Norton V Holmes.

If I remember correctly Holmes earned the shot after shutting out Shavers. I dont remember who the betting favorite was may have been Kenny

 

• 
  Norton was a 6 to 5 favorite. And Holmes was his mandatory challenger.

 

I'm sure Norton was favorite going on. Probably because of his richer cv. Having a W over Ali puts you in a verysmall, select group.
Despite Larry being unbeaten and havin a shut out win over Shavers, I can see why some would assume Kenny win s.
And the amazing thing is, he wasn't a million miles off.

 

Ps
Sorry Stiches, didn't see your post till sent mine.

 

It wasn't a super highly anticipated fight like Ali-Spinks II later that year. Norton was known as a "champion on a cardboard throne," and wasn't taken as a serious champion. But it was thought that he'd run over Leon Spinks, if Spinks were to give Norton his earned and deserved shot.

Holmes kind of came out of nowhere with the win over Shavers, but Ken Norton was a different matter entirely. Norton was certainly the public favorite.

So it was a "broadcast in prime-time" fight and part of a good card. It was a good fight going in, but we had no idea at the time that it would be an ATG fight.

The rematch was highly anticipated for 1979, but Earnie Shavers put an end to that talk. Scott LeDoux sealed Norton out a few months later.

 

No problem, my friend.

 

I remember when it happened...I kind of stumbled on it on network tv. I didn't even know Ken was Champ, I was at the time more casual in my boxing enthusiasm. I figured the Muhammad Ali/Leon Spinks thing was the whole of the heavyweight division.

I remember I was just surfing (I know, back then surfing was limited lol) when I came across the fight, I think it was right before round 1. I had no idea who Holmes was, so I figured Ken would make short work of him.

I was immediately impressed with Holmes, and thought he might just do an early stoppage of Norton. I felt that way right into round 6, as it just seemed to me he was dominating the action, while Norton looked struggling and just not connecting enough to count.

Ken changed things in thrilling fashion, but to me the star was Holmes here, even though Larry took some ugly shots and Ken was certainly the aggressor more often than not.

Well, this doesn't adhere to the topic that well sorry lol. I just started reliving the thrill of seeing that fight as an 11 year old kid again.

 

Ken Norton was the no,1 WBC contender for Muhammad Ali's title, Alt stated he was getting tired of fighting Norton, Jimmy Young decisioned and retired George Foreman on March 17 1977. On Nov 5 1977, Ken and Jimmy met, Norton pounded out a split 15 round decision. Ali decided to meet unheralded Leon Spinks, Leon wrested the title from Ali on Feb 15 1978 by a split decision. Leon gave Ali a rematch on Sept 15 1978 rather than fight the WBC mandatory challenger Ken Norton. The WBC then withdrew title recognition from Spinks, awarding the title to Norton, who then defended against Larry Holmes on June 9 1978, Larry won the WBC tile by a split 15 round decision.

 

I remember most of the boxing press predicting that it would be a good fight. And as we all know,it turned out to be a classic.

 

I've watched it probably a hundred times.

I think the thing that makes that fight even more compelling than the two other (imo) most exciting heavyweight fights (Bowe Holy 1 and FOTC) is the fact that it's SO close, while the other two were deservedly unanimous.

 

I turned 11 five days after Holmes-Norton.

 

I was 19 years old.

 

As great as the 70s was early in the decade. It was ass in the late 70s. This fight revived the division. I think for a couple years fans actually forgot the object was to land punches.

 

Absolutely a classic Stevie. Start of the great Holmes era.