Very interesting match up. Tommy "The Duke" Morrison was a good boxer with a big left hook. He has 49 wins with 44 KOs with only 3 losts. It seems like if you can take his punches than you can do well against him. Ray Mercer took his punches then beat him. Even a journey man with a granite chin by the name of Ross Purity got a draw with The Duke. Ken "The Black Hercules" Norton can also punch and he has better defense than Tommy Morrison and a better jab, too. Ken record is 42 wins 33 KOs and 7 losts. He lost to the like of Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Larry Holmes all great fighters. He lost to great puncher like Earnie Shavers. His lost to Gerry Cooney is when Ken was already past his prime. Two scenarios. First scenario is Tommy Morrison comes out with all guns blazing and KO Ken in the 1st round before Ken can warm up like Gerry Cooney and Earnie Shavers did. Second scenario is Ken great defense frustrate Tommy and bring him into deep water in the later round where Tommy stamina is a question mark. Then Ken will unleash and KO Tommy like Ray Mercer did. First scenario is more likely to happen.
Kenny Norton would knock out Tommy Morrison in about 8 rounds. If Norton could go the distance with Ali and Holmes there is no way Morrison could beat him.
Great match-up. As great as Kenny Norton was, he simply could not handle big punchers and Tommy had a sledgehammer for a fist. Norton was a big cagey, but Morrison is faster and a better boxer than Foreman or Shavers. I hate saying this since there is a huge disparity in terms of greatness, but Tommy blows Norton out of the ring in the first round.
Hello Matt and another brilliant match up sir! I had the pleasure of watching both men in their big fights over the years with Norton grabbing my attention with his jaw breaking win literally over Muhammad Ali which was considered a huge upset at that time it being only Ali's 2nd career loss. In the other two fights of the trilogy it could be argued that he deserved at least a draw or win in either of the fights too which were extremely close. Norton also defeated Jerry Quarry and Jimmy Young and lost a hearbreaker decision in one of the best heavyweight fights of all time vs Larry Holmes. He had that crablike stance with a very fast and hard jab and was a very hard puncher. His knock was that his chin let him down against big punchers like Foreman and Shavers, Tommy "The Duke" Morrison was a very heralded fighter with that big left hook of his with good speed, good boxing ability and like Norton also had a notoriously weak chin at times especially in his big fights losing to Lennox Lewis and Ray Mercer in devastating fashion. He did beat an older version of Foreman by choosing to box though I always believed that the younger version would have surely knocked him out! This would have been a fun and exciting contest but I've always felt that at his best, the man that gave Holmes and Ali all he wanted would have beaten Morrison at his best. I believe that Norton would survive the early rounds after being rocked a few times and came back strong like he did vs Holmes and captured a hard earned decision win.
Ken Norton WUD15
I think Norton is smart enough and much more skilled to handle Morrison, even with the size differential. If Kenny comes in the shape he was during the first and third Ali fights, he'd decision The Duke.
Norton by middle rounds TKO. Norton is perfectly of getting Morrison out there early. Morrison's chin was not reliable and his defense was close to non-existent most of the time. And it didn't take huge punchers to hurt/drop Morrison.
I would give Morrison a puncher's chance, but that's about it.
The Duke would break that glass chin of Norton by the 4th round
i think norton would have been the master here.
Who wins?
