RIP Ken Norton

[cliftonparksufan]

If you are from my generation you understand what a great sport Boxing once was. Of course this was after Rocky Marciano and the fighters in the 40's and 50's which is probably the #1 generation for boxing, but the 70's were pretty good also. Ken Norton fought Ali three times during the 70's, beat him once and then lost twice in some close matches. Lots of great and underrated boxers back then.

http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Former-heavyweight-champion-Norton-dies-4825866.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Norton

 

[Toga]

I remember sitting in a bar in London watching the fight where Norton broke Ali's jaw. Norton was good.

 

[Marsh01]

Norton was a beast


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[Col. Bleep]

Tough, tough fighter...nice guy.
Always had time for kids.

So many of the heavyweight contenders of the late 60's and 70's would destroy all opposition today with the exception of the Klitschko's.

 

[realorange]

Tough, tough fighter...nice guy.
Always had time for kids.

So many of the heavyweight contenders of the late 60's and 70's would destroy all opposition today with the exception of the Klitschko's.

A few of them would destroy the Klitschkos too.

 

[SWC75]

Always liked Ken. His fight with Holmes was one of the best ever.

 

[Col. Bleep]

A few of them would destroy the Klitschkos too.

I'd like to agree.
But these are two huge men who can box...too big for even great fighters...unless they walk into a shot.

They're similar to Lennox Lewis.

Leon Spinks was eloquent on how important size is.
When asked if Mike Tyson should retire after Lennox pounded him...Leon said,
"Lennox Lewis? Lennox Lewis? He's a biiiiiiig m-f'er!"
(Of course, Leon used the actual word).

We really need a superheavyweight weight class.

 

[realorange]

I'd like to agree.
But these are two huge men who can box...too big for even great fighters...unless they walk into a shot.

They're similar to Lennox Lewis.

Leon Spinks was eloquent on how important size is.
When asked if Mike Tyson should retire after Lennox pounded him...Leon said,
"Lennox Lewis? Lennox Lewis? He's a biiiiiiig m-f'er!"
(Of course, Leon used the actual word).

We really need a superheavyweight weight class.

While the Klitschko's are good fighters, they look better than they are because the rest of the heavyweights are more like Joe Louis's bum of the month fighters.
I'd like to see what they might have done against Ali, Frazier, Norton, Holmes or Foreman.

 

[SWC75]

I'd like to agree.
But these are two huge men who can box...too big for even great fighters...unless they walk into a shot.

They're similar to Lennox Lewis.

Leon Spinks was eloquent on how important size is.
When asked if Mike Tyson should retire after Lennox pounded him...Leon said,
"Lennox Lewis? Lennox Lewis? He's a biiiiiiig m-f'er!"
(Of course, Leon used the actual word).

We really need a superheavyweight weight class.

I think there should be ten classes. Get rid of the "junior" and "super" classes: if one guy is 154 pounds and the other guy is 160, they are both middleweights. The problem is that the heavyweight division is allowed to grow and it has. Through Floyd Patterson, most heavyweight champions were the size of halfbacks- around 185-190 pounds. Sonny Liston began a series of 210-220 pounders., (fullbacks or linebackers) Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis began a series of basketball forwards (6-5+, 240-250 pounds). The divisions should be: Flyweight, (112 pounds), Bantamweight, (118), Featherweight, (126) Lightweight, (135), Welterweight, (147), Middleweight, (160), Light Heavyweight, (175) Middle Heavyweight, (190), Heavyweight (220) and Superheavyweight (220+).

Now, at the beginning of each year, pick the top 8 fighters in each division and have a tournament to determine the champion. The quarterfinals could be in the spring, the semi-finals during the summer and the finals during the fall. Now you have a regular spot on the sports calendar. You have annual championships, rather than hereditary titles controlled by individual boxers, managers and promoters. You have 70 meaningful bouts a year. You will create celebrities as people will discover fighters they like to root for.

An alternative would be to have the current champion keep the title and use this system to determine who will challenge him at the very end of the year.

 

[SWC75]

While the Klitschko's are good fighters, they look better than they are because the rest of the heavyweights are more like Joe Louis's bum of the month fighters.
I'd like to see what they might have done against Ali, Frazier, Norton, Holmes or Foreman.

I thin k the best way to judge an era is to see how many fighters remain contenders for a long period of time. The 1960's and 1970's have a lot of guys like that. They would be almost as famous as the champions, (Eddie Machen, Henry Cooper, Brian London, George Chuvalo, Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis, Cleveland Williams, Zora Folley, Doug Jones, Ernie Terrell, Karl Mildenberger, Oscar Bonavena, Joe Bugner, Jimmy Young, Earnie Shavers, Ron Lyle, Mike Weaver, etc.)

 

[Crusty]

Saw him fight Ali in Yankee Stadium (1976). Everyone thought he won but they gave it to Ali. Tough fighter and the only guy to break Ali's jaw!
RIP warrior.

 

[richard levy]

Always liked Ken. His fight with Holmes was one of the best ever.

should watch Shavers vs Norton. great action, a massacre

 

[richard levy]

which is almost as good as Lyle vs Shavers, which was almost as good as Lyle vs Foreman. More heavy punches than in all of the Klitschko's fights

 

[orange79]

RIP, champ. Wow, how the world has changed. My first year at Syracuse, I remember the 3rd fight vs. Ali at Yankee Stadium, which my entire floor listened to on the radio in my room.

 

[alphaorange]

Cooney almost killed him..literally. Too bad the booze got him (Cooney).

 

[SWC75]

should watch Shavers vs Norton. great action, a massacre

 

[SWC75]

Cooney almost killed him..literally. Too bad the booze got him (Cooney).

 

[Col. Bleep]

which is almost as good as Lyle vs Shavers, which was almost as good as Lyle vs Foreman. More heavy punches than in all of the Klitschko's fights

Lyle-Foreman may be greatest heavyweight brawl ever.
When they raised George's hand he had no idea where he was.

And we're forgetting Jerry Quarry.
I saw him counter-punch Ron Lyle to pieces at MSG.
He also KO'd Shavers in one round.
And Ken Norton stopped Quarry.
What a great bunch of fighters.
And then there were Bonavena and Henry Cooper who almost knocked Ali (Clay) cold and Wepner and Mathis and Jimmy Young and Jimmy Ellis.

 

[Toga]

Round 4 - wow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywOdsh7Vs9w

 

[SWC75]

which is almost as good as Lyle vs Shavers, which was almost as good as Lyle vs Foreman. More heavy punches than in all of the Klitschko's fights

You can't hear it but you can feel it:

 

[SWC75]

Lyle-Foreman may be greatest heavyweight brawl ever.
When they raised George's hand he had no idea where he was.

 

[SWC75]

Here's a personal favorite from back in the day. People often wonder what a George Foreman-Sonny liston fight would have been like. Cleveland Williams was George Foreman before George Foreman. He was from the same town, (Houston), and was virtually the same size, 6-3 and about 215-220). He was tremendous puncher, (Liston said he was the ahrdest hitter he ever fought). His career came acropper vs. Liston in a couple of fights, (this is the first) and then he got shot by a policeman and was never the same afterwards. But this could be an image of what a Liston-Foreman fight might have looked like:

 

[SWC75]

Round 4 - wow

Anybody remember this from the early days of ESPN?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-SwbszTc44

Good night, sweet prince!

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

 

[JOC44]

The Norton obits prove something I've told lots of people: No matter what you accomplish in your life, in the end one of the five most important things will be that you were a United States Marine.

Semper Fi, Mac.