who rates higher Ken Norton or Tim Witherspoon?

Ken in his prime all- time great

 

All of the top bodybuilders and most bodybuilders in general were heavy steroid users in the 60's and 70's, that's not new or unknown information. Did Ken Norton use? I doubt it.

 

Povetkin is nothing special... quit using him as an example. John Ruiz would probably beat a 1980 or '81 version of Muhammad Ali. 1977 or '78? Povetkin may have a chance but he wouldn't be favored. You can't use the first fight with Leon Spinks as an example because Ali took Spinks lightly, he would be ready for Povetkin... like he was in the Spinks rematch. Spinks was 6-0-1 (5) and had not looked all that impressive, Ali thought it would be an easy night. For what its worth the fight was somewhat close.

 

I think Norton is overrated. He did however defeat Ali once and arguably twice. Great against boxers, poor vs punchers.
I felt Holmes won by a wider margin than a point but it was still a great fight and Young fight could've gone either way.

Witherspoon was not dedicated and had a ton of disputes with King which hurt him badly.

I think this is a good thread but I would pick Norton Even though I'm not his biggest fan.

 

PEDs were widespread in the Olympics, NFL, bodybuilding, and pro wrestling in the 70s. Why would anyone think that they were not in boxing also?

 

I think so too. Boxing traditionally has been quite resistant to change and I cannot even imagine trainers like Dundee, Futch or Arcel letting their fighters near a weight room let alone being aware of or even administering PEDs to their fighters.