Ken Norton once said he wouldn't have beaten Holyfield but whether or not that was modesty I don't know.
Ken Norton was a strong, powerful fighter, superbly conditioned and was a stylistic nightmare for boxers, look at the trouble he gave Ali and Holmes. For all the trouble he gave boxers he crumbled against punchers, look at what Foreman and Shavers did to him.
I don't know how I would class Holyfield, you could say he was a boxer, or a puncher. He certainly had bags of heart and a granite jaw. He was a good boxer but often came down off his toes to slug it out, he wasn't a massive puncher but certainly could hit.
I would say that it would be a tough, evenly matched fight for the first half, with many exciting toe to toe exchanges that would have the crowd on their feet.
What swings it for me is that Holyfield had the much better chin, I think he starts to wear Norton down at around the halfway stage and then TKO's him before ten.
Holyfield TKO9.
Great match up, I gotta believe Holyfield would gut out a close decision, but man this one is pretty even in almost every area. Ali was so much better than Tyson that the comparison isn't really fair and in truth Norton was far superior to Tyson, Holyfield's wins over Mike in no way compare to Norton's win over Ali. Still Evander in my opinion would have found a way to do just enough to get a split decision over Ken.
1992 Evander The Real deal Holyfield vs 1975 Ken Norton, 15 rounds. Ken Norton was an ex-marine who resided out of San Diego California, very strong and had an awkward style to figure out, sort of a crab like defense. He had beaten the likes of Muhammad Ali in 1973, and Irish Jerry Quarry in 1975. He was knocked out by George Foreman on March 26,1974 in Caracas Venezuela, in two rounds. Foreman defended his World Heavyweight Title he won from Joe Frazier. Holyfield had won the World heavyweight Title with a knockout of Tyson's victor James Buster Douglas. Norton would make it interesting for the first 3 rounds, then Holyfield staggers Ken, who does not do well with punchers Holyfield methodically chops down the Jawbreaker Norton to stop him in round 5.
Hello sir and excellent question! I remember watching Norton beat Ali and he was always going to be a fighter style wise that would give Ali lots of trouble behind that unorthodox stance and firing out that snaeaky fast jab of his. Norton ran into problems whenever he faced the big time bombers like Shavers and Foreman as he coudn't stand toe to toe with them nor was he fast enough to stay away. With Holyfield you have a guy that's more of a boxer/slugger type of fighter and a fierce warrior known for his fights with Tyson and Bowe where he showed a ton of heart and determination. One thing's for sure in this fight is that both men would look more like body builders than fighters, very chiseled and strong. There isn't a lot of size difference between the two and both are about even as boxers with Holyfiled perhaps having a small edge in punching power. This wopuld be an exciting fight and a close fight that really could go either way. In a series of fights, I would say each would win one but in this one fight I'm going with Norton.
Ken Norton WSD15
i suspect "the guy that beat tyson" was a JUICEBALL.....in that case i pick Holyfield
if its the Holyfield who fought Riddick Bowe, then thats a more interesting fight....
i think either way though Norton gets hit alot, and thats a bad combo with the fact that Holy throws alot of punches for a HW
i pick Holy, but i would love for Norton to throwdown on him in a 15 Round fight
the guy that beat ali vs the guy that beat tyson
