Terry Norris - Is It Just Me...

Norris is not overrated he is underrated. he has been underrated since his first big fight with Mugabi. the fact that he always wins when he's supposed to lose proves my point

 

He was the WBA Middleweight Champion when Taylor stopped him. So McClellan,McCallum & Taylor stopped him in his relative prime. Phillips way later.

 

Yeah, here we go.

 

Not to fear I am I am still here. Whenever men call on my name I will appear!

Norris seems to draw a lot of negative press for the beating he handed to Leonard. This always seems to happen when popular fighters get beat badly by someone who doesnt fit into the picture-like Norris. It wasnt just that he beat him but that he exposed Ray as overrated.

Be that as it may, I still love Terry. Terry will always be #1 in my book.

 

Most of what everyone is saying about Norris is true, but he ruled the 154 lb class like no other. You have to rank Julian Jackson above him, because he was ko'd by him. You have to put McCallum ahead, because he beat Jackson. Everyone else is up for debate.

Part of the reason is that no one else has made an established position as Norris is because most fighters either moved up from 147 just to try for another belt, or moved on to 160. Terry Norris was committed to 154. This division does not have a talent rich history like boxing's original 8 weight classes do.

 

Julio Cesar Vazquez would have put Norris through the canvas. Ask the much more talented Winky Wright.

 

Two ways to look at this one IMO:

To me,Norris is almost Roy Jones-esque.Tons of talent...speed,power,movement...but never really faced anyone we might call 154 ATG...He never had his Hagler moment..Not entirely his fault,but he can't be credited for that either..

On the other side of that coin,he was as good as they come Terry.In fact,I would give him a good chance against any 154 pounder in history...outside of his weak chin,Tommy Hearns had one too afterall...he was a good one.

But yes,his resume' ain't much.Leonard included.

 

He was a fight promoters dream and one way or another was going to have an exciting performance. And what's so wrong with that? He sure had some fast hands and snap on those punches==you didn't exactly see anyone walking thru his punches.

That rematch with Brown was pretty impressive & not many guys come back from bad ko's to outclass the former opponent in a decision. Usually you'll get the revenge type ko, but I always liked the schooling type result myself. And that type of result > a brutal ko is certainly not something easy to accomplish.

 

Norris is severely underrated, hes a far better boxer than Benitez, Trinidad, Delahoya and Winky Wright at 154 all in all. 25 world title fights, won 19 of them, proved to be the premier 154lber from 90-97 and was probably dodged by a few big name WWs

Yes some of his opponents were past-prime but nearly every great champ has their fair share of that and you can only beat the man in front of you.

Why isn't Norris A Class then? Is it because he was only a champion spanning 7years? IS it because he was ko'd near prime (not at his absolute best)? Because Hearns was too (3times), so was Tyson, so was Barrera......

So what of these past prime fighters:

Mugabi - current WBC champ with 11 consequtive KO wins, ko'd in 1, what more do you want?

Jaquot - ex WBC champ who had beat Curry, completely dominated

Curry - ex P4Per, boxing prodigy, at home at 154, a big threat, dominated and ko'd in 8.

Leonard - ex P4P no1, coming off a shutout over Duran who'd just beat MW titlist Barkley, a draw with Hearns, a LHW title win and ofcourse a win over Hagler. Completely dominated. Leonard was past his best but would have beat a lesser champ on that day

Taylor - current WW champ, arguably should have had a win over Chavez, arguably should be undefeated. KO'd in 4

Castro - future MW titlist

Daniels - undefeated challenger who'd go on to be a challenger/contender for 10 more years

Blocker - current WW titlist

Brown/Santana - beats the 2 men who beat him

Vaden - Unification, IBF titlist, dominated

Pettway - ex-titlist