Title says it all. So its Kenny Norton of the first Ali fight ready to challenge the champ ..Jersey Joe Walcott ,who'd taken the belt from Charles . 15 rounds ,who get s it ?
Well for me this is a bout between 2 similarly skilled guys who I think are pretty evenly matched. I think I would rate both similar in the 16-25 range of HW’s. I lean towards a Walcott’s win and 2 of 3 in a trilogy if I had to. I can’t think of many closer type fights than this. Where is @theundefeatedlachbuster when you need him lol
Norton was tailor-made for Walcott. I have a very hard time seeing Norton’s chin holding up to Walcott, who was excellent at sneaking in devastating counter shots.
This is a tough style matchup to judge, Norton was good if he came forward, Old Joe had very good skills, 50/50 I don't know
Can't say for sure....maybe I'd lean towards Walcott on this one. In a trilogy, Norton beats him once though.
Could go either way. Walcott may have an advantage in experience/ring generalship. Norton was younger and stronger but didn't have quite the Ring IQ of Joe. So if I'm forced to pick it would be Walcott.
I find it interesting that a lotta posters on this thread think that Walcott would easily handle Norton when Jersey Joe never faced anyone like Norton ( a really athletic, stong 6 ft 3 210 pound guy in superb shape with a very good jab ) while " jaw breaker " Norton defeated Muhammad Ali. In my opinion Jersey Joe is getting a tad overrated these days. People seem to forget that Charles easily outpointed Walcott twice before Jersey Joe finally landed what some would call a " lucky " punch in their third fight. Walcott didnt have a great chin and was a good twenty pounds lighter than Norton as well as being 3 inches or so shorter. Norton by comfortable UD or maybe even stoppage if he could land his overhand right with any regularity. Cheers All.
20 Pounds Heavier? Norton for this fight wasn't that much heavier typically or for this fight. Charles didn't "easily" outpoint Walcott in their first 2 meetings. The first fight was more Charles but nothing was easy. The second fight was a very competitive one, and a back and forth type of fight. Again nothing easy, and we're talking about an ATG p4p legend in Charles. No shame there, and Walcott had the only decisive win of the lot. Next, I haven't heard anybody say "easily handle" nor did I even see that alluded to. I saw most everybody who picked Walcott struggle to do so, and even say... if made to pick... Where is this comfortable handle Norton you speak of? It's almost like you are debating against people and statement that don't exist, all the while getting your statements of fact wrong. Odd.
