Norton s style, superb for the likes of Ali and Holmes but could leave him open to concussive ,wide power shots. Which Rahman could certainly deliver. Thoughts?
Another good one,Fergy. Quite feasible that a wild punch or two would win this one for Rahman. It's equally likely though that Ken outboxes him due to his superior skills.
Cheers mate, hope you're well. Yes, If Kenny can get a win over Ali, maybe more unofficially, then that's definitely a possibility.
I really do not envision the Rock as being all that competitive in this. A lopsided bout & Hasim is not going to like absorbing that 2 fisted body attack.
Rahman wasn't a big wide swinger like Shavers or Foreman. He was a fairly composed boxer-puncher type who threw a lot of jabs and straight shots down the middle. Liston would be a more accurate comparison in terms of Rahman's style. That being said, Norton wouldn't be too pleased getting nailed by one of Rahman's bigger shots and this doesn't change the fact Norton couldn't fight backing up and didn't have great recovery when hurt. I think they'd meet ring center and have a fierce, tense battle for control of the range/pace of the fight. If Norton out jabs Rahman, he wins half the fight and eventually schools Rahman. If Rahman is able to get Norton to the ropes and starts landing consistently, it would resemble the Norton vs Cobb fight and Rahman takes it or stops Norton eventually. Gun to my head, I think peak Norton of the late 70's should be slightly favored to win vs peak Rahman. He was the overall better boxer, but it would be close.
Rahman doesn’t have the punch selection to open up and find the gaps through Norton’s guard. He has a puncher’s chance, but I wouldn’t favour him in the way I’d favour someone with a decent punch selection and power.
Which version of Raham turns up. One of the most unpredictable fighters of his generation, good puncher and capable of finding the bingo shot but he wasn't great technically and could be easy to hit. It's hard to pick Rahman as a guy who lost to Ruiz, and an ancient Maskaev when he was on a decent run. I think Norton had a bit too much all around for Rahman
I think Rahman-Norton woould look a lot like Rahman-Holyfield did. With Norton's superior boxing ability and higher ring IQ befuddling Rahman. As the fight wore on, Rahman would be eating more and more leather from the extremely well conditioned Norton.
