"Shavers-Norton" from '79.....

He made the mistake of waiting on Shavers. Then he waited for him to stop.

 

Norton couldn't take a great punch
nuff said.

 

After this post think again of the magnitude of Holmes' questionable split decision over a 35 years old Ken Norton the year before , and you claimed it what made you respect Holmes ..

 

It's more than Norton not taking a great punch .. he froze against big punchers ... Norton was a much better fighter than Shavers. He should have been able to pound him with his jab, keep him at a distance and take him out in the middle rounds. Instead he got tagged and froze. He did the same thing against Foreman. It was something in his psychological makeup. That loss was the hinge on his career. He was on his way to a huge money rematch w Holmes and that fight ruined him career wise . he never should have taken the fight .. more boxing politics and manipulations ... funny how Ali did not have to fight number one Norton to get a rematch w Spinks but Norton had to fight Shavers to get rematch for title he just lost in a great fight by a razor thin decision that could have gone either way ..

 

Norton was just fundamentally unable to handle a puncher...EVERYBODY knows this..and he was probably beaten psychologically before he even got into the ring..I give him credit for having the balls to even get in the ring wit5h Earnie..it was the same before the fight with Foreman...during the ref's instructions, with Kenny looking down while Foreman/Darth Vader was beaming down on him...you knew what was going to happen...and an intelligent fighter that Norton was..he knew he was going to be destroyed.

 

Agreed. Norton was the commentator for Ali-Shavers and probably did not expect an all-out onslaught in the first round as Shavers had paced himself against Ali. That was not Shavers's usual style however, the majority of his wins were achieved by taking out the opponent inside 3 rounds and Norton played into his hands, or his right hand to be more exact.

The brutal right hands to the body set up the knockout in my opinion. After those, even if Norton had wanted to move away from the ropes, he couldn't have. Shavers was all over him and the finishing uppercut was seemingly unnecessary as Norton didn't know where he was by the time he was first knocked down.

Were Norton to use the same strategy against Shavers at any point in his career, I see the fight ending in similar fashion. He just couldn't take the power of Shavers. Not that many could I might add. Not that I'm alone in that but I never thought Norton had the best style to compete against big punchers, unless he catches them first. His defense was effective but far from invulnerable, and his chin while decent was far from great. He'd also give ground to harder hitters than him, even though he was at his best marching forward. Having started his boxing career in his 20's, he was prone to making basic mistakes and getting caught. Against Shavers and Foreman, he couldn't afford that.

 

Larry Holmes' fights including the ones when he won by stoppage are ugly sights to watch. Holmes would have always lost to Tyson and I even believe Frazier would have his number as well , maybe even Foreman.
I think Holmes is the most boring fighter I have ever seen.
And I saw many distance fights as well.

 

As has already been alluded to, Ken froze up whenever confronted with the realization that, "This man can hurt me!" He let Shavers get off first (never a good idea), then got stunned on the chin by Earnie's underrated hook. As TGA and He Grant composited, he became a deer in the headlights, then sustained the first knockdown courtesy of a right to the body, not a direct consequence of having a questionable chin.

Ken provided commentary on Shavers-Williams for NBC in 1976, and has also been mentioned, he provided ringside analysis for Ali-Shavers in 1977. However, he further witnessed more than that 25 rounds of action from Earnie over the years leading up to their 1979 showdown. He knew exactly what Shavers was all about, as much as it was possible for any prospective opponent of Earnie's to know without first actually sharing the ring with him in sparring or competition. Given all that, his loss to Shavers was one of the most egregious failures in heavyweight history.

 

Norton was completely shot as a fighter at this stage. I know it wasnt long after the Holmes fight but that doesnt detract from Holmes win. That was kennys last hurrah and at this game, fighters just 'go' overnight which is what happened. Its as simple as that

 

I don't think he was completely shot. While he wasn't able to hurt LeDoux where Lyle had repeatedly staggered the Frenchman, the fact is that he out boxed Scott handily over the first seven rounds, and looked good until getting thumbed in the eye during round eight. (In particular, Ken's multiple hooks to the body were textbook.) Ken also looked fine against Randy Stephens immediately prior to the Shavers debacle, and produced the definitive one punch knockout of his career.

No, with Norton there was simply a pattern of succumbing to huge hitters throughout his career. Between 1970 and 1979 though, he only faced Foreman, and then only because he had no other choice if he was to win the big prize. He steered clear of Lyle and Shavers through these years. As a champion, he wouldn't have been able to be so selective about which styles he had to take on. (The variety of competition Ali prevailed over during these years was incredible.)