Supposing the judges voted Norton's way ?

And perhaps to add to this, where does this put both Neon Leon and Holmes?
If Ali beats Norton in a 4th fight could we have had Ali-Holmes in '78?

 

Ali-Holmes in 1978 would have been a mismatch.

Holmes would have had no sympathy for a faded Ali, and Larry would have beat him up bad to win the title.

 

They should have voted Norton's way. This decision is one of Ali's biggest gift decisions and it ranks right up there with Holyfield vs Lewis I and Leonard vs Hearns II.

If Norton was given the decision, Ali probably retires and the likely matchup is Norton vs Holmes in 77. Who knows if Foreman retires, but he would have had a legit shot to regain the crown against Norton, or perhaps a Spinks vs Norton match.

 

There would have been a fourth fight. If Ali had won, I see the same trajectory. If Norton won then I wonder who he faces next. Would it be Shavers? Or Holmes? Or Young?

 

I think Norton would win a 4th fight with Ali, assuming one actually happened. Would there be high demand for an immediate 4th fight? Or is it possible Ali would simply choose to retire then?

The question then is, would Norton end up fighting Shavers soon afterward as Ali did? If so, we saw what would happen there.

 

Norton was peaking in 77/78 and I see him beating Ali in a rematch. Interesting though, is that Norton would have been the LINEAR champion going against Holmes and might have won him more favor with the judges in a close Norton/Holmes epic battle.

 

Ali would have NEVER known when to retire..after losing that rubber match, I think something would have happened to prevent a 4th fight...like Earnie Shavers getting his shot at Norton, instead of Ali..and becoming champion by knocking out Norton.

 

After Shavers poleaxes Norton to win the title, Larry Holmes outpoints Jimmy Young in an eliminator to earn the right to fight Shavers...and Holmes stops Shavers, a gassed, battered Shavers in round 14 to win the title.

 

Well, it makes no sense to say that Ali would never know when to retire, and then not figure him into my scenario in the previous post...so let's say that Holmes 1st defense in late '78, early '79 would be against a fading Ali...and Holmes punishes him relentlessly over 12 rounds, and the fight is stopped in the 13th when Angelo Dundee throws in the towel.

 

Well, faded abilities and intolerance for DUNG KING, didn't prevent Ali from coming out of retirement and fighting both Holmes and Berbick.. Therefore, had Ken Norton taken the third fight of their series, It's likely ( in my mind ) that Ali would have readily accepted a fourth match.......The outcome????

 

Norton would have signed for an Evangelista fight and immediately stripped of the title by the WBC.

 

Exactly. Norton is stripped in his first defense, if he doesn't fight Foreman. And this would've been prior to the Young bout & that Foreman upset bout probably never happens.

The Norton management--and he was an independent, would look for a soft defense. He'd really fought soft competition since the Foreman destruction & who would've liked Kenny's chances in a rematch with that guy? Perhaps a guy like Lyle gets a shot, but he's a dangerous opponent for Kenny. Young was a dangerous opponent for Kenny as well.

Maybe Frazier comes out of retirement, but I tend to doubt it. Holmes was fighting nobodies in that timeframe and on the outskirts, at best. A win over a Tom Prater or Ibar Arrington doesn't get you a title shot. Shavers might get a shot and he was on the Norton--Ali 3 undercard afterall and got the results. And it'd be hard to picture Ali doing any better than he did in Yankee Stadium and his performances after that one were all tougher than expected encounters.


One way or another, it would've been hard for Kenny to make say 2 title defenses back then before losing. He was long in the tooth nobody ever forgot that Foreman destruction and there was still that stigma surrounding him.

 

Parkinson's too shtrong.