Ok, for some of you this might be a stretch to imagine and I can already predict most of the answers from you guys. Try to answer this one with as much thought as possible. Instead of rematching with Ali and partying like a rock star what would have happened if Leon trained like a demon (like he did for the first Ali match) and takes on his mandatory Ken Norton? I think this possibly could have been a close contender for fight of the year (had it happened). Ken was an awkward fighter, but he was also starting to slide. Norton himself admitted that after the third match against Ali he didn't train nearly as hard and didn't have the drive to work as hard. Leon would have been the tenacious swarmer we saw in the first Ali fight. I honestly see this as a great match up. However, Norton stood toe-to-toe with Holmes attemping to defend his strap, and most that viewed the fight say it could have gone either way. I'd say Norton (if he was ready) could take on and handle Leon quite well. Anybody else have some thoughts to put in?
I still think Norton had enough left to beat Leon based on his great performance against Larry Holmes in 1978.
After Leon decisioned Ali and we had just shut off the television, I asked my father what he thought of the new champion. "I can't see him beating Norton." Millions of other viewers were probably thinking the same thing. While I felt Leon definitely won, a split decision in his favor is actually a good indication of how competitive a virtually shot Ali still managed to be, despite Leon's execution of Sam Solomon's sage strategy. Leon had previously drawn with Scott LeDoux, who Norton later outboxed badly before getting thumbed in the eye late. I don't think Leon had the firepower necessary to take Ken out, and he certainly didn't have the skills to outbox him. Kenny had decent punching power, but the impact of his shots didn't quite measure up to the appearance of his physique. This one would have gone 15 rounds, and Kenny would have taken the unanimous decision. If Leon had faced Norton instead of rematching Ali, then Muhammad would have never regained the title.
Norton would win by a unanimous decision over the underdeveloped Spinks.If Leon had developed, maybe a reversal.
Norton wins easily. As someone said, even a shot Ali was able to beat Spinks. Norton had more than enough in the tank to beat a mediocrity like Spinks.
Eh, people seem to be a little hard on Leon. I know he wasn't exactly a great anything, but even fading a bit he managed to beat Mercado.
Norton would have had way too much firepower, strength, speed and aggression for Leon Spinks. Spinks was a small heavyweight who lacked the durability to hang in there with the division's serious punchers. Leon was also very inexperienced. Nothing against Spinks, but he would have been knocked out early by Norton.
