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

Norton just never struck me as a particularly great fighter anyway - for me it's just another example of the "70's was the greatest era ever" BULL. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure on the Ali-Norton trilogy thing I have the voiceover guy actually refers to the fact that in the lead up to the first Ali-Norton fight that Norton is literally "an unknown clubfighter" ie no one in boxing circles really knew who the guy was so clearly he acheived his fame off the back of whooping a fat and flat Ali (not to mention he may aswell of been fighting someone with a broken jaw for the entire fight) (and in the intervening period between Ali-Norton I and Ali-Norton II the voice over man again refers to the fact that Ali had been upset by "an unknown marine") and the only reason he could stay with Ali is that Ali couldn't really bang anyway - I loved Norton as a man - he seemed such a warm thoughtful person - but unfortunately as a fighter he is hugely overrated by the revisionist historians - there is a reason he was completely unknown to the boxing press prior to Ali-Norton I - it's because he didn't really belong at that level at all in the first place - no surprise whatsoever that Shavers blasted him out the way he did - it only proves that he really didn't belong fighting guys at that level otherwise he would've been fighting the a-level guys before he got his million to one shot against Ali

 

The reason Shavers blasted him out was not because Norton wasn't a good fighter-because he was. It's because Norton just freezes against punchers. have you seen his fights against Quarry, Stander, Cobb, Holmes, and Bobick? Surely it shows that he was pretty good.. Nobody's calling him great.. I personally think he wasn't championship material. But he was a pretty good fighter back in the 70s.

 

Interestingly, I don't think Norton was the least bit concerned about Shavers' power going in to the fight. He'd tried to get Shavers in the ring at least once before, in '77 or so... Shavers didn't duck him or anything, the fight just didn't get made before '79.

 

Yeah, Shavers clearly wasn't worried about power punchers - he fought his fair share. He just didn't know what to do when the bell rang.
People say he "froze", it's true but it's not that he froze out of real fear, he just couldn't box cautious and remain effective. He displayed that type of caution and his style just dissolved.

 

I don't see your point. Norton did prove that he belonged at that level by beating Ali and staying competitive with him in a rematch, even if he was unknown before. He remained a top fighter for 6-7 years. Shavers blasted him out when Norton was in his mid/late 30's, but this doesn't mean Norton wasn't ever a top level fighter. He was, one of the top 5 in the 1970's. Shavers despite his KO win over Norton had overall a worse career.

 

Exactly... He says Norton isn't a top fighter, well neither was Shavers.
And Norton suceeded in beating Muhammad Ali once while Shavers never did it.

 

Shavers did in Norton much the same way Liston did in Patterson..in both cases neither man may have landed their best punches, but what they did land was more than sufficient..God forbid Shavers landed his best bomb cleanly on Norton. The punches he did land were deceptively imprecise, thudding bombs that even in glancing had a devastating effect on Norton again, just like the clubs that hit Patterson in both of his one round debacles with Liston. Norton, like Patterson had no business in the ring with either one of their one round conquerors...neither had a clue as to the most successful way to approach their foes, but no matter...they were not equipped or suited to surviving a single round anyway.

 

good analogy