Terrible Terry Norris

You’re exactly right! Thing is, he did well to rebuild his reputation after those early DQ losses and the more devastating KO in his first title try by Julian Jackson (who I remember describing Norris dismissively as a ‘powder-puff puncher’).

Between 1990 when he beat John Mugabi and 1992 when he beat Meldrick Taylor, his reputation grew and it was at that point that magazines like the Ring had him behind only Julio Cesar Chavez (85-0 at the time) and Pernell Whitaker as the best in the game. As JT mentions above, the win over a faded SRL probably (over)enhanced his rep more than any other single win he had.

He was 24 years old, seemingly improving with every fight and making those earlier defeats look like an aberration that happened to a green fighter who was still learning his trade at that point.

However, the Waters fight hinted that there were still chinks in his armour and by the end of 1993, he suffered that shock loss to Simon Brown, James Toney replaced him in p4p lists and his reputation as a still-exciting, but fragile fighter was formed. The Santana fights over the next year or two added ‘volatile’ to the overall description.

 

Norris boxed masterfully in the Brown rematch. If he’d employed that mindset and style in their first fight then the rematch needn’t have been needed to begin with. But that was Terry. Great tools and athletic ability but he could be dumb (or more likely fight with his emotions and not calmly) in that ring. I’ve always thought he could’ve picked Julian Jackson apart as he did in the first round of their bout. He came out more aggressively in round two looking to stop Jackson instead of using movement as he did so effectively in round one. Net result there was no round three lol

 

Yep, he often fought against his natural advantages because he had a need to fight and not just box.

He didn’t possess devastating power so although he could hurt people he wasn’t usually a hugely concussive puncher and that gave opponents who were good enough opportunities that he shouldn’t have given them.

It made his exciting to watch but it led to his downfall a few times.

 

A fight with Benn in 90 was talked about . Would of been interesting but I suspect Terry would ended up flat out

 

He was real fast, busy, liked a tear-up and fans loved his style. I remember ring magazine lauding both the Norris brothers as top prospects. Orlin didnt have Terry's charisma, and 154 was a better division than Cruiser (Orlins best weight) Terry had some great nights (Mugabe ko) but the Jackson ko is awful to watch. Apparantly the brothers really went at each other in sparring too, sibling rivalry!

 

An offensive powerhouse who was fast, athletic, explosive, threw some wicked combinations, and had good boxing skills to boot. His biggest issue was his chin being made of porcelain along with a very hot headed attitude where he would impulsively hit an opponent while they’re down, which added some uncertainty on whether or not he gets knocked out or DQ’d. A very gifted boxer marred with his obvious flaws that held him back from being truly great but still a very entertaining nonetheless. His best wins are merely fighters coming from smaller weight class and were no longer at their best (Leonard, Curry, Taylor) but he’s had his share of victories over very good opponents (Brown, Castro, Mugabi, Blocker).