Ken Norton would have a fair chance, he was always in peak condition, not a blubbery fighter. I do think that Eddie Futch would have made sure he was well prepared. But I do agree he would need to protect against his vulnerability, a good right hand.
ya, Baer is one of the poorest examples of cross-armed defense, he really only used it to block, whereas Moore, Gene Fullmer, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and Witherspoon all used it for multiple purposes.
With all due respect to Ken Norton ( and lord knows I’ve praised him in many fantasy fights over the years ) he was not the type of fighter you’re describing. Wilder wouldn’t need to “ cut off the ring “ as Foreman did because Norton wasn’t the type to use the ring to his advantage. He was a come forward boxer-puncher and one who couldn’t fight very well off the back foot. He wouldn’t have the luxury of pushing forward the way he did with boxer types against today’s elite heavys with the sort of height, reach and power they possessed over him. And with his shaky chin ??? Oh boy... you also mentioned that if Norton landed his left hook on wilder that Deontay would be in trouble. Do you really think Norton hit harder than Luis Ortiz who’s punches wilder took for many rounds and still ended up stopping ? Sorry but I don’t see Ken beating this breed of heavyweight.
Ken Norton was good enough to repeat Deontay Wilder's 11-fight "championship reign" (2015-'20). He probably beats Wilder down too. Good enough to repeat Joseph Parker's 3-fight "championship reign" (2016-'18 : wins over Ruiz Jr, Cojanu, H.Fury) . Good enough to beat most, perhaps all, of the men Anthony Joshua has defeated in "title fights" too. Not sure why he's being undersold here.
From some of the comments on this thread it seems Deontay Wilder's still one of the most overrated heavyweights in recent decades. A well-schooled, skillled, come-forward strong fighter like Ken Norton (in his prime) would have every chance of giving Wilder an embarrassing beat-down within a few rounds.
Hell no, he was only good against good boxers with no size or power, he was a pressure fighter that could disrupt a good boxers rhythm and jab
you didn’t have to be overrated or underrated to beat Ken Norton. You just needed the right style and set of physical attributes to do it.
Same is true of Wilder. Norton clearly possessed what was needed to beat Wilder. Wilder has most of the flaws Norton had, and about a dozen more.
lol... so far the only person who’s beaten Wilder is Tyson Fury who is a legitimate linear champion and the physically largest linear champion of all time. Norton hasn’t the power to stop Wilder nor the chin to take his punches
So far the only fighters Wilder has faced worth talking about are Fury and Ortiz (an old guy who's best career win is Bryant Jennings, a virtual non-entity). Norton would be the 2nd best fighter Wilder has faced, at least. The only thing Wilder posseses to trouble Norton is power. But he has often found it very difficult to land his KO punches in the early rounds, and that's his best chance against Norton - to get it done early. Wilder is just as vulnerable on the backfoot as Norton is, he's open to the jab . He's got bad balance. Norton is likely to land first, and more consistently and cleanly, and back Wilder up. Tyson Fury was/is widely considered a relatively "light puncher" (some even used the term "feather fisted") and stopped Wilder. So I'm not sure why you think Norton lacks the power to stop Wilder.
Tyson Fury is a boxer puncher depending on what type of fight he chooses to engage in. A 6’9” 250 pound man who sets down on his punches the way he did in the wilder rematch definitely has the ability to do damage. Regardless of Ortiz’s age he was a south paw who had tremendous power. Stiverne Could hit too. I’ll sum it up like this: If this were an era filled with title holders like Chris Byrd, John Ruiz, Sultan Ibragimov, and Ruslan Chagaev THEN I would pick Norton to win a title - perhaps even unify them all. But In this era of physically big and strong men with tremendous power and enough durability to take his shots he isn’t becoming champion...
In that case : All heavyweights can hit. Norton could hit. Most of the men Norton beat could hit. No one ever doubted Norton could hit. You want to elevate Ortiz to have "tremendous" power. I'm not arguing but it seems strange you disregard Norton's power. But stopping people isn't just about power. It's about landing the right punches, consistently. You're obviously a big fan of this era. When all is said and done, we'll see if Wilder's record really justifies the high estimation of him. I respect Wilder as a dangerous puncher but the facts as I see them are that he's got one of the worst padded records of a top-flight heavyweight, he's unskilled and he's a tall skinny 220 pounder rather than a new breed of super-giant. He needs more than wins over Ortiz and Stiverne (!) to be elevated to a high level. Admittedly he's surpassed the likes of Duane Bobick with his resume but shockingly he hasn't surpassed it by much.