why did holmes and norton never have a rematch?

Someone posted on here a few years ago saying that Holmes outright said that he didn't want to fight Norton again. Not long after their initial meeting, Ken got sparked by Shavers, then basically fell off the face of the earth.

 

I'm not sure I blame them to be honest. Would you want to go through that again?

 

The Norton-Shavers bout,on the undercard of Holmes-Ossie Ocasio title fight,was an eliminator for the WBC belt. Earnie spoilt the party.

 

This.

 

A rematch between the two would have been a good fight,but not as competitive as what would have been the first one. Holmes was peaking while Ken was on the way down.

 

Larry Holmes,

When he defeated Ken Norton {June 9, 1978} Larry woud have 1-year before he was
required to make a 'mandatory' defense versus the #1 WBC Challenger.

Larry, then was entitled to a 'non-mandatory defense', which was the Alfredo Evangilsta bout
on November 10, 1978.

Larry was then, going to defend his title versus the Jimmy Young vs. Ossie Ocasio rematch
winner, which was held on January 27, 1979.

Ossie wins, and Larry fights Ocasio on March 23, 1979.

Ken Norton, after losing to Larry Holmes on June 9, 1978 - temporarily retired.

Kenny came back on November 10, 1978 (Larry Holmes vs. Alfredo Evangilista undercard),
and stops Randy Stephens (who had just upset Stan Ward).

Kenny was promised a June 1979 bout versus Larry Holmes, but he decided to take some big
bucks to foolishly fight Earnie Shavers in March 23, 1979 - (on the Larry Holmes vs. Ossie Ocasio undercard).

Kenny 'did' not need the Shavers bout to get a rematch.

 

Well, i can't tell you the technical reasons, but poetically, I can say that the reason is that "you can't top perfection"..and that's what their fight was...perfection.

 

Given both fighter's age, a rematch would have resulted in a Holmes stoppage mid-round. No argument, next thread please!

 

As much as i like Holmes, he wasnt too fond of rematches

 

March 23, 1979

#1 WBC-ranked - Ken Norton

The 34 year-old former WBC Heavyweight Champion was a heavily bet 3-1 favorite,
for this scheduled 12-Round WBC Elimination bout.

Plus, a fight purse of $750,000 to face what many were saying was a faded and
low-stamina Earnie Shavers.

Bill Slayton, devised a fight-pan for Kenny, which was to get in close to Earnie and
make him work. Smother and maul him, and after 3 or 4 Rounds he would be 'gassed-out'.

Bill Slayton had Kenny come in at 225 lbs., thinking the added weight would help wear
down Earnie, and by the 5th Round, Earnie would be 'easy-pickings'.

Bill Slayton, 'If Earnie doesn't have room, he can't hit hard with his looping punches. On
the inside, Earnie does not know how to fight. We plan to go at it like a 'Rugby Player'
in a scrum.'

 

Shavers-Norton could have played out very differently had Ken got his big shots in first. Okay,Norton was n't a puncher in Earnie's or George Foreman's mould but he still hit harder than Jerry Quarry,for example,who stopped Shavers. If this had come to pass,we'd have had Holmes-Norton II in September of that year. I see Holmes taking a fairly clear decision. Perhaps 9 - 6 in rounds.

 

Earnie Shavers landed the big boom on Kenny, and ended that rematch noise.Larry Holmes would've won the rematch anyways, Norton was on his way to being damaged goods, Shavers, or no Shavers.

 

Yes 9 months after fighting Holmes, Norton ran into Shavers and that queered a rematch.

 

To me, if somebody takes eight or nine of the first ten rounds in a championship distance bout, then stays on his feet until the final bell while the hopelessly behind participant sweeps all the remaining rounds, then it's not really as close as the scoring suggests.

In Montreal, Duran announced to his corner after round ten that he'd locked up the fight, and that's also how AP reported it live, that Duran had taken nine of the first ten rounds.

Arthur Mercante stated after round ten of Holmes-Norton that Ken would now need a knockout to win. Why was the scoring so close? Norton admitted going in that, "I need a big win" after being awarded the WBC Title after the razor thin margin against Young. Enormous pressure was on Ken, the WBC, and likely the scoring officials to validate how Norton acquired that belt. 10-5 would have looked bad for Sulamain and the WBC, as Larry had no cachet prior to Shavers I, not years of consistent recognition as a top contender. [Norton actually hit the national big time with Henry Clark in 1972, before Holmes turned professional. Larry was 1-0 when Ken upset Ali.] It took Holmes several wins in addition to Shavers I to attain full acceptance. By the end of '82 [aided by Berbick's win over Page just before Holmes-Cobb], that acceptance was complete.

With hindsight, the dynamic is different, but Norton was the widely desired winner as the opening bell rang against this upstart kid Holmes.

Shavers did not look amazing against three nondescript opponents after Larry shut him out in 1978, and all three heard the bell ending round one. Earnie was not a towering young block of granite like Foreman, he was significantly outsized by Ken, and entering his mid 30s with a questioned chin, skills and stamina. It's also been indicated Earnie tended to lose weight easily while training, and could have been considerably lighter if minimizing weight had been the priority for him it would have been in earlier decades. Shavers wasn't recognized as that severe a risk for Ken, who otherwise was never defeated by a shorter and lighter opponent.

Personally, I'd have rather seen Holmes-Norton II at the time after seeing the Holmes-Shavers I blowout. Earnie's rematch with Larry did give us a punch for the ages, but otherwise it was another whitewashing by Holmes.

Holmes-Norton II would have given us another 15 complete rounds of competition. This time, with Ken still getting older, and Larry with a healthy and uninjured left arm, the decision would have been without controversy in favor of Holmes, and I think Norton would have called it quits then and there to stay a full time analyst. [Ken had the looks, personality, intelligence and commercial viability to succeed beyond the conclusion of his athletic career. His ringside commentary provided astute moments, noting how Earnie's hands were ahead of his legs against Cobb, and correctly predicting before Jerry Martin-James Scott on NBC that Martin would win.]

Damn that car accident which messed him up in '86. He'd still be with us and well today if that hadn't happened, free of the succession of strokes which left him to die in a care facility.