Ken Norton v Tony Galento

Ettore is his stand out victory though. Nova should have won by dq.

Definitely a mob fighter.

Maybe big puncher for his era, just not big enough for me to favour him over ken.

 

And that he never took on Lyle or Shavers during the mid 1970s is very troubling to me. Mac himself peaked well before Ken would have been ready for him, but Norton was able to cherry pick through the middle 1970s HW minefield very dexterously, only facing a monstrous puncher when challenging for the world title in Caracas.

Ken supplied ringside color commentary for NBC when Earnie went against Tiger Williams in 1976, and again when Shavers challenged Ali nine months later. He knew as much about Earnie as a prospective opponent could have known before stepping in the ring with him to spar or compete. He didn't take on Shavers until he absolutely had to for getting a second crack at Holmes. To me, Ken looked very timid in letting himself get backed to the ropes before Earnie's hook stunned him, much as he did continually retreating through the first round in Caracas, as if he expected bad things immediately from the opening bell.

Why did he not square off against Shavers or Lyle during the mid 1970s, or even a fading Mac Foster? Did he ever believe he could successfully take on a puncher like that?

Lyle and Shavers took on the likes of opponents as diverse as Young, JQ, Ellis, and of course each other. Certainly, neither shied away from other fellow sluggers like Foreman, Mercado or Jeff Sims. Ali dealt successfully with all types.

Ken has that gaping chasm in his resume the others don't, a win over a primed first rate puncher. He didn't even take that risk until he had everything to gain (Foreman), or had absolutely no alternative in order to continue on (Shavers and Cooney). Galento took on the deadly Nova and the Baer brothers in consecutive bouts when he might have been able to take it easier in biding his time for a second shot at the Bomber.

Now that brings up another consideration. Who had more balls? Put it another way. New Jersey versus San Diego. Tony would give Ken cancer, and anybody who's been to the IBHOF Induction Weekend knows Norton can't handle his liquor. Galento is Wepner with a punch, and better cut resistance. (3 cut stoppages in 112 outings isn't bad, and he might have taken Gallagher II if that one hadn't been on Marty's D.C. turf in old Griffith Stadium.)

"This guy can hurt me!" That expression of panic wasn't something ever seen on Galento's face. Imagine Norton deliberately pissing off Max Baer and Louis like Tony did. Galento knew young Clay would upset Liston in Miami Beach because he saw the same balls he himself hauled around. (In a **** state like New Jersey, it's epidemic among guys like him, Walker, Wepner, and Melvin Ferd III. Ali acquired some of that pack smell himself when he took up residence in Cherry Hill, NJ.)

Sorry, but Kenny never carried around the same brass gonads Stegmaier Tony did.