Sam Langford vs Ken Norton

I agree. Sam was an all time pound for pound great,but he does n't beat Ken at heavyweight.

 

Hey J ,are you from Joisey?

 

No, I just can't spell!

 

Because of the Bobick anomaly, fans commonly don't realize what a slow starter Norton typically was. Langford was perfectly capable of roaring out of the gate, although he didn't chose to do it often.

However, if Ken lasted for any length of time, we saw Sam's late round power in Jeannette X. At least half a dozen knockouts in the championship rounds and beyond, including Wills 2X and McVea. Norton's dealing with a minefield as long as it last.

The latest round Ken ever stopped anybody in was the tenth, a spurious halting of Middleton, not a great audition for Ali-Norton III by Ken.

I don't think Norton had the power necessary to deter Langford. Wills only succeeded in stopping an aging and sight impaired Sam twice (and then only after Fulton softened Langford up for Harry). Sam was around 200 pounds for Jeannette X, very definitely heavy enough to inflict severe damage on Ken.

 

Yeah that's the thing. Norton was definitely a good and talented boxer but being overtly aggressive with Sam is a horrible thing that can really end in only one result over 15. Especially for a guy like Norton with just an objectively bad track record against punchers. Which is one of the reasons i think he'd actually have a a damned good chance with Frazier(something I think people will accuse me of blasphemy for).

 

Without reading anyone else, I take Langford. If he could ko Wills, who seems to have been fairly stout chin-wise, I think he ko's Norton.

 

Jack Gibbons claimed Langford had a bad cut going into the Fulton fight but went through with it because it was a big payday. Fulton's first jab starting the blood flowing into Langford's eye.

Fulton was a Minnesota heavyweight, and Jack did know the Minnesota scene, so I have to take this seriously.

Anyway, Langford was probably past it by the time he fought Fulton. The Langford of four or five years earlier might be another matter.

 

INteresting point ...

 

Langford. Norton is massively overrated because he was Ali's boogaboo and because some think he gave Holmes problems (I dont, I feel thats one a fairly one sided fight).

 

Cosell and ABC manufactured some post fight controversy over the fact that all three judges had Holmes-Norton even after 14 rounds, then rebroadcast that final round after posing the question, "Did Holmes really win those three minutes?" The real controversy should have been over how on earth those judges did not have Larry clinching it after the first ten rounds. This one was more like Montreal, where Duran took nine of the first ten, then correctly announced to his corner that he had it won. (Of course nobody knew that Angelo Poletti was in the process of scoring ten rounds even.)