How did Norton make it to the top level with no chin?

[kara]

Some people could say the same about Klitschko

[DooGee#33]

Ken seemed to freeze up against Foreman. When he was forced backward he couldn't handle it. If you let him shuffle forward as a boxer type like Holmes, Ali, Young did then his defense was very tight. Norton had very good quickness up through 1975.
Ken bulked up a little too much and lost some of his speed. IMO he probably beat Ali 3 times with the only truly debatable bout being #2. Norton beat a faded Jerry Quarry. He took a couple a good shots from Jerry that stopped other notable heavyweights.

[DooGee#33]

I'm not asking how he can beat Ali. It's how he got to top ranking

Beating Ali got him up near the top. It put him on the map and changed his life. During that period of time Ali was fighting alot of fights. He faced many good fighters and some no hopers but he was getting the feel of the ring back.

He had offered Norton a fight a year or so before they fought but Eddie Futch turned him down. Ali's people had no idea how good he was. They misjudged that one.

[Dr. Z]

[QUOTE=BKM-;n32015639]


Shavers is one of the hardest punchers ever but not one of the best punchers ever, you're drunk or high or both if you don't think I can name a big list of HW punchers that were superior to him. And almost all of the best opponents he faced beat him, often at his own game and usually by stoppage. Norton is an exception, which was made possible because of his below average chin.

Cobb and Quarry couldn't get past that cross armed guard to touch up Norton's chin.

The funny thing is somebody like Lennox Lewis' chin is usually criticized because he lost his only 2 fights by KO. Even though there's a plethora of fights you can pick out where you see Lewis displaying an above average chin against very hard hitters. Norton crumbled within minutes against the hardest hitters he faced and hardly showed any durability against anyone with actual power and it's a problem to question his chin? Nope.[/QUOTE
Norton did not have an elusive style. IMO, he was very engaging in the ring. And he is one heck of a body puncher. This type of style gives a puncher like Foreman and Shavers his chance and then some.

His defense when he waited to be defensive was good. IMO his ring IQ was not! You move around the ring vs. Foreman and Shavers, especially early on. Now Kenny could move...but he didn't try to do that. Again style got in the way of his better judgement.

He did not have a bad chin. Who else in his prime knocked him out? Only Foreman and Shavers, two monstrous puchers. He was not down in others fights, and he fought plenty of contenders during his prime.

[Dr. Z]

Beating Ali got him up near the top. It put him on the map and changed his life. During that period of time Ali was fighting alot of fights. He faced many good fighters and some no hopers but he was getting the feel of the ring back.

He had offered Norton a fight a year or so before they fought but Eddie Futch turned him down. Ali's people had no idea how good he was. They misjudged that one.

You know your stuff and are a good addition to this board. For some reason Frazier gets all the credit in the world for beating Ali, but Norton who busted Ali up worse and IMO would have stopped had the fight been 15 rounds instead of 12, does not. Norton relentlessly attacked All in the12th and final round. Norton really beat Ali clearly twice. So argue three times! The official win was definitely not a fluke.

[Tanakasensei]

Some people could say the same about Klitschko

That's a myth.He got up against Sanders and he was gassed and Brewster.

And he got up from Samuel Peter..and beat him.

[Tanakasensei]

Ken seemed to freeze up against Foreman. When he was forced backward he couldn't handle it. If you let him shuffle forward as a boxer type like Holmes, Ali, Young did then his defense was very tight. Norton had very good quickness up through 1975.
Ken bulked up a little too much and lost some of his speed. IMO he probably beat Ali 3 times with the only truly debatable bout being #2. Norton beat a faded Jerry Quarry. He took a couple a good shots from Jerry that stopped other notable heavyweights.

Norton had trouble with pressure fighters but as long as it was a finesse boxer he could beat anyone

[SUBZER0ED]

Because he had no answer to Foreman and could be killed in the long run.

Which means, he could NOT continue to fight. All he could do was continue to get up and get knocked back down. You first said he could have continued, but the fight was stopped for humanitarian reasons.

[kara]

That's a myth.He got up against Sanders and he was gassed and Brewster.

And he got up from Samuel Peter..and beat him.

All of his losses, outside of Fury, were by KO. His chin wasn't the worst, but it was certainly at risk against anyone with power. I remember Touch of Sleep dropped him and was coming on when that fight ended in a split decision win after five rounds because Klitschko said he was having trouble seeing due to a clash of heads.

[them_apples]

He couldn't last one round with guys who had true power (Foreman, Shavers, Cooney). I always thought top boxing was darwinism when it came to chin endurance - if you don't have it, you won't survive to be there..

But Norton obviously had no resilience to big shots. Unless you guys can name a huge puncher he could hang with..

Are there so few big hitters that you can reach top 5 without ever having to meet one?

Foreman was in a small elite group of punches who couldn’t just knock you out, they could damage you - sometimes permanently. Foreman said so himself, as well as Liston. “He had one punch killing power”.

Norton took some shots that night and took his chin away. However it goes (mental, physical).

I also believe Foreman took something out of Frazier as well. He laughs it off, but make no mistake he’s not actually kidding “I wanted to be able to go home to my kids, thats why I figured it best to stop the fight”.