Ken Norton where does he rank

Question

Opinions, Based on who beats who in the ring, forget about accomplishments, mano a mano where does he rank?

Answer 1

Well since he is considered to of had a glass chin, he will never be ranked in the top 10 or even top 20 of all time great Heavyweight fighters. He was hard hitting, fast, and skillful but just couldn't take a hard shot.

Answer 2

He was ok but nothing really great.He just never had the chin to do anything worth while.he's a garanteed Hall of famer but no where near top 10 best of all time.maybe top 50.

Answer 3

well he bust Ali's jaw

Answer 4

I can agree with Toughguy with some of his answers about Kenny Norton. I will also note that he did have his trouble with the big sluggers and got KO'd for it. He did beat Ali 2 out of three times, but hey its boxing and scandal happens! The only thing that should be noted is that he was handed the title and does not get my full respect as a true fighter. Other then that he was a top B level fighter and gets some respect in my book.

Answer 5

Ken Norton was an outstanding fighter that obviously had more success against boxers than sluggers.  He was a very unorthodox fighter with a crossarm style much like Archie Moore with good power and an outstanding jab that seemed to come from nowhere.  His glaring weakness was his chin at times especially against the power hitters.  He was outstanding in his fights against Ali and many would argue that he was robbed in the fights he lost to him and beating him once.  One of the best fights I've ever watched was the one against Larry Holmes and it showed how much heart he had to go along with his skill.  Against Foreman he had no chance once George found the range and the same against Earnie Shavers both of whom took Ken out early.  Against Gerry Cooney he was a shell of his old self and nearly got killed.  Now back to your question with all that being said, Ken could have beaten a lot of the all time heavyweights possibly except for the true greats of the ring.  I would rank him probably about 25th of all time or thereabouts.  He definetly beats Patterson, Johansson, Douglas, Braddock, a lot of the so call champs of the 80's like Coetzee, and Dokes.  He beats Sharkey, Carnera, probably Schmeling, Willard and so on.

Answer 6

Norton was a "Good" champion.  I agree with Tough Guy that Norton would have beaten many of the "Ordinary" champions that I refer to as "The 80s babies".  That's when Champions stopped training and just sought money fights.  

Norton would have his hands full against Berbick or a motivated Tim Witherspoon.  Berbick is strong and Norton always had problems with strong boxers.  Tim would present a problem with his style but Kenny could always turn it into a FIGHT and out-work him.  He was always in shape, which is a lot more than I can say for Witherspoon.

Norton would beat Patterson, Johansson, Braddock, everyone before Johnson, with the possible exception of Jim Jeffries.  BIG Jeff would have a puncher's chance.  Believe it or not Norton could present a few problems for Jack Johnson.  Jack stood well above his class but Norton was among much tougher company.  Jack "Looks" like the better champion.   He was but not by a stretch.

Many point to the belief that Rocky Marciano was too small for the later day champions.  That's true in most cases but I don't think he would have much trouble beating Norton when he weighed 202lbs. as in his first fight with ALI.  The 215lb. Norton would cause problems for Rocky.  Ken would certainly clock Rocky a few times but he would also leave himself vulnerable to Rocky's power.  Big strong guys had no trouble against Norton but he would have even more problems with shorter sluggers.  Ever wonder why he never fought Frazier?  

Norton is ordinary at best.  He is in great company but he would not stand with the greats.  He, like Frazier, is given a lot of credit mainly because of their respective wins over ALI.  Had either of them never beaten ALI but fought each other,  the winner would not receive much press and the loser would receive even less.

Had ALI never gone into his forced exile  I'm sure there would not even be talk of how Norton stacks up against him.  Norton did give ALI a lot of trouble but he would not have given PRIME Ali nearly as much trouble.  He's a "GOOD" boxer but he would have been a sitting duck for ALI's rapid fire combinations.  The ALI Norton defeated was a bit slower and not nearly as motivated.  

Like I said,  Ken Norton is a "Good" champion, not a "Great" one.