Why was norton so difficult for Ali?

Ali had trouble with Norton,cause he lacked the one thing that would made him the complete perfect fighter.Devasting power.Ali didn't have tremendous power of punch.Had Ali had that booming punch of Louis,Tyson, Liston etc,Norton woulda went,the way he went against,Cooney,Shavers and Foreman.Ali had a stinging right,but not enough to ko Norton.

 

Because Ali couldn't use angles and upper body movement in attack (standing upright), and didn't keep his right hand up when throwing a jab.

 

Norton gave Ali pressure and Ali did not have the punch to keep Norton off, Ali had speed but he made Norton ( a good fighter with flaws look better)

 

In the first fight I would say Ali didn’t expect Norton to be so tough. In the second fight Ali was better prepared but Norton had the edge psychologically because of what he was able to do to Ali earlier. Norton’s jab was heavy and he used it to keep Ali moving. Ali never could “sit down” on anything to hurt or even keep Norton off of him. And when Norton would close the distance behind his jab he would step forward dragging his back foot and then step off with an overhand right. Norton was very good at catching Ali’s punches with his crossed arm defense and was in great condition to keep firing right back. I thought Norton won the first and third of their fights.

 

I had an argument here years ago with someone who kept insisting that it was Norton's jab that was the issue for Ali. I argued that this was incorrect, as it was an incomplete answer. Liston had a great jab. Terrell a good one. Neither bothered Ali.

Buzzsaw has it about right, according to my own thinking. He alludes to the jab being used in concert with Norton's awkward aggression, and never allowing Ali a chance to do anything but throw relatively harmless punches while backing up.

 

Recently after the ESPN fights they replayed the first Ali-Norton fight. I have the rematch. I need to get the third, but going by memory (what's left) I thought Norton won. Ali was stealing rds "shoeshining" etc.

 

I seem to remember a panel of experts that concluded right after the fight that Ali won the third fight because he won the last round. The second fight was much the same way.

Norton was awkward and Ali didn't have the power to put Norton on the defensive. When Ali was on his toes dancing he confused Norton. If they had met in the 1960s I think Ali wins with much less trouble.

 

I reckon the biggest key is actually Eddie Futch. The man is pure genious, and Norton had the tools to carry out his plan quite reasonably against an aging Ali. When Ali jabbed he didn't hold his right hand close to his face for parrying, and this was Eddie's main plan of attack. When Ali jabbed people tried to slip it and counter or block it and counter. Ali was too fast. Futch had Kenny jab while Ali was in the act of throwing himself, with good success. This upset Ali's rhythm and was the tactical foundation behind his troubles vs Norton.

 

norton had good upper body movement.......and that didnt allow ali to get his jab working the way he wanted to.
if a fighter depends heavily on the left jab for his other punches to get off, then this can be a problem. he will be missing more than he usually does.

then you have to consider that norton was awkward as hell. his left hook came from down home........and ali was always a sucker for that left hook.

now add the fact that norton was conditioned as a marathon runner and had quite a few boxing skills himself (like good timing on his left jab).........and you have a pretty good fighter in front of you.

and last but not leastk, the only way to beat norton easy was to blow him out like a shavers or foreman did. but ali lacked that power.

 

:good He never allowed Ali to get set. Also, Norton leaned back so his head was further away making it was harder for Ali to hit him and find his range. Ali had to come closer and therefore came in to Norton's punching range.

 

The way to beat Norton was to back him up ,he dragged his trailing right foot ,Norton couldnt fight backing up to save his life ,and Ali lacked the power to push him back,plus Nortons half-crouching ,leaning over to his right ,right glove open to catch the lead punch ,negated Ali,s jab.

 

Norton knew how to deal with Ali jab.3 years before their initial fight, they had sparred, and Futch told Norton how to deal with Ali, with much sucess.

 

because he was past his prime