Ken Norton
Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. was an American boxer who competed professionally from 1967 to 1981. He was awarded the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978, after winning a close split decision over Jimmy Young in a title eliminator bout.
He is often known for his fights with Muhammad Ali, in which Norton won the first by split decision, lost the second by split decision, and lost the final by a controversial unanimous decision. Norton also fought Larry Holmes in 1978 during the first defense of his championship, narrowly losing a split decision and his WBC title.
Norton retired from boxing in 1981 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.
He also acted in a number of films.
Early life
Norton was an outstanding athlete at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Illinois. He was selected to the all-state football team on defense as a senior in 1960. His track coach entered him in eight events, and Norton placed first in seven. As a result, the "Ken Norton Rule", which limits participation of an athlete to a maximum of four track and field events, was instituted in Illinois high school sports. After graduating from high school, Norton went to Northeast Missouri State University on a football scholarship and studied elementary education. In an interview with ESPN Fitness Magazine in 1985, Norton said that he would have become a teacher or a policeman if he had not taken up boxing.Amateur career
Norton enlisted into the United States Marines Corps after leaving school, serving from 1963 to 1967. Norton was a manual morse intercept, graduating from NCTC Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida. During his time with the Corps, he took up boxing, compiling a 24–2 record en route to three all-Marine heavyweight titles. In time, he became the best boxer to ever fight for the Corps and was awarded the North Carolina AAU Golden Gloves, International AAU, and Pan American titles. Following the National AAU finals in 1967, he turned professional.Professional career
Norton built up a steady string of wins, some against journeyman fighters and others over fringe contenders like the giant Jack O'Halloran. He suffered a surprise defeat in 1970 just after The Ring magazine had profiled him as a prospect, to heavy-hitting Venezuelan boxer Jose Luis Garcia, who was unknown at the time. Garcia floored Norton five times, before Norton was eventually knocked out. Norton overpowered and avenged his loss to Garcia in their rematch five years later, when both were rated contenders.Norton was given the motivational book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, which he said "changed my life dramatically. I was going to fight Muhammad Ali. I was a green fighter, but yet I won, all through reading this book." Upon reading Think and Grow Rich, he went on a 14-fight winning streak, including the shock victory over Muhammad Ali in 1973 to win the North American Boxing Federation heavyweight champion title. Norton said, "These words were the final inspiration in my victory over Ali: 'Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can'." Norton also took a complete course by Hill on gaining wealth and peace of mind. "It can be related to anybody, to be the best in a career, to think positive", said Norton.
In an article which appeared in The Southeast Missourian Norton said, "One thing I do is only watch films of the fights in which I've done well or in which my opponent has done poorly." He also said, "In boxing, and in all of life, nobody should ever stop learning!"
Rise to prominence
Norton vs. Ali I, II
Norton's opponents were elusive in his early career. His first big break came with a clear win over respected contender Henry Clark, which helped him gain world recognition. His big break was when Ali agreed to a match. Joe Frazier, who'd sparred with Norton and defeated Ali, presciently said of Ali, "He'll have plenty of trouble!" Though both were top boxers in the mid-1970s, Norton and Frazier never fought each other, in part because they shared the same trainer, Eddie Futch, and also because they were good friends and didn't want to fight each other.For the first match, on March 31, 1973, Muhammad Ali entered the ring at the San Diego Sports Arena wearing a robe given to him by Elvis Presley, as a 5-1 favorite versus Norton, then rated a number 6 world contender in a bout televised by ABC's Wide World of Sports. Norton won a 12-round split decision over Ali in his adopted hometown of San Diego to win the NABF heavyweight title. In this bout, Norton broke Ali's jaw in the second round causing Ali to fight defensively for the remaining 10 rounds. This led to only the second defeat for "The Greatest" in his career.
Almost six months later at The Forum in Inglewood, California, on September 10, 1973, Ali won a close split decision. Norton weighed in at 206 lbs and some boxing writers suggested that his preparation was too intense and that perhaps he had overtrained. There were some furious exchanges in this hard-fought battle. From Ali's point of view, a loss here would have seriously dented his claim of ever being "The Greatest". During the ABC broadcast of the fight, broadcaster Howard Cosell repeatedly told viewers a dancing and jabbing Ali was dominating the action despite Norton's constant offense and Ali's inability to penetrate Norton's awkward crab-like cross-armed defensive style. The close scoring and decision favoring Ali were both controversial.
Norton vs. Foreman
In 1974, Norton fought Foreman for the world heavyweight championship at the Poliedro de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela, suffering a second-round knockout. After an even first round, Foreman staggered Norton with an uppercut a minute into round two, pushing him into the ropes. Norton did not hit the canvas, but continued on wobbly legs, clearly not having recovered. He shortly went down a further two times in quick succession, with the referee intervening and stopping the fight.Career peak
Norton vs. Quarry
In 1975, Norton regained the NABF heavyweight title when he impressively defeated Jerry Quarry by TKO in the fifth round, although being hurt by a left-hook to the body in the second round. Norton would go on to dominate Quarry for the remainder of the fight, until the referee stopped the fight in the Fifth Round. Norton then avenged his 1970 loss to Jose Luis Garcia by decisively knocking out Garcia in round five, flooring Garcia five times with shots to the mid-section before Garcia was counted out.Norton vs. Ali III
On September 28, 1976, Norton fought his third and final bout against Ali at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Since their last meeting Ali had regained the world heavyweight championship title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in 1974. Many observers have felt this fight marked the beginning of Ali's decline as a boxer. The Norton bout was a tough bruising battle for Ali. In one of the most disputed fights in history, the contest was even on the judges' scorecards going into the final round, which Ali won on both the referee's and judges' scorecards to retain the championship. The two judges, Harold Lederman and Barney Smith, scored the bout 8–7 for Ali, while referee Arthur Mercante scored it 8–6-1 for Ali. At the end of the last round, the commentator announced he would be "very surprised" if Norton had not won the fight.At the time of the bout, the last time a heavyweight champion had lost the title by decision was Max Baer to Jimmy Braddock, 41 years earlier. The January 1998 issue of Boxing Monthly listed Ali-Norton as the fifth most disputed title fight decision in boxing history. The unofficial United Press International scorecard was 8–7 for Norton, and the unofficial Associated Press scorecards were 9–6 for Ali, and 8–7 Norton.
Despite earning a victory, Ali received a pounding. His tactics were to try to push Norton back, but they had failed. He'd refused to 'dance' until the 9th. Norton has said the third fight with Ali was the last boxing match for which he was fully motivated, owing to his disappointment at having lost a fight he believed he had clearly won.
WBC heavyweight champion
Norton vs. Young
In 1977, Norton knocked out previously unbeaten top prospect Duane Bobick in one round. The fight had an interesting narrative to it, as Norton's previous trainer, Eddie Futch, opted to train Bobick instead of Norton. Norton then dispatched European title holder, Lorenzo Zanon in a 'tune-up' fight. Light-hitting but fast, Zanon was ahead on the scorecards until a barrage of right-overhands and looping-body shots put him down and out.Norton then defeated polished number two contender Jimmy Young via 15-round split decision in a WBC title-elimination bout, with the winner to face reigning WBC champion Ali. Both boxers fought a smart fight, with Norton using a heavy body attack whilst Young moved well and countered. The decision was controversial, with many observers thinking Young had done enough to win.
Although Norton was expected to face Ali for a fourth time, to fight for the WBC heavyweight championship, plans changed due to Ali's loss of his title to Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978. The WBC then ordered a match between the new champion and Norton, its number one contender. Spinks however, chose to face Ali in his first title defence, instead of facing Norton. The WBC responded on March 18, 1978, by retroactively giving title fight status to Norton's victory over Young the year before and awarding Norton their championship, which split the heavyweight championship for the first time since Jimmy Ellis and Joe Frazier were both recognized as champions in the early 1970s.