Posted on 09/18/2013 8:16:33 PM PDT by South40
He was the second man to beat Muhammad Ali, breaking Ali's jaw and sending him to the hospital in their 1973 heavyweight fight.
Ken Norton frustrated Ali three times in all, including their final bout at Yankee Stadium where he was sure he had beaten him once again.
Norton, who died Wednesday at the age of 70, lost that fight for the heavyweight title. But he was forever linked to Ali for the 39 rounds they fought over three fights, with very little separating one man from the other in the ring.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
He was a great fighter. Truly. I have great respect for his abilities. He was at his peak in a very competitive era in boxing, and if he had come along at another time he very likely would be now remembered as a World Heavyweight Champion. He frustrated Ali because of his style, including keeping his weight back on his back foot. The importance of specific match ups is very much exemplified by the fact that Ali had big problems with Ken Norton, but handily beat George Foreman, who decimated Norton. All of them were great fighters. All of them.
As seen in Mandingo and Drum.
R.I.P., Ken Norton.
Rest in Peace.
Didn’t know he was a former Marine in a bad accident and that his son played in the NFL though I do remember the name now of Ken Norton Jr. Very interesting life. Too short.
And don’t forget Larry Holmes and the great 15rd fight he had with him.
I don’t know about the fight but I’m pretty certain Ali’s broken jaw was real.
He beat Larry Holmes and then went on to defeat his younger brother Mobile Holmes....
Junior is the linebackers’ coach for the Seahawks.
And before that for the USC Trojans, which could have been interesting around the middle of November when they played UCLA. Kenny attended college at UCLA and was a great linebacker for the Bruins!
I personally view Duran as the greatest prize fighter of all time and, until somebody holds the heavyweight crown for 13 years, I will view Joe Louis as the best heavyweight.
Ken Norton and his son were estranged for several years because the father disapproved of his son’s marriage to a white woman. But they eventually reconciled and were reportedly very close for the last 15 years or so.
I, for one, was a little stunned when they gave that last fight to Ali.
You really know your boxing. My 84 y/o dad used to coach young boxers, and he can still appraise a boxer’s skills in just a few moves. Actually, I thought Muhammad Ali would be the first to go, but his life has been very heavily managed for years and years. Expect a huge, and fancy funeral when he does go. It will put New Orleans to shame.
This link shows the entire Ali-Norton first fight with Norton breaking Al’s jaw and winning the decision.
I'll certainly...enthusiastically...call Cassius a worthless,knuckledragging punk but certain tricks I learned at Fort Knox (while he was dodging the draft,as it turns out) will make it difficult for him to force me to call him anything else.
That was a great fight! I was very disappointed that he lost the decision to Larry Holmes. Ken Norton was a classy guy compared to the big mouth Muhammad Ali. He was great fighter and good man.
Semper Fi. RIP.
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