Jimmy Young's best performances?

This is a very interesting scenario. People, myself included, automatically put Norton right below Ali, Foreman and Frazier. On closer inspection the gap between Norton and Young lessens, dramatically.

 

Good points. Jimmy Young is definently under rated, would you rank him top 25-30?

 

No, because he wasn't the best of his era. However, a case could be made for him as a top 15/20 in the last 35 years or so.

 

Young paid for his penchant for doing this at the end of round 12 against Ali, when he leaned so far over the ropes that one of his feet actually came off the floor. As soon as it became apparent that the ropes were the only thing holding Jimmy up, referee Tom Kelly promptly ruled a knockdown for Ali, and began administering a count which ended when the bell rang. Who knows how that incident influenced the final scoring?

 

Jimmy young doing that is terrible. No way did he deserve the title.

 

Ali was just as ready to bend the rules as Young was, Schmeling won the championship on a foul, Dempsey knocked Sharkey out with a groin & head combination, and LaMotta won the championship by slamming Cerdan's shoulder on the canvas.

In short, as long as the referee did not call Young on it, there are many worse examples in history.

 

Neither was Norton, but he is ranked as top30 heavy as well.

Norton has that great win over Ali, but then again, Young has wins over Foreman, Lyle 2x and arguably should've gotten the win over Ali and Norton.

 

That's true, but I've never rated Norton in the top 30 either. I generally rate on how well a fighter did against his contemporaries...Norton on this scale is no higher than many of the contenders that Louis faced. But perhaps Young's resume does entitle him to a much higher ranking.

 

Greg gave away a couple of those rounds.

 

I was going to say fatige, but he was at his best weight :blood

 

Young's best performances were against Ron Lyle, the first fight opened a lot of doors for him and the second, well it was obvious the he just had Lyle's number. His third best performance was the Foreman fight, even though George almost took him out in what I believe was the seventh round. He did not deserve the decision against Norton. Norton was the agressor through out. Saying he deserved that decision is like saying Cory Spinks beat Jermain Taylor.

Young could stand right in front of opponents and make them miss. Very rare. I cannot recall when or if ever he actually got on his bicycle. As much as I hate to make the comparison, he was kinda like Toney in being able to make people miss.