Ken Norton Archives - The Fight CityThe Fight City

Browsing Tag Ken Norton

Boxiana 0
March 13, 1963: Clay vs Jones

No matter how talented, how impressive their amateur credentials, or how good they may look in the gym, you can never know for sure what a young boxing ...
On March 13, 2019 / By Neil Crane
Boxiana 0
Feb. 28, 1973: Napoles vs Lopez II

They call boxing the cruelest sport for a number of reasons, one of them being that no matter how talented or dedicated a boxer is, his success ultimately ...
On February 28, 2019 / By Michael Carbert
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Jan. 28, 1974: Ali vs Frazier II

Their first historic confrontation in 1971 took a significant toll on both Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Months of build-up and intense media pressure were topped off by a ...
On January 28, 2019 / By Michael Carbert
The Top Twelve 6
Top 12 Reasons Why Ali Is Forever The Greatest

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the amazing athlete who changed boxing forever, only the third such anniversary since his death in June of 2016. Muhammad ...
On January 17, 2019 / By Michael Carbert
The Top Twelve 0
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Rivalries

The best boxing rivalries are about more than a series of fights. Great rivalries are stories, absorbing narratives that not only offer genuine intensity and riveting action, but ...
On December 23, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 1
Nov. 6, 1981: Holmes vs Snipes

In May of 1981, undefeated fair-skinned heavyweight contender Gerry Cooney galvanized the attention of fair-skinned American sports fans by demolishing respected veteran Ken Norton in a mere 54 ...
On November 6, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 4
Oct. 30, 1974: Ali vs Foreman

In 1974, George Foreman reigned supreme. The previous year he had astonished the sports world with his terrifying demolition of Joe Frazier, knocking Smokin’ Joe to the canvas ...
On October 30, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 4
Oct. 1, 1975: Ali vs Frazier III

More than four decades later, one still hears the echoes, the reverberations of that final, epic struggle between two boxing legends. After all, it was more than a heavyweight ...
On October 1, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Columns 1
Ali vs Shavers: The Greatest’s Finest Hour

No matter how dismal the fight scene may be at a given time, fans can always cherish and take comfort from the sport’s glorious history. As a measure ...
On September 30, 2018 / By Michael Ezra
Boxiana 7
Sept. 28, 1976: Ali vs Norton III

In a time of endless and constant media exposure, 24 hour “news” coverage, and 30 second attention spans, it is almost impossible to fully appreciate the larger-than-life fame ...
On September 28, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 0
Sept. 28, 1979: Holmes vs Shavers

We talk of fighters having a “puncher’s chance,” and indeed that, more than anything else, was what Earnie Shavers brought into the ring at Caesars Palace in Las ...
On September 28, 2018 / By Neil Crane
Boxiana 1
Sept. 21, 1985: Holmes vs Spinks I

In March of 1985, heavyweight champion Larry Holmes scored a tenth round stoppage of undefeated contender David Bey and then immediately announced that he was done. As in, ...
On September 21, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 13
Sept. 10, 1973: Ali vs Norton II

It had been years since Muhammad Ali worked with such intensity and purpose, years since he had forced his body to undergo the torture necessary to reach supreme ...
On September 10, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 6
June 11, 1982: Holmes vs Cooney

It was boxing’s biggest night, but for all the wrong reasons. In terms of sheer popularity, exposure, and the money that goes with it, the 1980s has to ...
On June 11, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 0
June 9, 1978: Holmes vs Norton

While it might be going a bit far to classify Ken Norton as a “hard-luck fighter,” it’s difficult not to see him as such when one considers all ...
On June 9, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
The Top Twelve 32
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Heavyweights

At a very leisurely pace over the last couple of years, The Fight City has offered its own idiosyncratic rankings of the all-time greatest boxers in each of ...
On June 2, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
May 25, 1980: Cooney vs Young

“I’m going to win this fight, going to win it big. I’ve trained hard for this and I’ve got it all together. I hear this Cooney kid is ...
On May 25, 2018 / By Robert Portis
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May 21, 1966: Ali vs Cooper II

Looking back, it’s easy to forget that until the early 70s and his wars with Bonavena, Frazier, Norton and Foreman, many seriously questioned the toughness of Muhammad Ali. ...
On May 21, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Boxiana 5
May 20, 1983: Holmes vs Witherspoon

The career of heavyweight champion Larry Holmes is, among other things, a study in frustration. First, there was the struggle to establish himself as a serious contender in ...
On May 20, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
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March 31, 1973: Ali vs Norton I

Few deny that Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all-time, perhaps even “The Greatest,” and a major part of the evidence for that claim ...
On March 30, 2018 / By Jamie Rebner
Boxiana 6
March 26, 1974: Foreman vs Norton

On March 31, 1973, unheralded heavyweight contender Ken Norton outpointed Muhammad Ali to score a huge upset. Seven months later, Ali scored a close decision victory of his own ...
On March 26, 2018 / By Eliott McCormick
Fight City Reviews 1
McIlvanney On Boxing

A.J. Liebling will always be boxing’s literary standard bearer, his masterwork The Sweet Science certain to find appreciative fans through the generations. If there’s a top table of ...
On February 8, 2018 / By Ronnie McCluskey
The Top Twelve 0
Top 12 Greatest Muhammad Ali Performances

Today is the birthday of Muhammad Ali so what better time to once again pay tribute to the boxing legacy of “The Greatest.” When he died in June of 2016, ...
On January 17, 2018 / By Michael Carbert
Lee Wylie 2
Ali: The Fighter

1. What tactics or skills were most crucial to Muhammad Ali’s boxing success? Distance and Timing: By leaning forward at the waist, Ali could, almost at will, cause ...
On January 17, 2018 / By Lee Wylie
Fight City Reviews 1
Facing Ali

Casualties of a cruel sport. Broken spokes on boxing’s eternal wheel. Archetypes for the noble poor. Or, to cast such reductive generalizing aside, perhaps just men who made a choice. Facing Ali, ...
On December 2, 2017 / By Eliott McCormick
Columns 0
The Canelo vs Golovkin Draw: Best Case Scenario

Gennady Golovkin, the monster of the middleweight division, vs Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, a superstar of boxing and clearly its future. An epic fight, one of the most anticipated ...
On September 30, 2017 / By Simon Traversy
Columns 2
On Eddie Futch

Perhaps it’s just me but I get the feeling Eddie Futch , who would have turned 106 yesterday, wouldn’t be too comfortable in today’s boxing world. I remember way ...
On August 10, 2017 / By Sean Crose
Lee Wylie 1
Eddie Futch: Deposing The Greatest

Joe Frazier might never have been such a potent aggressive force without the guidance of master trainer Eddie Futch. Futch’s keen eye and strategic thinking were instrumental in ...
On October 3, 2015 / By Lee Wylie
Columns 3
Why Muhammad Ali Is Still Bigger Than Boxing

Today is the living legend’s 73rd birthday and in a news cycle that barely lasts 24 minutes, let alone 24 hours, the day’s blogs and newspapers and newscasts ...
On January 17, 2015 / By Michael Carbert
Columns 4
Wladimir Klitschko: Champion of a Dark Age

Having notched title defense number fifteen this past weekend, Wladimir Klitschko rolls on, seemingly unbeatable, arguably the most dominant heavyweight champion since Joe Louis. His reign is viewed ...
On October 9, 2013 / By Robert Portis