Ken Norton on great jabs......

High praise indeed. But Foreman's jab, though always good, was a lot improved in his second career IMO. Old George's jab was by far the best punch in his reportoire as I see it.

 

I've often wondered how Norton felt about the Ali/Holmes' left jabs...and how they compared...Interesting.

 

Dunno...JT1.
I've never seen that interview from KO before, but I figured Norton would have thought that the Holmes' jab (which was problably a little slower than Ali's) had a bit more pop...or at least that's what I thought about it anyway. That's why it was interesting to see Norton's viewpoint on it. who do you think fought the 'better' Ken Norton...Ali or Holmes?
Norton was more experienced against Holmes, but younger against Ali...The older Norton gave Holmes hell...what would the younger do? I'm not sure...

 

Norton said himself that he never really was as sharp again after that last Ali fight due to the disappointment he felt after not getting the decision, which he thought he deserved.

Also, even if Norton seemed to be in great shape against Holmes most fighters is somewhat past their prime at 34, which I believe was Norton's age that time. He was something like 220 punds in that fight, compared to 205-210 in the first two fights against Ali, and I don't think that extra weight benefitted him.

Seeing how close the fight against Holmes was the Norton that fought Ali could very well have won it IMO.

 

Hard to argue with the man himself, but based on what i saw in those fights, i'd say Holmes' jab in '78 was at least as good as Ali's was when he fought Norton in '73 or '76.

I don't really understand why they included Foreman, though. During his first career he used it now and then, but it was never really a round winner. I don't think he landed more than a few jabs, if any at all, on Norton either.

 

I'm leaning that way too...Ali fought a hard line up of fighters to say teh very least!

 

Talking about Ali and Norton, I was thinking about getting their 2nd and 3rd fights.

I'm currently trading with a guy who has thousands and thousands of fights. He actually has his own site, and doesn't have Ali v Quarry I or Lyle. I have them both.

 

Interesting interview, but disapointing in a way. You would have thought they would have asked more questions.

I think age is one of the most misleading things in boxing. If you saw Norton fight Larry, would you think he was 34, or a man in his prime? If you saw Walcott fight Marciano the first time, would you say he was 38, or in his prime (might have been)? Age is overrated in boxing IMO.

 

It's a shame actually. Foreman seemed to have the potential for a pretty authoritative jab - and realised that potential, or whatever was left of it, during his comeback. If Saddler focused a bit more on developing and utilizing his jab, he would've given Ali a much better fight. He could've taken a breather while working the jab from the distance a bit, for example.

I feel exactly the same way about Cooney. In the Young fight, he often got a little short with the jab (though Young is hard to hit), but it looked like he could've been a good jabber... especially with his height. He could've used some electrician called E. Steward to work on that.

Then in the fight of his life against Holmes, he completely abandonded whatever jab he had, and tried for the knockout. Not that he was ever going to outbox Holmes, but it would've given Holmes more to think about and of course, the jab sets power punches up.

Agreed.