Bounce Magazine May 2018
Featuring the lovely Nadine Coyle, former Girls Aloud Star, Singer Songwriter Frank Turner. We also have a food and drink special, feature the bury Festival and have plenty of summer recipes, competitions and interesting columns from our usual contributors.
Featuring the lovely Nadine Coyle, former Girls Aloud Star, Singer Songwriter Frank Turner. We also have a food and drink special, feature the bury Festival and have plenty of summer recipes, competitions and interesting columns from our usual contributors.
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MAY <strong>2018</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 />
may 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 may 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 />
20
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