If we traveled through time to bring norton from ali 1 to fight Anthony joshua for 12 rounds in Vegas, not the u.k. this time.
Anthony Joshua KO1. Ali, Holmes, Young... Norton was great at challenging the great boxers of his time. Foreman, Cooney, Shavers... Norton was not so great at surviving the big hitters of his time.
Bad matchup for Norton. Norton was a tough fighter, but he always got hit with right hands too much and couldn't deal with punchers. Norton's only chance is for Joshua to punch himself out, but I don't see Norton lasting long enough.
Norton KO1 . Whyte may be able to take him the distance on a good day but would get thoroughly outboxed by Norton, if not KOed. Norton was fit enough to go 20 rounds and had a very unorthodox and awkward as hell style, one of those guys who doesn't get enough credit because his style wasn't conventional. Arguably he beat Ali 3 times and Holmes. Simply wouldn't last long against Joshua, Browne, Wilder.
In my opinion Norton vs Ali should have been 3-0 in Norton's favor, but like most here already mentioned Joshua (huge puncher) vs Norton would end with an early KO for Joshua.
I agree. While an argument could be made Ali won the 2nd fight, Norton definitely won the 1st and 3rd and Norton vs Holmes was nothing more than a coin toss to pick your winner. I could never understand why they didn't score it at least draw as Norton was champion at the time and Holmes didn't take the title from him.
