Ken Norton vs Pinklon Thomas

Would Pinky be able to go 15 rounds without the need to shoot up?

It would be an intresting fight, both at their best having excellent jabs, Norton seems the more rounded of the fighters, and would IMO have that little edge particularly in the championship rounds.

Norton WU15 (around 9-6/10-5)

 

I think this fight might be closer than it appears on paper.

Pinklon Thomas IMO had the better jab and was IMO more durable (if we are talking about the best versions of each). Though a Thomas win is probable I'm giving Norton the edge based on his success with great jabbers (Ali, Holmes)

Norton MD15

 

I think a motivated Thomas can take Norton. Unfortunatly, he was rarely fully focused because of that drugs problem. He also carries quite a big punch; anyone seen that one-punch KO of his over Mike Weaver? Great punch, if he manages to land that, Norton will not likely recover. That is a big if, of course. But i lean towards Thomas.

 

A peak Thomas can make this a very close fight, he was a fine boxer. However, Norton's 'awkward' style would have caused problems for near enough any fighter outside the 'elite' ATG punchers (Tyson, Foreman, Liston, Lewis etc).

Norton wins a tight decision: 8-6-1, in rounds. Gaining the crucial edge down the final stretch.

 

From 82 - 84 Thomas was pretty motivated and i think drug free. This is a damn hard fight to pick. Norton nullified jabs well and i don't put Thomas in the homerun hitter category, which is where Norton falls down. I'd say Quarry hit a little harder. I'll go for Norton via a close decision. Good fight.

 

I think Thomas already had drugs problems at the start of his boxing career or even before that. I'm not sure though, i think i heard Angelo Dundee say that, certainly a man whose words are to be taken with a grain of salt so who knows.

 

Might be right, i read some big stories on him around the time he beat Tillis and he was supposedly clean. I think maybe at the tail of his title run or around the Tyson fight he may have been on the **** again.

MDWC?

 

It's difficult to say when these guys were truly clean or when they were still drugin'. Thomas, Dokes, Witherspoon, Tubbs, Cooney and basically that entire generation played with Coke and smoke. I don't even think that it was limited to the boxing culture, so much as being a reflection of the times.

 

Thomas has a style that is great for Norton.

Norton UD 10-5 or maybe 9-6.

 

Pinky really was not much of a Ko puncher, and his chin was not that much better than Norton's. I think this would be a close fight. The difference is Norton had a good left and right, as well very good body shots. Thomas was something of a one handed fighter with good left, and average right hand. Best guess is Norton wins a close on points.

 

Sometimes, Norton gets criminally over rated. If you pick him to lose vs. Thomas, I think you are underrating him a little. If I make an opponent that is going to beat Norton, I want I guy with power to put him on his back foot. Pinklon had his share of power, but I still would say that it mostly comes down to a boxing match where Norton is able to outwork and outpoint Pinklon over 15.

Norton UD Thomas in 15.

 

When it came to big bombs Thomas' chin was far better than Norton's. Norton would have been finished way before a past it Thomas vs Tyson. Having said this Norton had no trouble taking solid punches, it's when they got huge he had trouble.

 

While Norton was not very durable, I think part of his problem is he could be intimidated by big punchers. Norton took Ali's and Quarry shots with no trouble at all. I don't think Thomas hit that hard or could intimidate Norton. Thomas vs Norton is a skills type of match, and Norton had more.

 

Well that's about what i implied. By solid punches i was envisioning Ali, Holmes and Quarry. I agree Thomas probably doesn't quite hit hard enough to take out Norton. I'll stand by Thomas having a bit better chin tho. I too like Norton via decision.