eddie laughing at him after the fight, seeing him humbled.

 

He only had 16 fights @the time. Plenty of fighters have required far more time than that in order to reach their peaks.

Garcia was a good fighter & could crack. He went on a strong run of wins after the 1st Norton fight as well. His main weakness (& eventual undoing) was that he was naturally undersized for a HW of that era. He bulked up as his career progressed, but the extra weight did little to help him & just made him look bloated. He would've been perfectly suited for a CW division if it had existed back then.

 

Nice point

 

Garcia had some pop and Norton always had a shaky chin as people have observed, but you're forgetting the most important thing: Caca happens.

 

It implies that, with experience, he got better at dealing with punchers. He had multiple chances to prove that and he failed each one.

 

As an aside, I always thought Norton & Garcia looked like mirror images of each other when they fought the 2nd time. Norton was just naturally bigger/stronger.

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I've said this before, I think Norton's pedestal here is too high and stems so much from the Ali trilogy and I'll again freely admit that some of my sourness toward him stems from being a big fan of his in real time and being disappointed so often by him. But honestly, he may have looked like Adonis but once you backed him up ... as all the big punchers he faced did ... he was basically useless. And I think the pre-exile Ali before he hurt his hands who could still crack ... the man was NOT a marshmallow puncher in his prime ... and could have planted his feet and backed him up would have made short work of him.

 

He proved it in a rematch w/ Garcia & also vs. Quarry & Bobick. The only other fighters to KO him when he was in or anywhere remotely near his prime were 2 of the most outstanding punchers in HW history.

 

That's a fancy way of saying Ernie Shavers, of which you'll find one in every era.
Could it be that he only got annihilated by Foreman and Shavers because they were the only big hitters he fought in his prime?

Quarry was too old and already beaten to a pulp multiple times over, Bobick, lol, and beating Garcia hardly makes up for it, the guy's only notable win is the one he holds over Norton. If an unranked third rater could do him like that, I would expect any no hoper with a punch to have some odds against Norton.

 

Not every era has a fighter considered a serious candidate for the single biggest puncher in history.

No - he fought (& survived) other big hitters, but Foreman & Shavers were simply freakish/ATG hitters in a league of their own.

All 3 of those fighters were considered dangerous punchers @the time Norton fought them. If his capacity to handle punchers hadn't improved at least to some extent following the 1st Garcia fight, then he likely loses all 3 of those fights.

Garcia was a Ring rated contender across 4 separate years, including the 1 in which he beat Norton.

 

Earnie caught Norton old and gambling that he will be the first to breakthrough inside. Foreman's performance against Norton was arguably the best display of both his careers.

He wasn't the one to favor against monstrous punchers, but he definitely took his share of punches in those fights against Ali, Holmes (the famous 15th), Quarry, and Garcia, poor prognosis for the future of the latter two notwithstanding.

Granted, a lot of Norton's greatness comes from the fights he lost by a single point (Holmes was a razor close split decision, Ali III was a one round either way affair, Ali II was a split decision and that was arguably the top 3 shapes of post-exile Ali), but he had his fair share of wins.

Ali. Nuff said.

Young coming off of a win streak including Lyle and faded Foreman. A razor close, underrated bout.
Quarry and Garcia, both nearing the end, but both eliminators if I remember correctly. Quarry was a replacement for Bonavena.

Handed Randall Cobb his first defeat right after his upset of Shavers, earning a sort of redemption whilst effectively a shadow of himself. Tex went on to have a great fight with Micheal Dokes right afterwards.

Brutally verified the undefeated, Futch-trained Duane Bobick.

.. and the likes of Lorenzo Zanon, Larry Middleton, Pedro Lovell..

 

This fight was before Norton was Mandingo. So his strength had not appeared yet.

 

Kenny Norton looked like a fighter.

He operated in an era that boxing fans romanticize.

For a variety of reasons, he was kryptonite for IMO the greatest heavyweight who ever lived.

He had a great night against an injured Larry Holmes.

He beat an over the hill Jerry Quarry and the dregs of the heavyweight ranks in the 1970.

He barely beat Jimmy Young and Tex Cobb.

He drew with frickin’ Scott LeDoux.

He got KTFO most of the time against huge punchers.

Again, I don’t see where he merits the pedestal he sits on around here.