Which other Top Heavy weight s Could Norton Have Beaten?

I'd lay down money on a prime Kenny beating Tyson Fury.

 

Good suggestion! He has the style and Fury doesn't have the power to knock him out.

I give him a good chance against most of the 80s and 90s contenders as well as the Tyson and Holmes challengers: C. Williams, Witherspoon, Smith, Snipes, Berbick, Thomas, Seldon, Weaver, both Spinks. Also W.K., Schmeling, Bonavena, Walcott.

~ 50/50 vs Patterson, Holyfield, Tokyo Douglas, Tucker, Frazier

Almost sure wins vs. Page, Ellis, Tillis.

 

Thinking back to the Cunningham fight, Kenny's overhand right would be money against Fury.

 

Do you mean Wlad Klitchsko when you say W.K.?

Also, the wild card for a Norton vs Fury battle would be the size of Fury. He's just so much bigger than Norton.

 

Is he fitter though? In better shape? Could he maintain his composure against a top shelf heavyweight at a pace for 15 rounds?

 

Yes, WK doesn't have the aggression and the early knockouot intentions to neutralize Kenny. So there will no Foreman / Cooney / Shavers scenario. Norton will build up his pressure, and he is skillfull and awkward enough to outland Wlad. If Wlad isn't allowed to hold, lean on etc...Norton will ultimately wear him down, tire him and ko him around 8.

For me Norton's biggest kryptonite is big aggressive men, which pressure him, deck him with series of power shots and throw big left hooks over his cross guard. I don't see Wlad trying this. And if so: Norton will be crafty enough to hurt Wlad with dangerous counter shots before Wlad manages to land viciously.

 

Actually, Kenny had similar physical attributes to Usyk, and he even had a bigger reach. His style would cause Fury problems, but I can't say who would win.

 

Looking at a list of the top 25 Heavyweights of all time.....

Rocky Marciano = I could see Norton winning this being the considerably bigger fighter, but Marciano is a big puncher and aggressive so I'm not sure the size difference would be enough to overcome Norton's achilles heel to punchers.

Evander Holyfield = Probably one of the most 50/50 match ups in history.

Ezzard Charles = Norton excelled vs boxers and whilst Charles had good success at Heavyweight he still had numerous losses at Heavyweight winnable fight for Norton.

Jersey Joe Walcott = Another good fighter but again a mixed record at Heavyweight, Walcott does have sneaky counters though and hits hard so it's a dangerous fight for Norton.

Harry Wills = I wasn't impressed with the footage I see of Wills under modern rules Norton wins IMO.

Tyson Fury = Struggled against numerous fighters to size of Norton I see this as winnable for Norton.

Oleksandr Usyk = Again I see this as a very close match up.

All in all the highest ranked P4P fighter Norton could beat is Ezzard Charles. The highest ranked Heavyweight Norton could beat is Marciano but I'm not confident in that pick so I'll probably choose Holyfield.

 

Heavyweight champions he would at minimum give a very tough night to, or be favourite to best. I’ve excluded pre-Hart champions from consideration either way…

Marvin Hart
Tommy Burns
Jack Johnson
Jess Willard
Gene Tunney
Jack Sharkey
Primo Carnera
Max Schmeling
Jimmy Braddock
Ezzard Charles
Joe Walcott
Rocky Marciano*
Floyd Patterson
Ingemar Johansson
Leon Spinks
Larry Holmes
Michael Spinks
Buster Douglas
Evander Holyfield
Riddick Bowe*
Michael Moorer
Shannon Briggs
Hasim Rahman
Wlad Klitschko*
Tyson Fury
Oleksander Usyk

I realise not all champions were necessarily great fighters, but that is still quite a list considering I don’t regard Norton as an ATG.

*High chance these guys may blow him out early though.

 

I mosty agree with that. I think that Marciano would be slightly more dangerous for Norton than Frazier, because he can land bombs with both hands. He is even tougher, has a better feints and punch selection. Despite he is more static and moving less he has about the same awkawardness due to his ultra low crouchig style.

 

He'd be about 50-50 against another Ken Norton.

 

Norton would smash flash-in-the-pans like Lewis, Holmes and Tyson.