Was Ken Norton old at damn near age 33 against Larry Holmes?

At that point in time, norton was the best hw in the world, a torch which passed to larry that night.

 

I felt for Ken in that fight. Having the belt awarded to him,then losing it.

I agree with what you say. Those two were the best heavies in the world at that point in time.

 

Definitely I mean spinks and ali was a fight between what essentially amounted to a has been and a never was.

Norton was the premiere fighter and larry was the true contender to his throne.

I do see the validity behind lineage but in this instance it doesn't come into play.

 

Norton was 35 in 1978

 

Norton was making movies, and hanging out at Playboy Mansion a lot. That aged him more than his years. He still could have gotten that decision, it was close fight, very tough.

 

According to his autobiography, Kenny was born on August 9th, 1943.

In answer to the original question on the thread, the thing with Norton was that after Yankee Stadium, Norton was never as dedicated to the sport as he was before that "loss". Quoting from his autobiography:

"After the third Ali fight, I never trained the same or ran as much. Mentally, I was drained. I'd work out at the gym and do what I was told to do, but I was never the same fighter as I was for that fight."

So there you have it, from the horse's mouth. Ken might not have been old when he fought Holmes, but dedication wise, he was past his best.

 

This is a great post on every level, imo. A true and absolutely fair assessment of the top of the Heavyweight division in 1978. As a huge fan of Norton, it's great to see Ken getting his just due here.

 

Thank you for the kind words.

 

No problem, LUFC:good

 

Even though I was an Ali fan,out and out,I always admired Frazier and Norton too. Ken would have been a worthy successor to Muhammad.

 

This was one of Norton's best nights. He was not old for Holmes.

 

Norton was undeniably past his best. He was 34 or so years old and two years removed from the Ali trilogy. Plenty of people also scored it for Young in his fight before Holmes. Post Holmes he won just 2 of 5 fights losing by KO in one round in two of them. To imply Norton was at or near his best would be plain silly.

 

How did you score the norton - young fight?

Forget about what happened post holmes and watch the actually norton-holmes fight. No-one can watch that fight and think kenny had significantly declined.

 

Norton was robbed

 

He fought well but wasn't peak. It was a styles thing. Norton was hard for boxers and showed as much against both Ali and Holmes.

I haven't scored the fight TBH but must look if i have it. I just see it might be on youtube.