Now Norton's been faulted for a few things... His chin springs to mind immediately. Now take away his strength and size advantages which he enjoyed against almost everyone he fought sans Foreman.. How's he do? Micheal Grant, Corey Sanders, Corrie Sanders, Lance Whitaker, Andrew Golota, Timo Hoffman, Tyrell Biggs, Riddick Bowe... How's he do? I'm trying to see where Norton sits on average in our posters minds.
Difficult to say. I often think that Ken Norton is unduely criticized for his chin being made of glass. The man was stopped 4 times in some 50 fights, and at least 3 of those came against big punchers, with two of them rivialing each other as one of the hardest hitters of all time, and only one beating Norton at his absolute best. Ken's other defeats came in close indecisive contests against some of the greatest boxers of all time. Norton may not have beaten very many great foes to speak of, but he lost to the very best of everything...And none of it exists in this era... That said, I don't see him doing well against say Vitali Klitscho.. I think Vitali's chin, size, power, mobility and everything else would spell out bad news for Norton. Wlad and a few others would probably beat him too. I can see him beating Ruslan Chagaev, Sultan Ibragimov, Tony Thompson, Sam Peter, Eddie Chambers, and maybe even squeak out a decision over Valuev, given how horrible he looked against a near 50 year old Holyfield. OVerall, Ken Norton doesn't do too badly today. I think he could possibly be a top 3 or 4 guy
I feel Norton would slaughter Valuev, personally. As for Norton's chin, well... It's not just his stoppages against ATG punchers. A 188 pound Jose Luis Garcia stopped him. Man was a former middleweight. Scott LeDoux had Norton stumbling around drunk in a fight that should have probably been stopped. Jimmy Young stunned him several times. Solid chin, yes. But it isn't unrealistic to critisize it.
I suppose your observations are fair enough.. I just don't see too many times when a peak Norton was troubled though. The Garcia fight came when he had like 15 matches. The Ledoux match came at the age of 37 and right after Shavers had creamed him.. Foreman was the only man who really did a demolishin job on him, and that was when George was considered invincible.
Grant ..... i'd favor Norton Corey Sanders was a little more than a journeyman, Norton should win Corry Sanders - too much power, probably an early TKO win for the South African Lance Whitaker - Also a big hitter (the only one to stop the ultra tough Ahunanya), but lost his big fights; could go both ways. Andrew Golota - I think Golota would be leading on the cards somewhere by the 8th, but finds a way to lose anyway. Hoffman - A journeyman who would be outclassed. Biggs - Gotta go with Norton here, Biggs was not as good expected Bowe - easy TKO victory under 3 rounds Some others: Lennox Lewis, Wlad & Vitali Klitschko - all easy TKO wins within 3 rounds. Nicoali Valuev - Norton by decision Vladimir Virchis - Virchis by KO, he's like a stronger but even more cruder version of Foreman with a little better stamina but less power. I see him getting the KO during the mid-rounds Shannon Briggs - Tough one to pick, Norton would outbox him handily, but Briggs can end it any moment Frank Bruno - I'd pick Bruno by TKO
Thing is, Norton looked great against a motivated Cobb who was actually demonstrating some minor boxing skills right around the time of the Ledoux match. Thing is, both Hoffman and Corey Sanders have absolute granite chins. Sander's has one punch KO power, even late in fights. Look at the left hook he nearly killed Maskaev with.
Norton was knocked out quickly by the bigger punchers he faced. That being said, he had real solid boxing skills. He would be at a disadvantage in the chin department against guys in the 230+ range, but leagues better in the skill department than a lot of those guys.
Norton was knocked out quickly by the bigger punchers he faced. That being said, he had real solid boxing skills. He would be at a disadvantage in the chin department against guys in the 230+ range, but leagues better in the skill department than a lot of those guys. The thing is most of the guys who weigh 230 are just out of shape, Do really think Sam Peter is in shape? Ken Norton is 6'3 so he could easily add weight. Grant ..... i'd favor Norton Corey Sanders was a little more than a journeyman, Norton should win Corry Sanders - too much power, probably an early TKO win for the South African Lance Whitaker - Also a big hitter (the only one to stop the ultra tough Ahunanya), but lost his big fights; could go both ways. Andrew Golota - I think Golota would be leading on the cards somewhere by the 8th, but finds a way to lose anyway. Hoffman - A journeyman who would be outclassed. Biggs - Gotta go with Norton here, Biggs was not as good expected Bowe - easy TKO victory under 3 rounds Some others: Lennox Lewis, Wlad & Vitali Klitschko - all easy TKO wins within 3 rounds. Nicoali Valuev - Norton by decision Vladimir Virchis - Virchis by KO, he's like a stronger but even more cruder version of Foreman with a little better stamina but less power. I see him getting the KO during the mid-rounds Shannon Briggs - Tough one to pick, Norton would outbox him handily, but Briggs can end it any moment Frank Bruno - I'd pick Bruno by TKO Corey Sanders had too much power because of what? Because he knocked out glass chinned Wlad? If Hasim Rahman could knock him out then so would Ken Norton. Wlad has a glass chin and can't handle pressure. If journeymen fighters could knock out Wlad then so would Ken Norton. Vladimir Virchis is stronger than Foreman? Why? because you say so? Have you been in the ring with him? Have him and Foreman been in the ring with any of the same people? Nope so you have no clue.
Norton excelled against Ali and did well against Holmes and Young because these guys weren't terrific punchers and he did well vs. Jerry Quarry because, for starters, Quarry was at the end of his career, and had disadvantages in height and reach as well. Norton would have been cannon fodder for both Klitschkos and certainly Lennox Lewis, all of them would have crushed Norton. This isn't unfair to speculate on this...it was the way it was..Norton just couldn't hang in there against a serious banger.
And aint that the truth. :good Sure, but there's more to boxing than having a granite chin and a big punch. Just ask David Tua. They have a puncher's chance, but i'd heavily favor Norton by shutout decision, especially against Hoffman. First of all, it was Corrie Sanders who knocked out Wlad. Second, his combination of handspeed and power IS unique and near the end of the scale. Brewster and Purrity beat Wlad by taking his best shot over and over and over until he tired. Sanders was the only one who took him out with big shots. The "If Hasim Rahman could then Norton would knock him out also" is a downright dumb comment that is way over-simplifying. By the way, Rahman is far more powerful than Norton, who always relied on an accumulation of punches if he scored a stoppage. Again, you are way over-simplifying or just downright ignorant. I've already pointed out the difference between how Sanders beat Wlad and how Purrity and Brewster did. In addition to doing to Wlad what no one else did, Sanders knocked out Sprott in one round (who just went the distance with Brewster), had Rahman down twice and nearly out, destroyed Czyz, Cooper, DuPlooy (in only his 10th bout) and all in 3 rounds or less. Plus, he hurt Vitali worse than Lewis did with the best uppercut Lennox ever landed. Well, maybe not stronger, but at least equal.
