Ken Norton - always well-conditioned with tricky, unusual style, but bad chin. Ray Mercer - granite chin, but not always well conditioned and sometimes rather unimaginative. Who the bloody hell takes it?
Norton by very clear decision. Norton was vulnerable to HUGE punchers. Mercer was a good puncher, but not a big puncher. And Norton was by FAR the better technician of the two. Kenny schools him.
Anytime you do a match up one has to realize its the best version of that fighter..Mercer easily outboxes him,add in the chin and power...sorry guys...Mercer owns this one.
Mercer didn't "easily" outbox any elite fighter. He lost to old Larry Holmes and Ferguson while still in his prime. Norton by clear decision 9 out of 10 times. (Ray might get lucky and catch Ken 1/10 times, but it is unlikely)
An old Holmes clearly beat Mercer on points while a prime Holmes won a close split decision against Norton. Norton wins a clear decision. Mercer didn't have the greatest work rate and as mentioned before while a solid puncher was not a great puncher.
I'm not convinced Norton's chin holds up if Mercer does land a bomb. It didn't require George Foreman to crack it. Garcia KO'd him and a past it Quarry almost had him out. Then again, Mercer lost to Jesse Ferguson and probably should have lost to club fighter Marion Wilson so he can't be relied upon either. Best to best, Mercer with a come from behind TKO.
I think it would be an action packed fight much like Mercer's fights with Holyfield and Lewis and much like those fights I'd expect Mercer to give it a good go but Norton to get the win.
I would say Kenny,,,,, other than Mercer was so tough in his prime it is never easy to write off how that toughness can effect a fight,, that toughness has a chance to change a fight in a big hurry even when one is getting their a-s-s kicked. So maybe Kenny but not as clearly as most in this thread are saying.