KEN NORTON 'His Own Worst Enemy'

Norton's reign would be short-lived if he took on an Earnie Shavers or George Foreman though.

 

Yes, he would have been destroyed by foreman and shavers . AND I PICK RON LYLE TO DESTROY HIM IN 1976.

 

and i think that young would beat him by sd, he was stolen against norton.

 

He had to face Foreman in Caracas to win the title, simply because George was the champion, and had to confront Shavers in order to get a rematch with Holmes. (Ken provided color commentary from ringside for Shavers-Tiger Williams and Ali-Shavers on NBC, among other Shavers performances he witnessed. He knew what Earnie was all about, as well as he possibly could have without actually stepping in the ring with Shavers.) Otherwise, Norton dodged the major punchers of his division during his prime.

Cleveland Williams closed out his distinguished career with a respectable 3-0 campaign in 1972. Does the Big Cat extend his career even further if one of those 1972 opponents is Norton? In 1973, Mac Foster may well have been able to revive his career at Ken's expense. I do agree that Lyle would have crushed him in the mid 1970s. In 1978, Bernardo Mercado was knocked out in back to back defeats by John Tate and Mike Weaver. What if Norton and his brain trust decided at the time that Mercado was a safer bet than Randy Stephens? Does Kenny even get to Shavers with Mercado in the way? (Mercado was by far the biggest stoppage win Leon Spinks ever produced. Here at least was one huge and massive punching heavyweight Leon could take which Ken may not have been able to overcome, and Leon did it right when Bernardo was at his peak.)

Norton's opponent selection was very shrewd between 1970 and 1979. He squared off with Foreman only because George held the title. Otherwise, he steered clear of the major sluggers Ali and Young never shied away from. For a 29 fight streak between Garcia I in 1970 and Shavers in 1979, he was thus largely successful in cloaking his susceptibility to sluggers, making Foreman seem like an anomaly. Defeating Garcia impressively in their rematch appeared to reinforce that, but Jose had regressed as much in five years as Ken had advanced.

How does Norton do with Knoetze or Coetzee in 1977 or 1978? (With an undisputed title in his possession, is Ken compelled to defend against either, or does he splinter the title and drop WBA recognition in protest of apartheid?)

 

ken blew it. credit spinks for calling ali's bluff. norton gave a tired champ too much respect and paid the price.

 

I still think Norton won that fight although he did show too much respect for Ali and should've known that the judges were not going to let boxing's cash cow lose a close one. I always felt Norton won the 1st and 3rd fight and drew the 2nd. He certainly didn't lose it in my opinion. As undeniably great as Ali was I feel he was given a few "gift" decisions throughout his storied career. What great champion hasn't though.

 

Leon carried out the plan devised by wise old Sam Solomon to the letter. Exploit the rope a dope by pounding the biceps, splitting the guard with uppercuts, and hammering the kidneys, depleting and compromising Ali for the championship rounds. (Targeting the arms is key to this, diluting Muhammad's late round punching ability.) I strongly suspect that the farce with Inoki (which messed up his legs) and brain trauma inflicted by Shavers were far more significant in compromising Ali than has commonly been expressed, really softening him up for Leon. (Still, the fact remains that Solomon planned to aggressively exploit rather than avoid the rope a dope. At any time after Kinshasa, Ali was offering opportunities to do this.) Dunn came after Manila and before Inoki, and Muhammad looked fine, in good shape against a fringe contender. (A decade earlier, Brian London also had the misfortune of having to deal with a well trained and prepared Ali.)

During Ali's 1970s title run, most opponents fought not to lose. (I do have to credit Wepner as an honorable mention here though. Within his severe limitations, Chuck truly did make an honest and intelligent effort, and made the most of his best legal weapon, a right to the rib cage. He didn't play for mere survival like Bugner and Evangelista, or try to out coast the master like Lyle, Young, Norton and Shavers. His attempt was sincere, and against a champion three years younger than himself. The fact that Wepner was already 36 years old then is criminally overlooked.) Only Foreman, Frazier and Leon made a serious balls to the wall fight to win. (Wepner and Dunn were spirited, but it simply wasn't within their means. However, I don't think Ali was being merely charitable in stating Dunn would have beaten him if he'd been in the same poor condition he was for Young. 6'4" southpaw Dunn had won over the championship distance against an opponent who previously knocked him out, and probably fully expected to lift the title after how badly Ali looked a mere three and a half weeks earlier. He must have **** bricks when he learned how quickly an aging GOAT could shed ten pounds.) Conservatism wasn't going to get the job done when it came to beating Ali in title competition.

 

totaly agree. Dunn and wepner gave it a real go. (has anyone got more details on dunns win over tiger wiliams) Frazier gave it all he had but was still a guy fighting outside his era who the previous champion dismissed with ease. spinks deserved to win. he did more than norton, YOUNG, lyle and shavers did pushing ALI with real workrate like he wanted to win.

 

I don't think Norton was the least bit afraid of facing Shavers. When Duane Bobick postponed the February 1977 Norton fight (training injury), Norton called out Shavers to come in as a replacement & tune-up for the Bobick fight. Madison Square Garden wanted no part of that fight at the time. I believe Norton - Shavers was penciled in at least one other time, too.