Why didnt Frazier vs Norton happen?

good thread.

i've always wondered that myself

 

Both Eddie Futch guys, son.

 

They were friends and said they'd never fight. If it happened I'd bet on Frazier though.

 

Tough style for Frazier. But Frazier was a tough style for Norton. Two ATGs. Would have been very interesting to see.

 

They sparred together as well.

 

Good question and some interesting answers.

Nice thread.

 

Joe said somewhere it was because they were friends.

 

IMO, Frazier destroys Norton every time. I have an old VHS from the late 80's with Ali,Norton. Foreman, and Frazier at a sitdown, and Norton was mocking Frazier the whole time.

 

Everyone knows by now that Frazier used every excuse to duck everyone else except for Ali.... he fought Foreman the first time because he thought he could win. And they made him fight Foreman the second time cuz he had to fight someone else other than bus drivers and part time security guards... Frazier was all bob and no punch!

 

I always wondered why Frazier didn't fight a lot of the big names of the 70s, like Spinks, Holmes, Norton, Lyle, and Shavers. It's as though his whole purpose in life was to beat Ali, and when he did he figured he didn't need to do much else.

Come to think of it, does that make him a 70s heavyweight version of Antonio Tarver?

Ali called him the "second greatest of all time", and I always wondered why he never seemed to be recognized that way, but he never seemed to take advantage of the huge talent pool of the 70s the way Ali did. I reckon that's what will always keep him from being seen as a true peer of Ali.

 

Ask the guys in the classic forum.

 

It's funny, for all of their alleged friendship, Frazier never mentions his connection with Norton in his entire autogiography. I wonder how friendly they really were.

 

Simple, because they were never forced to fight. Boxing will never be a real sport until top fighters are forced to fight each other. That being said, today it is 1000x worse then it was back then. Wlad and Vitali never fighting each other is the best example of that.


I play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and my brother plays for the Green Bay Packers, we told our Mum we would never compete against each other so we will not be playing in the super bowl.

Get the **** out with that, no real sport would put up with that pansy ass crap.

 

I've wondered this myself.....how Frazier gets such glory, as an ATG when he actually did duck, or not fight a good many fighters that were around then. Another man he didn't fight, who was there, and from Philly also, was Jimmy Young. Young gave em all trouble, and was robbed against Norton, and even the "Greatest"..LOL...but Young never got the respect he deserved either. Did Frazier and Norton both have Yank Durham as a trainer? Thanks, Ray