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EPISODE: Episode 55
Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. was an American professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981, and held the WBC heavyweight title in 1978.
Watch The Scoop from Monday to Friday featuring Canadian heavyweight champ Bola Ray, who lends his vast experience in the sport and provides his comments and analysis on boxing, on YouTube and TalkinFight.com/live. #boxinghistory
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Transcribed:
Hey there talking fight fans, welcome once again to another episode of the scoop featuring the champ bola ray, who is going to continue to enlighten us with his uh great series on how the champ became the champ in the heavyweight world and the greatest of all greats Uh muhammad ali and here’s, a fellow who, i think, uh it’s fair to say, upset uh the aspirations of muhammad muhammad ali one night and shocked boxing world.
That’S am i right.
That’S that’s an understatement to say the least, like you will see he’s uh he’s one of my favorites um, not just favorite heavyweights, of the time or the decade or the era, but more um fighting the fighters period.
He was um.
He was a juggernaut to say at least his physique was like second to none um and, with the exception of his utter destruction, by the hands of george foreman, nobody else actually outclassed him ever in his career um.
He uh today, i’m talking about a former world champion who actually never had his hand raised in the ring, as and declared champion in a world title fight, a multi-athlete, a multi-sport athlete who even muhammad ali claimed he doesn’t know how to beat him.
Even though ali beat him two or three times they met so um, one of those one of those two wins that ali was uh victorious in was deemed exceptionally controversial.
Not only did he lose another controversial fight to larry holmes, but in any other era he would have reigned supreme as world champion and dominated for a while.
It’S my most homeless opinion, so bulla raymond old wally – and this is the scoop born august 9.
1943 in jacksonville illinois was an athlete juggernaut by the name of kenneth howard, norton senior, now um.
When i say an athlete juggernaut, [, Music, ] ken made the all state football defensive team in his senior year in 1960, which was quite a few in his own right.
But then he was also a superstar track and field athlete who ended up competing in eight different events in brought home gold in seven of them, statewide yeah, a new rule, was created where in the state of illinois in track and field, where an athlete can only Compete in four events because of ken norton, actually, it’s known as the ken norton rule now this makes no sense to me in the sense that why penalize them for being or why penalize any athlete for being dominant, if you can, if they can succeed at 5 Or 12, why not allow them to? I don’t understand, but rules like this and participation ribbons from like me just make my head hurt.
I just don’t yeah they don’t they don’t work for me, but with that being said, ken went on to acquire a full-ride scholarship to northeast missouri state university on a football scholarship um his aspiration was to be a or schoolteacher.
You know a police officer, but after graduating he went into the marines and that’s where he found boxing our amateur record of 24 fight, 24 uh, sorry, 26, fights, 24 wins and two losses.
He was also a three-time all-marines heavyweight champion um, and then he turned pro november 14th 1967.
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His professional career started out well with defeats over journeyman and built plenty like a healthy record to the point where ring magazine did a piece on him, making him the top boxing prospect of the heavyweight division, which i believe was a curse because uh yeah shortly after That june, 2nd 1970 ken suffered his first defeat with an eight-ground knockout at the hands of jose luis garcia um.
Who was mr garcia? You ask, i don’t know either [ Laughter ].
He was a nobody and uh.
This is arguably the greatest victory in his career.
So yeah yay bravo um yeah, um.
Five years later, norton got his revenge via fifth round knockout over mr garcia.
So i guess the universe was set right again, but so be it.
Norton was given a motivational book called think and grow rich by napoleon hill, which mentions he mentions in his autobiography as being instrumental in his win over muhammad ali ken went on a 14 fight win streak now um after reading this book within the book was a Quote which read life’s battles, don’t always go in favor of the one who’s bigger or stronger, but sometimes it goes to the one who thinks he can win um.
Paraphrasing from my standpoint, this sounds like i think i can.
I think i can.
I think i can – and this worked magic for the man, so norton had a hard time getting ranked fighters to fight him, but finally had a winnow with a win over henry clark, put him on the world stage and it garnered the intention of none other than One muhammad ali ali was coming off for loss to joe frazier in the fight of the century and was eager to get back into prominence with a fight when the fight was offered to him for the north american boxing federation um everyone’s strap.
This was a golden opportunity for ken, because also he was just literally getting on the scene on the world scene and what a fight to be propelled on the world scene.
With now um joe frazier was a friend of ken norton, actually a stable man, ken norton also had the same trainer in one legendary eddie fudge.
Now come march, 31st 1973 only marches into the ring wearing a rope that none other than elvis gave him in some six weeks prior uh.
This was a back-and-forth war between ali, which saw ollie hit the canvas in the second round and breaking his jaw.
Now ken right up to his death believed wholeheartedly that all these jaws broke in the 14th round or sorry, the eleventh for some reason, i’m not sure what what difference it made, but his face started to swell after the second round.
So i’m not sure exactly what he was saying.
Norton had studied um all these fights and noticed that all he had a tendency of overextending when he threw his jab.
Therefore he would pull his right hand back for added balance and reach for the common for combinations.
Norton also said that he noticed that before ali would flick his jab, he noticed that his left peck would quiver so another telltale sign as to when the punch is coming so anytime.
That ollie threw that jab norton would arc over and flick a jab too, which would actually land because all his hand, his right hand was always being pulled back in in a fashion which i call the bow and arrow when someone’s pulling a boring arrow.
That’S what it looks like when a person does this with the jab and the right hand art over for a more defensive position and also capitalize on ollie, pulling his right hand back.
At the same time, this worked beautifully until the middle rounds when ali got up on his bike and started to float.
This made it difficult for norton to actually predict when the jab was actually being flicked and proved to give ali much needed rounds.
But even when ollie was at his greatest that his youth, whatever the case would be, he didn’t have the energy to dance all 15 rounds.
So tired and last few rounds he went back to standing and exchanging which made the contest so much closer and hard to score.
It was action-packed slugfest and after the final bell, the judge saw the fight as a split decision win for norton ollie, never wore that robe again, a rematch came from six months later, uh september 10, 1973 um and for the most part it looked identical to the First fight, with the exception of ali not being knocked down and breaking a jaw and all that all he started earlier with the dancing which gave gordon so much more difficulty, but norton continued with his cross.
Shell, defense and um, which made it difficult for all elite to penetrate and throw big hooks which landed, but usually in non-vital areas.
Um ollie stay dancing on his toes attempt to beat ken from the outside a close fight that really could have gone either way.
But i have to give it to ali by narrow market margin, even though howard corsell was doing the color commentary – oh dear god, and if you were to believe how he was describing it ollie was our ken norton is the best sorry ollie was like was beating Him by a landslide, like now in the post fight ali made the claim ken norton is the best man i’ve ever fought.
I find that telling no one was given an opportunity of a lifetime fight that had that he had been looking for the title shot.
The world championship against a newly crowned king of the big boys, george foreman march 26, 1974 in caracas, venezuela, the two warriors stepped into their office.
The first round was clear evidence that this was going to be george’s night um.
He in that he was stalking norton.
All over the ring and didn’t take one step backwards.
Ken took a beating, but was still in the fight due to him backpedaling in his effective jab.
But it wasn’t enough to deter george from continuing to follow him.
George catches, uh ken with a few big combinations and ken, is more than respectful of his power and you can’t, but you can’t blame him for it.
The second one was a different story.
Ken begins this round with a wider stance and a more effective jab and he’s walking backwards.
Uh george finally catches ken with a right hook, uppercut in the middle of a combination that sends ken norton’s sailing into the ropes and is counted as his first knockdown sylvia seconds.
After that, the fight, resumes and george jumps him with another quick combination, which ken is then flattened with a left hook.
But at this time the ref doesn’t consider a knock down: okay um, even though it sent them against the ropes again, but so be it.
George jumps ken for the third time and finishes off him off with yet another knock down, which ken does not make the count for now it was.
It was a telling fight in george’s resume because nobody, nobody ever did that to ken norton norton brushes himself off and goes on a knockout streak where seven up seven down, including notable uh noteworthy opponents like jerry, quarry and ken’s old foe, jose luis garcia.
Only to meet up against the greatest one more time now september 28, 1976 norton ali iii right.
I’Ve already done an episode on this fight in my series of greatest robberies in boxing history, as i mentioned in the episode, i didn’t see this as a robbery and pretty much saw it the way the three judges saw it with ali winning eight rounds, six definite Rounds going to norton in one draw now that one draw could gone either way, but more.
The most noteworthy component of the fight was that going into the 15th round.
Norton’S corner believed that norton was so far up so far ahead that he should be careful.
Take your foot off the gas pedal in the final round and pretty much give up the final round now.
This made no sense to me and it’s arguably to me the worst advice ever given in a corner, because by this point in time they had had 38 rounds of boxing experience with each other of which muhammad ali hasn’t so much has rocked norton.
Once norton has dropped, ali once broke his jaw once, but nothing has come that way for norton.
So why would they tell him to take his foot off the gas pedal and when it’s happening, i don’t know man like two of the three judges had the fight.
Even going into the 15th round ken norton took his foot off the pedal lost the final round.
Two judges gave ken our ali, an 8-7 win eight rounds to seven win over ken norton, which solidified his his win.
The third judge giving eight rounds with for for ali six for norton one for a drop, but if norton had actually worked, he’d won that fight majority decision he’d won that fight history would have been so different.
I don’t know like i said this is arguably the worst advice any corner has ever given to women out, given any fighter and um yeah.
I don’t know how i don’t know how norton didn’t like just sue the hell at them or physically beat the hell out of them in the back.
I don’t know.
I always said an interview much later that he too felt that he lost the fight that third fight and was grateful that the judges saw it his way, um the fight his way.
He said that he just doesn’t know how to beat ken norton and which was an incredible statement, an incredible incredibly telling statement for that matter.
Post fight, norton lost motivation to compete and fell into a little bit of depression, and i think justifiably so he continues on his career.
He amasses more wins only to enter into the heavyweight eliminator tournament which he faces off against jimmy young and wins a controversial 15-round split decision.
He was now to face the winner of ollie versus spinx for the wbc belt.
History would have it that um prior to this prior to that fight, all these camp was asked what their thoughts were about.
Uh, holly, norton iv and their camp said that they had absolutely no interest in fighting norton again, but something odd happened.
Ollie was a heavy favorite and then he actually loses to sphinx on his eighth professional fight.
Spinx opted to not fight the mandatory fight, which was against norton and give ali a rematch, which is which was arguably his biggest payday.
So the wbc strip spinks – and i don’t know of another time when this happened, but they just gave norton the headway.
The heavyweight title, even after he didn’t have to beat anybody for it.
It just so happens that his first title offense was against none other than larry holmes and what an incredible fight that was, i think he got robbed um and but it went.
It was a controversial 15-round decision for larry larry never gave him a rematch and just ran with that gift, which i think again is telling that even larry believed that he that ken norton should have won that fight.
Think about it.
Think about it.
In this guy’s career he’s fought the greatest arguably won twice now i didn’t think so.
I thought i thought he genuinely lost that third fight, but a lot of boxing historians and whatnot felt that that was a controversial loss.
Okay, he fought larry holmes.
Who was right up there with the greatest one of the greatest heavyweight champions in modern times, and that was a controversial loss? Muhammad ali vowed never to fight him again did not want to fight.
Him did not know how to beat him.
His words larry holmes, refused to give him a rematch um and just ran with the gift.
I feel for this man.
Okay, he was that great.
I’M not too sure what you could fight son you want to was not knocked out.
It wasn’t jerry cooney, and now you seem to be having something: don’t worry, yeah we’re back.
Okay, yep, get your kid off.
Netflix ken norton was an outstanding, was my favorite fighter of all time, or one of them at least um battle and heavyweight, and yet his no.
That was never raised in a world championship fight a super talent and noteworthy in this discussion, because, even though all three fights were epic and close ali was given the nod and two of them, hence another reason why he is deserving of the title.
The greatest after a series of strokes and failed health, ken norton passed away september 18 2013, the boxing world mourned the legend with george foreman, calling him the fairest man ever and larry holmes said he will be missed by everyone in the boxing world, muhammad ali.
After ken norton actually had an accident, um visited visited ken norton in the hospital several times and their friendship blossomed, because of it, like ken, was just beloved across the board.
He was not just a sensational talent, but a sensational man outside the ring too so um.
I’M really glad i was able to do this piece on him and uh.
I hope it did his legacy justice thanks for the memory, sir, and with that.
That concludes my episode.
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It’S your boy, bala and that’s scoop thanks very much ray.
That was amazing.
I love these uh series you’re doing there they’re, absolutely fantastic they’re, so informative, so enlightening and uh.
You learn so much because you see the seesaw battles go back and forth between the various weight classes even today, and yet so many of us tend to forget these.
These mega battles that were going on that you’re talking about throughout the 70s that started pretty well started in the 60s late 60s.
It certainly went throughout the 70s and uh these.
These four or five guys dominated this sport.
They dominated the headlines, they dominated the ring and then they these guys, went back and forth and back and forth and uh.
You know to come out at the top of that.
You know and uh to define muhammad ali as the greatest.
Yet you hear you hear what he went through.
You hear the struggles uh to get to that title of the greatest.
It’S truly incredible.
It is incredible.
He was.
He was remarkable.
He was remarkable in a remarkable time, yeah yeah for sure, because all these all these fellas, he fought for think of the names foreman holmes north.
Oh, my god, like imagine having to fight these guys like wow, like i said, if norton was in any other era before maybe even in the 80s, he could have reigned supreme, he beat he beat larry holmes.
That was i.
I still think that was a controversial loss.
Um he could have dominated the 80s.
Just like larry did just like larry did so.
I don’t know uh super super good, um.
Well, it’s friday.
So i guess that was the last one of the week and we’re wrapping up our weekend mike and i’ll be on the air on sunday, but i’ll see you again on monday night.
Thank you very much appreciate ray cheers.
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