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MAY 20<strong>18</strong> | ISSUE #67<br />
Ken Norton a Unique<br />
World Heavyweight<br />
Champion...<br />
BY RALPH OATES<br />
A series of articles which will feature boxing facts<br />
from both the past to the present...<br />
Ken Norton was without<br />
question a fine fighter<br />
who more than proved his<br />
worth amongst the top elite<br />
heavyweights during the time<br />
period he boxed. Norton hit the<br />
headlines when he became just<br />
the second man in the division<br />
to defeat Muhammad Ali in<br />
the professional rank’s .(Ali’s<br />
first defeat came against Joe<br />
Frazier by way of a 15 round<br />
points defeat on the 8 March<br />
1971 when attempting to regain<br />
his world heavyweight crown).<br />
In the said 12 round points<br />
victory over Ali on the 31 March<br />
1973 Norton won the National<br />
Association Boxing Federation<br />
heavyweight title which Ali<br />
was defending. If that loss<br />
wasn’t bad enough for Ali he<br />
also ended the bout with a<br />
broken jaw. Make no mistake<br />
no-one expected to see Ali lose<br />
against Norton. Muhammad<br />
was expected to win and hence<br />
go on to secure another tilt at<br />
the world heavyweight crown.<br />
However on the night Norton<br />
didn’t share the ring with Ali<br />
just to make up the numbers<br />
he was there to win.<br />
A return with Ali took place on<br />
the 10 September 1973, Norton<br />
was confident of a repeat<br />
victory over the former world<br />
champion. Ali however gained<br />
revenge on this occasion<br />
wining a 12 round points<br />
victory over Norton to regain<br />
his NABF title.<br />
Apart from that famous<br />
victory over Ali Norton also<br />
holds a very unique record<br />
that of being the only man in<br />
boxing to hold a version of<br />
the world heavyweight crown<br />
without ever winning a title<br />
bout. How could that be? You<br />
<strong>may</strong> very well ask. Truth can<br />
often be stranger than fiction.<br />
On the 26th March 1974<br />
Ken challenged the hard<br />
punching George Foreman<br />
for the undisputed title and<br />
was duly stopped in round<br />
two of a scheduled 15. The<br />
second challenge for world<br />
honours came on the 28<br />
September 1976 when Norton<br />
met defending champion<br />
Muhammad Ali who had by this<br />
time regained the title .Norton<br />
pushed Ali hard but at the end<br />
of the fifteen round contest<br />
was deemed to have come in<br />
second losing the decision on<br />
points.<br />
On the 5 November 1977 Ken<br />
met Jimmy Young in a final<br />
eliminator for the world crown<br />
and won a 15 round points<br />
decision. The then reigning<br />
champion Leon Spinks ignored<br />
the mandated challenger and<br />
defended his title against<br />
Muhammad Ali (whom he<br />
had previously beaten for the<br />
championship). The World<br />
Boxing Council responded by<br />
stripping their version of the<br />
title from Spinks and made<br />
Norton their new champion.<br />
The fates were not on Ken’s<br />
side since he hence lost his<br />
crown in his first defence when<br />
outpointed over 15 rounds by<br />
Larry Holmes on the 9 June<br />
1978. After this defeat Norton’s<br />
career took a downwards<br />
spiral with him winning two,<br />
losing two and drawing one<br />
of his next five bouts. Ken’s<br />
final contest took place on<br />
the 11 <strong>may</strong> 1981 when he was<br />
stopped in the first session by<br />
Gerry Cooney in a bout which<br />
was never going to go the full<br />
distance of 10 rounds. Norton<br />
who died in 2013 aged 70<br />
years one month and nine days<br />
old compiled a professional<br />
fight record of 50 bouts of<br />
which he won 42, lost seven<br />
and drew one.<br />
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