Ken Norton vs Oliver McCall

I meant he's not knocking McCall out.

 

This might actually be a good one. It might depend on whether Oliver boxes or just shoots straight.

I see Oliver winning...either he lands something really big early on (which he inconsistently did) or, after he sees Norton is a very strong but not necessarily big puncher, he squeaks by with a half somnabulistic but winning performance punctuated every now and then with exciting shots from Ken.

 

I know Norton was in dire straits against Dutra. Lucky not to have got stopped.

Didn´t know about the Gilmore or Eastling knockdowns.

Considering those near disasters and his ko loss to Jose Luis Garcia it´s surprising how far Norton went.

Below is is Harold Dutra vs Gilmore straight after both had faced Norton:

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Norton did SO good against great boxers. That's what made him great. If you didn't punch as hard as, say, Bonecrusher then there was a good chance Ken would beat you.

 

It's funny to hear the commentators saying that Dutra had a suspect chin. Dutra was a kill or be killed fighter. He was all offense, he didn't worry about defense, he left his chin out to be hit, if McCall, Chuvalo, Ali, Hagler...had left themselves as open as Dutra while winging hard punches they would have "suspect" chins too. Fighters that are known for having great chins don't fight like Dutra.

Dutra was an action fighter, Gilmore was more disciplined but he was active too. I don't remember if I've seen Liston - Clark, but it might have been a let down after Dutra - Gilmore.

Interestingly, Gilmore (career record of 8-20), in addition to knocking Norton down had knocked Mac Foster down twice in the first round of their fight.

 

What I meant was, Oliver McCall was a bit like Mike Weaver in that he would seem sometimes to be kind of sleepwalking through rounds, just very disinterested looking. He'd do enough to win but not really thrill. I think Ken would land the most exciting shots, while Oliver would land the hardest, and that would be enough to keep Norton from taking the early and middle rounds. The last part of the fight would probably be more interesting, with Norton getting off some sweat-shakers and Oliver just doing enough to show him the power and make him respect him.

8-4 McCall Norton's aggression is blunted by a few tastes of Oliver's power, which diminishes his effectiveness. He relies on his jab and, later in the fight, his overhand right and body punches, but Oliver doesn't have too much trouble with them. He respects Norton's skills enough not to go all out and run over him, which he probably was capable of if immensely motivated (which Oliver never really was imo).