Ken Norton ? (How many times was he knocked down)

The ist ko defeat of his career...Jose luis Garcia..put him down a few times.

 

I always thought that Norton was similar to Patterson in getting knocked down. Happened a lot. He also got up a lot, but usually got pounded into oblivion when up against big punchers. Patterson had better torso movement obviously, and both men have entirely different styles. They just seem to share roughly the same kind of chin.

 

According to issboxWRECK, he was down against Harold Dutra, Aaron Eastling, Jose Garcia 2X, Vic Brown, George Foreman 3X, Earnie Shavers 2X, Scott LeDoux 2X, and Cooney.

To accept what ukkeboxWRECK records at face value, this would mean a total of 13 knockdowns, all but three occurring within the first couple of rounds.

Ken was actually a substantially slower starter than Frazier, with only two total first round wins on his 50 fight record, but he made one of those events really count with the hopeless Bobick. (Joe did blow out Ziggy, decked Daniels near the end of round one, and only the ropes prevented Ramos from going down before the conclusion of the opening stanza, a situation clearly calling for a standing eight .)

 

For all the flack Patterson and Norton get for their chins, Louis was dropped more times than any hw champion other than Patterson. I thought the official count was 14 (Floyd), and 12 (Joe). This would put Norton right up there with them for getting dropped.

Its interesting to note, as someone else noted, how they reacted to knockdowns... Norton usually continued to be beaten, Patterson sometimes recovered but almost always got up, and Louis almost unfailingly got up to kick the guy's ass that dropped him.

Never heard the official kd count of Norton, though...

 

Bringing us up to 14. He also got staggered a bit after getting warmed up. His knees dipped from Quarry right just as referee Johnny LoBianco was originally stepping in to stop it (he immediately retreated to grant Jerry a momentary "reprieve"), and he swayed to and fro after Ali drove home his best right in their second bout (Muhammad should have gone right for the kill at that moment, but inexplicably missed the opportunity). Too much is made of Frazier supposedly being a slow starter, and not enough about the fact that Ken was most usually a mid round specialist.

 

Floyd was also back on his feet both times against Liston as the referee waved his conclusion after completing the count. Nobody ever cold cocked him the way Schmeling finished off Louis, the way Patterson dethroned Ingo, or the way Leotis wiped out Sonny. Floyd had massive heart, and no quit in him. (Great conditioning was no doubt a key factor here. Louis, Liston and Ingo slacked off training when they got KTFO.)

 

Now, in situations where the ropes or corner clearly prevent a touching down, should it count as a KD or not?

 

Ali didn't drop him once in 39 rounds. That's quite remarkable.
Holmes didn't drop him either.

 

Ali didn't drop Frazier in 41 completed rounds either, and Joe's chin gets questioned on the basis of two knockdowns from Bonavena, and eight from Foreman. Smoke did manage to complete the first four rounds upright with George in their rematch though, the best anybody did against Foreman between Peralta and Young, aside from Ali. (Check it out. Throw out Kinshasa, and nobody else in George's 17 wins between Peralta II and Young was able to get through four rounds without being floored or stopped. Foreman II was actually a decent performance by a shot Joe.)