Holmes vs Norton scorecard

[joseph5620]

How did you score the Holmes vs Norton fight? I had Holmes winning by a point. But it was extremely close and I wouldn't have a problem with Norton winning.

One thing that stood out for me is that the judge's scored the last round for Holmes. Larry did have a big rally in the last 30 seconds but most of the round belonged to Norton. Tough to score.

[beez721]

How did you score the Holmes vs Norton fight? I had Holmes winning by a point. But it was extremely close and I wouldn't have a problem with Norton winning.

One thing that stood out for me is that the judge's scored the last round for Holmes. Larry did have a big rally in the last 30 seconds but most of the round belonged to Norton. Tough to score.

I remember scoring it even. seems like besides the spinks fights holmes always seemed to get the benefit of doubt in close fights. I thought witherspoon and carl williams edged him in super close fights

[sonnyboyx2]

i have watched it many times and always give the edge to the Champion Ken Norton.. Holmes was "Gifted" many fights during his career.

[Thread Stealer]

I don't have a scorecard, but I agree that Norton won the 15th.

I just rewatched it, great round. You can see Sly Stallone and Roberto Duran next to each other ringside, obviously into it. Wonder if this was around the time they filmed Rocky 2.

This fight made me re-assess Ken Norton. I used to fall into that "well he had the right style to give Muhammad Ali problems but gets overhyped otherwise" category. But he also arguably beat a 28 year old Larry Holmes. At the very least, he fought very close. And he did it at age 35, back in an era when 35 was not the new 25 or whatever, and it was less common for athletes in their mid 30s to be performing at such a high level.

Depending on how you scored it, you can say Norton has wins over 2 of the top 5 HWs in history. And not when they were old and shriveled shells of their former selves.

[Thread Stealer]

I remember scoring it even. seems like besides the spinks fights holmes always seemed to get the benefit of doubt in close fights. I thought witherspoon and carl williams edged him in super close fights

I also had Witherspoon (whose defensive style had similarities to Norton) winning, by a point. I have no problem with Holmes winning, but 118-111 is a ridiculous scorecard. It was a very close fight. Sometimes I just have a problem with the wideness of the scorecards in close fights, rather than who win, such as Jo Guerra's infamous 118-110 scorecard for Leonard against Hagler (which I scored even).

I've never scored the Williams fight, but I had both Spinks fights 9-6, first for Spinks and second for Holmes.

[Ray Corso]

I favored Holmes by a close margin. I think people don't realize that Norton was in Ali's age group not Holmes. I believe that this great fight took alot out of Kenny and after this bout he fought the remainder few fights at a heavy 225 even though at 6'3" he looked good but at 38-39 against Cooney he really wasn't at his best and he got caught as slow starters sometimes do. He fought a tough decs. win against Big Tex Cobb and a draw with Scot LeDoux that should have told him and his people that its time to rethink but it often takes a one sided event before reality steps up. Don't get me wrong between Cobb and LeDoux no one was in line to fight either of those men.

I think Holmes vs Norton is one of the best heavyweight fights ever!

Ray.

[Humean]

I had it for Norton 143-142 and I also gave the last round to Holmes. It was a couple of years ago that I scored this so can't remember the last round clearly, either way not easy to split the two of them over the course of the fight. This was definitely one of my favourite ever heavyweight fights.

h n
1 10 9 little clean, h with jab and odd right hand
2 10 9 similar only h landed more good right hands
3 10 9 closer, h just edges it
4 10 9 n has success but h has more
5 10 9 close, could be either way
6 9 10 close, n big solid right hand won it for him
7 9 10 n edges it
8 9 10 round of fight so far, n edges it with harder shots
9 9 10 ditto
10 9 10 closeish but n landed more telling blows
11 9 10 clear n round, batters h a bit last min or so
12 9 10 closeish but n landed harder shots, both tired
13 10 9 most dominant round from either fighter
14 9 10 big comeback from n, outfought h here
15 10 9 unbelievable round, h just gets it for me though
142 143

[joseph5620]

As a side note, I finished reading Norton's book not long ago. Great book with a of of interesting personal looks at different people in boxing including Ali, Eddie Futch, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Jerry Quarry.

[joseph5620]

I had it for Norton 143-142 and I also gave the last round to Holmes. It was a couple of years ago that I scored this so can't remember the last round clearly, either way not easy to split the two of them over the course of the fight. This was definitely one of my favourite ever heavyweight fights.

h n
1 10 9 little clean, h with jab and odd right hand
2 10 9 similar only h landed more good right hands
3 10 9 closer, h just edges it
4 10 9 n has success but h has more
5 10 9 close, could be either way
6 9 10 close, n big solid right hand won it for him
7 9 10 n edges it
8 9 10 round of fight so far, n edges it with harder shots
9 9 10 ditto
10 9 10 closeish but n landed more telling blows
11 9 10 clear n round, batters h a bit last min or so
12 9 10 closeish but n landed harder shots, both tired
13 10 9 most dominant round from either fighter
14 9 10 big comeback from n, outfought h here
15 10 9 unbelievable round, h just gets it for me though
142 143

That's a good breakdown of rounds and pretty accurate from what I remember.

[Scott9945]

As a side note, I finished reading Norton's book not long ago. Great book with a of of interesting personal looks at different people in boxing including Ali, Eddie Futch, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Jerry Quarry.

Were his comments on Quarry negative? I remember that Jerry didn't like him.