Norton clearly won the first second was close but in thought Norton edged it. Third I haven't watched fully but I think general consensus is that Norton was robbed so overall Norton was the one fighter Ali could never clearly beat.
First fight was clearly Norton. Second fight was close, but Ali stole it with the last round. Even Norton admits that fight was close and that he should've been more aggressive in the last round (a bad habit of his in long fights). Third fight, imo Norton won by being busier and just boxing better overall. I think he landed more punches too. Ali had grown lazy during this time frame, got pudgy, and just didn't have that burning fire in him anymore. Norton had better accuracy, better defense, and was often in control of the pace. Ali did ok in the early rounds being uncharacteristically aggressive, then tried to coast by being passive and lax (I guess he was attempting a rope a dope?). When Ali realized he was in trouble he tried to stick and move, but couldn't sustain it. It was as if he had no real plan B and really thought he could KO Norton.
In the first fight Ali was very out of shape Norton was hungry and not seen as a threat. In the third fight Ali was shot - the second fight Ali needed to win and Norton was in his prime. I’d say the second fight is representative of about how it should’ve been the first time - close but with the better fighter just overcoming the style issue. In the 60s before Muhammad Ali began to deteriorate it’d have been close but less so, the flaws are still there but he’d have just done better because he was back then.
This thread made me think how much better Ali was at overcoming stylistic mismatches than his nemeses Frazier and Norton. He fought six competitive fights against both of them. When those gentlemen met their stylistic nemeses they fared poorly.
Let’s say Muhammad Ali had beat Norton caught it close what would Nortons fate have been? In 73 going on 74 I think Ali would’ve left Norton for better business the way he did Young. Kenny probably gets knocked out of the ratings at some point while Muhammad is fighting Frazier and Foreman what would his route to a title shot have been?
Voted for Ali because I misread the title. Norton own THE head to head, yes. But head to head, Norton never even faced the best Ali and would have been completely lost.
Ken Norton vs Muhammad Ali 1 1 Ali 2 Norton 3 Ali 4 Norton 5 Norton 6 Norton 7 Norton 8 Ali 9 Norton 10 Norton 11 Ali 12 Norton 116-112 Norton Ken Norton vs Muhammad Ali 2 1 Ali 2 Ali 3 Ali 4 Ali 5 Norton 6 Ali 7 Norton 8 Norton 9 Ali 10 Norton 11 Norton 12 Ali 115-113 Ali Ken Norton vs Muhammad Ali 3 1 Ali 2 Norton 3 Norton 4 Norton 5 Norton 6 Norton 7 Ali 8 Norton 9 Ali 10 Ali 11 Ali 12 Norton 13 Norton 14 Ali 15 Ali 143-142 Norton
Throw this out there. Ed Schuyler who covered boxing for AP and is in the IBHOF as a writer scored the third fight for Ali and the second fight for Norton. He even watched it again to write an article for ESPN in 2010 and if my memory is correct and scored It the same way.
Norton unfortunately was a real tough cookie for Ali, though he never was for anyone with a punch. Norton was awkward etc and all that jazz but him getting the better of Ali speaks more to Ali's flaws than it does Norton's strengths.
