Norton VS Ali II

Norton was trouble for any fighter who lacked a jab hard enough to crack his cross guard.

 

It was definitely close Norton comeback well in the 2nd half of the fight, but I thought with Ali's good start and with winning the last round he deserved to win a close but clear decision although I could see a draw.

I think this fight actually does wonders for Norton's resume I know that sounds crazy because he lost. But I don't think Ali ever really looked sharper in the 70s than he did vs Norton in their 2nd fight, it was certainly reminiscent of Ali in 60s with footwork and speed and yet Norton still made it a very competitive fight.

Norton won more rounds than Frazier did in 3 fights vs Ali, yet Frazier is praised whilst Norton is seen as someone who just happened to have a good style vs Ali.

I do like Frazier but I do think Norton gets unfairly rated on this board sometimes just because he got blown away by some devastating punchers late in his career.

 

As good as Ali was in his rematches with Frazier and Norton he couldn't quite re-create the angles he created pre-exile. He also couldn't do it as long. A crowder like Frazier would always be a tough out. I'm not convinced Kenny would be.

 

The 1st fight wasn't a SD in reality though let's be real, no one thought Ali won that fight that was a clear win for Norton who had Ali in some trouble in later rounds with the broken jaw.

Also just to flip the argument you could say Norton fought the best 70s version of Ali in their 2nd fight and was still very competitive.

 

Well then that's just biasedness towards Ali I don't see how anyone who can reasonably score fights with no agenda towards either fighter can think Ali won the 1st Norton fight or that's it's even debatable.

That was a clear win for Norton and if you got every poster on classic forum to re score that fight I guarantee there wouldn't be one scorecard in favour of Ali unless it's a troll.

I disagree about FOTC I've heard alot of people on this forum say Ali wasn't at his best due to the exile. I think vs Norton he looked incredibly sharp in the 2nd fight and kept up his movement for all 12 rounds, I think it's one of few fights in the 70s where its reminiscent of 1960s Ali.

 

Perhaps Swag, but then Ken’s confidence should’ve also been at an all time high (as good as it possibly could be) going into the Foreman fight.

However, after the fight, Norton admitted to being too tight and nervous to take full advantage of the openings he saw.

So it would seem Ken’s confidence at the prospect of facing Foreman was already shaky before the fact of the fight and result.

After the Foreman loss Ken appeared to travel along well without any notable, negative psychological effects from the Foreman KO loss.

Of course, old and past prime, he later faced similarly elite punchers in Shavers and Cooney, but of the 3 fights (including the one vs Foreman), I think he might’ve appeared most nervous vs George - that’s if he even appeared nervous vs Earnie and Gerry.

Despite boxing an excellent first round in Caracas, Ken still appeared somewhat stiff within himself and it seemed that Foreman’s first solid shot landed (not necessarily a debilitating punch) in the 2nd round brought Kenny undone.

Of course a fighter’s substantive resilience can be diminished when he is overly wound up, being too stiff and too tight to take the punches as well as he might ordinarily.

Not to say the ultimate fight ending shots weren’t sufficient to put almost anyone away - they were - but it was Norton’s initial reaction to earlier, lesser, though still solid punches that set him up for the one way slippery side.

I rate Norton’s chin as good to very good. Took a very good punch to a point - anything beyond that point and it was like falling off a cliff for Ken.

I don’t think it’s a crazy extrapolation to say IF Norton had a chin like say Ali, Frazier etc., he would’ve been a tough fight for anyone (including historical ATGs), such was his physical equipment and abilities otherwise.

 

Gil Clancy said RJJ was Ali without the chin. He was in Ali's corner when Sonny Banks dropped him. He said he was worried he'd have to revive Angie.

 

Haha - not at all Swag. I definitely hear you and you make very good sense, just throwing up some other opinion based points for consideration. No rights or wrongs here Champ.