Ken Norton: Biography, Fighting

Ken Norton is a boxer from the United States who was born on August 9, 1943 in the Illinois city of Jacksonville and passed away on September 18, 2013 in Henderson, Nevada. He became famous for his battles with Mohammed Ali. In 1978 he won the world heavyweight title.

Ken Norton was twice recognized as the "Father of the Year" by the Los Angeles Sentinel and the Los Angeles Times in 1977. His son, Ken Norton, Jr., played American football for the team of the University of California in Los Angeles and had a long successful career in the NFL. Later, he became a midfielder coach in the Seattle Seahawks team, and currently works as a defense coordinator in Oakland Raiders. Another son of Ken Norton, Keith Norton, followed in the footsteps of his father, entering the service in the marines. Norton's wife's name is Rose Conant, they also have a daughter Kenisha and another son, Brandon.

Successes in amateur sports

Norton, who played football in college, graduated in 1963 and was drafted into the US Marine Corps. He began to act as a boxer to avoid being sent to Vietnam. His track record in the army sports team for the next four years consists of 24 wins, two defeats and three won titles in the heavyweights category.

The beginning of a professional career

November 14, 1967 Ken Norton first participated in the battle as a professional boxer. In the late 1960s he won 12 victories, 11 of which are ahead of schedule. All fights were held in California, most of them took place in the city of San Diego. The boxer was noted for his flexibility, speed and excellent technique. Most of all, the opponents were afraid of his hooks, very fast and accurate. At one time his sparring partner was Joe Frazier.

July 2, 1970, after four victories in the same year by knockout, Norton joined the fight against Venezuelan boxer Jose Luis Garcia. Thanks to his reputation, Ken Norton, whose biography was previously filled with victories alone, was considered an obvious favorite with a betting ratio of 5 to 1, but Garcia was not going to give up and in the 8th round twice sent the opponent to the floor. Norton, who then suffered his first defeat, was able to collect and execute a new series of 13 wins before the end of 1972. At the end of that year, he knocked out in the 9th round the former California champion Henry Clark.

Ken Norton - Mohammed Ali. First fight

Impressive results allowed Norton to fight with Mohammed Ali for the title of champion of the North American federation NABF. The battle will take place on March 31, 1973 in San Diego, the city that has become Norton almost native. Ali, who at that time was on the list of this federation as No. 1, defended his title for the 6th time and was considered the clear favorite. But he missed a lot of training and at the time of entering the ring weighed about 105 kg.

Ken Norton, whose height, weight and physique were slightly less than that of the enemy (191 cm / 100 kg), had the same arm length and was much more lightweight and technical. In addition, he studied the style of Mohammed Ali and received many advice from Fraser. In the 2nd round, Norton cracked Ali's jaw on the right. Despite this, the battle continued until the last 12 rounds. As a result, the victory was given to Norton by a decision of the judges, and two of them were against it.

The second fight with Mohammed Ali

Ali took revenge on September 10, 1973, this time the fight was held in Inglewood. Both fighters were much better prepared and threw off weight. This fight also lasted until the last round, and the decision had to be taken by the judges. However, this time all the judges, except for two, gave victory to Mohammed Ali. After the fight, he said that Norton is the best fighter he met, with the possible exception of Joe Frazier.

Norton v. Foreman

Becoming the first contender for the title, on March 26, 1974, Norton fought with the WBA world champion and WBC George Forman at the Poliedro de Caracas arena in Venezuela. Foreman won 39 battles, never losing, and a year before the match with Norman won by knockout in the second round of Joe Frazier. In the second round, the wide hooks and the uppercuts of Foreman sent Norton to the ground. He fell, but was able to continue the fight. After a new combination of punches, Norman is again on the floor. He hardly climbs, but clearly can not continue, so the judge stops the fight.

The next two years, Ken Norton did not try to fight for the title of world champion, but scored several major victories, although he was not as light as before (his weight exceeded 100 kilograms). Among other things, he wins the NABF title by defeating Jerry Quarry on March 24, 1975 by technical knockout. On August 14 of the same year, Norton took revenge against Jose Luis Garcia, performing a series of punches that led to a technical knockout in the fifth round of an exciting fight. After three victories in 1976, he again got the opportunity to call on Mohammed Ali.

The battle for the title of world champion was held in New York on September 28, 1976. Mohammed Ali at that time owned the belts of the WBA and WBC. The fight was very tough: Ali won on points, although not all judges supported this decision.

Norton won the next three matches in 1977: he defeated the unbeaten Dwayne Bobik, former Italian champion Lorenzo Zanon and challenger for the title of world champion Jimmy Young, who shortly before won the fight against George Foreman. After that, he became the first contender for the WBC title. In March 1978, the current world champion Leon Spinks refused to fight and lost his title. After that, the right to be called the champion by the version of the federation went to Norton.

Larry Holmes - Ken Norton

His title was defended in a fight against Larry Holmes. This boxer has not lost a single fight, besides, he was six years younger. The fight was scheduled for June 9, 1978 in Las Vegas. Holmes won most of the rounds in the first half of the fight, Norton was rarely active. Since the 8th round, Norton began responding to Holmes attacks with powerful hooks, at the end of the 11th round he managed to break through the defense of the enemy. In response, Holmes struck a significant number of hits in the 13th round.

However, Norton still returned to the fight and won the 14th round. During the 15th and final round, which is considered one of the best finishing rounds of all time, the fight was especially cruel, and all the people present in the hall got to their feet. The outcome of the duel between the two fighters was determined by three judges. Two of them gave the victory to Holmes, and Norton lost the championship title just three months after his receipt.

Completion of career

After this defeat, Ken Norton, who was already 35 years old, slowed down a bit, but did not stop performing. Having defeated former Texas Champion Randy Stevens, Norton on March 23, 1979 in the first round knocked out Ernie Shavers. On August 19 of the same year, there was a battle with Scott Leda. After this fight, Norton decided to announce the termination of his career.

However, the following year, he returned and beaten the unbeaten Randall Cobb, who is 10 years younger than him. The last battle of our hero took place on May 11, 1981, where he faced a very promising boxer Jerry Cooney. The young athlete sent Norton in knockout already in the first round.

Life after the ring

Norton, on account of which 42 wins (33 of them by knockout), 7 defeats and 1 draw, is one of the best heavyweights of the 1970s. The boxer, who in 1978 became the world champion, remained in history as the most stubborn rival of Mohammed Ali after Joe Frazier.

In 1986, he was in a serious car accident, after which doctors could hardly save his life. Norton stayed alive, but the consequences of the accident will remind you of himself for the rest of his life. In 1989, he, along with Mohammed Ali, Joe Frazier, George Forman and Larry Holmes, will appear in the movie Champions Forever, in which five champions talk about their careers.

In 1992, he became a member of the international boxing "Hall of Fame", and in 2000 published his autobiography called Going the distance.

Norton starred in several films, including Mandingo (1975), Delta Pi (1985), Champions Forever (1989) and Dirty Work (1998). He was also appointed to the role of Apollo Creed in the films "Rocky" and "Rocky 2", but refused to participate and was replaced by Carl Weathers.

Death

Norton died in Las Vegas on September 18, 2013 in a specialized institution for the care of seriously ill. He was 70 years old, and in the last years of his life he suffered a series of strokes. Boxers from all over the world gathered to pay homage to him. George Foreman called him "the best of all", and Larry Holmes said that "he will be missing both in the boxing world and among the rest of humanity."