How good was Ken Norton?

[butterfly1964]

norton was one of the greatest of all time, very underrated boxer, only man to beat ali 3 times

shut the heck up you fool! he beat ali once, and ali was past his prime in all three bouts, and norton was in his prime in two of them. nobody beat ali more than once, and if it not for the layoff, nobody would beat ali period!

[Brassangel]

I don't know how safe it is to say things like, "If Ali never would have had a layoff..." and "31 is way beyond his prime years...". Muhammad Ali was still in his prime, he just wasn't in his top-notch physical prime any longer. He was a smarter boxer then, however, and could better use the resources of the ring to dominate a stronger opponent. While Ken Norton only chalked up one "W" against Ali, it was clear throughout all three fights that Norton had Ali's number. At least a 1970's Ali where he fought differently than he did in the 1960's. The 60's Ali probably wouldn't have had any trouble with Ken Norton because his finesse could carry the fight moreso than the need to wear people down by taking abuse.

In regards to the layoff: we'll never know. Ali did have a layoff, so that's all that we have to go by. The same can be said for Tyson joining Don King's camp and the ensuing prison sentence.

To the topic at hand...
Norton was a good fighter, probably not great though. He did have some mighty stiff competition. Whether or not he'd be great today is still a matter of the difference in conditioning, fight styles, and training. Like many of these threads, this will be an argument in a vacuum.

[Da Iceman]

norton beat ali 3 times and he was robbed twice *****! how can you be so sure he would be undefeated, if he fought larry holmes in 81 without a layoff he would still be incredibly washed up.

[butterfly1964]

norton beat ali 3 times and he was robbed twice *****! how can you be so sure he would be undefeated, if he fought larry holmes in 81 without a layoff he would still be incredibly washed up.

yeah, everyone says that ali robbed alot of fighters. they say jones was robbed, and i scored the fight and i had clay winning. they said lyle was robbed, and it was pretty close, and ali beat lyle to a pulp in the eleventh. so it probably is no diffeent in the norton fights IMO.

[Brassangel]

Norton fought well in all three fights; there's no doubt about that. But obviously, Norton only got the win once. Even if there were the betting shenanigans rumoured around those fights, still, Ali won twice. He definitely had the third fight won.

[THE REAL NINJA]

imagine if he was around today, he would be the champ for a long while

sorry man but no he would not ...norton could not take a punch he would be kO'd by v.klit .sam peter ,tua,golata even

[fistlegend]

hes was a decent fighter who beat ali when aliwas easily past his prime

[Da Iceman]

yeah, everyone says that ali robbed alot of fighters. they say jones was robbed, and i scored the fight and i had clay winning. they said lyle was robbed, and it was pretty close, and ali beat lyle to a pulp in the eleventh. so it probably is no diffeent in the norton fights IMO.

i was scorin that lyle fight for lyle he was ahead a few rounds, that fight definetly shouldve been stopped, had it kept going lyle mightve got a SD

[Luccio]

first of all, nobody beat ali in his prime ok? ali was friggin' 31 when they fought! you call that a prime? some people say frazier wasn't in his prime when he fought ali the first time when he was 27! so imagine how ali was at 31.

and to answer your question, norton was pretty good. he was good enough to beat ali. but he had an awkward style that would be suicide against a big puncher.

ali was prime son


deal with it 😎

[GelfSara]

Ken Norton fought during what was arguably the greatest era ever for heavyweights. He`s one of only 2 guys to be Ali during his prime. But he also lost to Ali as well as Frazier, Foreman, Holmes and Ernie Shavers. I believe in a different era, like now, he would be a dominant heavyweight.

Norton was an exceptional boxer with one significant flaw: a fragile chin. Against boxers who were not big punchers he was capable of beating anyone; against boxers who were big punchers it was typically just a m