Who ranks higher Witherspoon or Norton ?

Stevie G · May 4, 2026

Very close. I have decided on Norton as result of a hypothetical bout between a 1973 Ken v 1983 Tim. Would be pretty close and a distance fight. Ken's superior condition takes it in my view.

Dynamicpuncher · May 4, 2026

dmt said: ↑

I am going with Norton.

If you look at Norton's resume, he did not lose to anyone he shouldn't have except Garcia, and that was super early in his career. He had 2 losses to Ali but the last fight was a Norton win that he wasn't given. So 1 loss to the #1 heavyweight of all time.

He narrowly lost to Holmes who is widely regarded as a top 5 heavyweight. No shame there.

Nor is there any shame in losing to peak Foreman. Again a bonafide atg and top 5 or top 10 heavyweight of all time.

His other losses were to massive hitters in Shavers and Cooney late in his career.

I am a huge fan of Tim Witherspoon but his record is more questionable. No shame in losing a fight to Holmes. It was super early in his career and he gave Holmes all he could handle.

Losing to Bonecrusher Smith as an established and experienced fighter is indeed a pretty hard to excuse loss.

Witherspoon has some very close decisions on his record. An MD win vs Snipes, a MD win vs Greg Page, an MD win vs Tony Tubbs, and a loss to Everett Martin. Granted, 3 of these 4 fights were wins but the fact they were close is a bit perplexing.

Norton would beat Snipes, Page and Tubbs handily in my book. Plus, i think Norton would beat Pinklon Thomas too even though Thomas was very very good. Norton just matches up well vs boxers.

IMO Norton maxed his potential and Witherspoon did not. Norton did not lose to anyone he shouldn't have (except Garcia). Witherspoon did lose to guys he shouldn't have (twice) and had an unusual number of close decision wins vs guys Norton would have beaten.

Norton for me. You can make the case Witherspoon was the greater talent but Norton was more accomplished.
Click to expand...

This is a good post but can I just point out a few things.

Don't be fooled by the MD's vs Page and Tubbs.

I thought Witherspoon was a clear winner in both fights especially the Tubbs fight as did most people.

Witherspoon outlanded Tubbs 264 punches to 185 punches according to the stats and I thought he won by atleast 4 or 5 points.

So again don't be fooled by the MD trust me Witherspoon clearly won those fights.

I watched the Mike Williams fight a few years ago I had it 97-94 Witherspoon. Again I think a MD in the fight also flatters how close it actually was.

The Snipes fight I would agree was very close and highly debatable.

I haven't seen the Ribalta fight.

But just to further illustrate the points about the Page & Tubbs fights.

Unofficial AP scorecards for both fights were.

146-139 Witherspoon vs Tubbs

116-112 Witherspoon vs Page

Which is more in line with what most people saw.

NoNeck · May 4, 2026

Dynamicpuncher said: ↑

Two Heavyweights who relied on the cross arm defence who both gave Holmes great fights who ranks higher ?

Norton's resume

Muhammad Ali
Jimmy Young
Jerry Quarry
Duane Bobick
Tex Cobb
Jose Luis Garcia
Boone Kirkman
Lorenzo Zanon
Henry Clark
Ron Stander
Larry Middleton

Pros

One of the best conditioned Heavyweights of all time with a great engine in long distance fights.

Gave two top 5 Heavyweights razor thin close fights even beating Ali once.

Terrific body puncher.

Fought in a great era.

Cons

Very vulnerable against punchers suffering numerous early stoppage losses.

Never officially won a title fight inside the ring.

Witherspoon's resume

Greg Page
Tony Tubbs
Frank Bruno
Bonecrusher Smith
Carl Williams
Renaldo Snipes
James Tillis
Jorge Luis Gonzalez
Mike Williams
James Broad
Anders Ecklund
Alonzo Ratliff

Pros

Won 3 world title fights a 2 time champion.

Came close to beating Holmes.

Very good jab.

A dangerous potent overhand right.

Cons

Could be lazy in fights.

Was not always in the best of shape as evident of his shocking defeat to Bonecrusher.
Click to expand...

The loss to Bonecrusher was due to getting punched in his face, not his conditioning.

Cojimar 1946 · May 5, 2026

Shavers still should have been a winnable fight for Norton so I don't think it's fair to say Garcia is his only bad loss.

Plenty of slightly past it heavyweights would still be favorites over Shavers who may have been past it himself

Titan1 · May 6, 2026

Ken fought better grade of comp than Tim.

robert ungurean · May 6, 2026

I have Norton here

Cobra33 · May 6, 2026

This shouldn't be a debate Norton accomplished much more has the better resume.
However prime for prime if they meant I could see Tim stopping Norton.

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Who ranks higher Witherspoon or Norton ?

Who ranks higher

Witherspoon

Norton

Stevie G Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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NoNeck Pugilist Specialist

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Who ranks higher Witherspoon or Norton ?

Who ranks higher

Witherspoon

Norton

Stevie G Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

Dynamicpuncher Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

NoNeck Pugilist Specialist

Cojimar 1946 Boxing Addict Full Member

Titan1 Boxing Junkie Full Member

robert ungurean Богдан Philadelphia Full Member

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