Ken Norton vs the following Louis foes

I’d also pick Cooney over prime Norton on most occasions and I do agree that those guys could hit as hard as Cooney, but the difference is that Cooney was much quicker, had better technique and punch selection which, against the block reliant defence of Norton, was able to overwhelm it by not giving Norton enough time to adjust his block accordingly inbetween Cooney’s punches, the other guys were more 1 punch at a time and if they did throw combinations, it wasn’t with the same punch selection, speed or technique, allowing you to see each punch coming and adjust the block accordingly.
Although I admit I may have been unfair in saying that Norton walks through the non-Schmeling guys, they could punch except Sharkey and Galento did throw unpredictable punches which may allow him to make Norton duck into something.
But I do think Cooney has things over those guys that would make the difference in the outcome of the fight, that being the punch selection of his combinations, combined with the technique and speed meaning he doesn’t give the block reliant Norton enough time to adjust his block accordingly inbetween punches.

 

I think Norton gets a bit of a bum rap, especially on this forum.

For starters, I don't believe any fighter that can go a combined 39 rounds w/ Ali & not be floored even once has a "glass chin." let's face it, Ali was a pretty solid hitter.

I also believe Norton visibly showed his age after the 3rd Ali fight, which is much earlier than generally gets acknowledged. In his trilogy w/ Ali, he showed some decent footwork & a versatile attack, but by the time of the Young & Holmes fights, he was reduced to being a flatfooted plodder who relied almost exclusively on his strength & persistence to wear out mobile boxers. By the time of the Shavers fight, he was just a statue & provided no obstacle for Shavers to unload his heavy artillery on him.

Maybe Cooney would've always been too big & powerful for him, but I wouldn't rule out that the Shavers fight could've been a different story if he still had his footwork from the early-mid 70s.