Which boxers you would favor over peak Ken Norton more often than not?

[Gregoire1]

In series of 10 fights, who do you favor over peak (motivated and in-shape) Norton more than in 5 fights of 10?
Peak Ali? Tyson? Lewis? Foreman? Maybe peak Liston, Holmes, Evander, Bowe, Klitchko, Fury, Joshua? Others?

 

[Hagler]

In before this discussion topic becomes about Norton either being a worthy hall of famer or an overrated journeyman.

Liston is solid but lacks the superior assets than would allow him to beat any of these more often than not. Size, power and speed beat him. He makes it interesting against Holmes and Evander but doesn't win 6+ fights. Peak Ali dances around him and makes it less of a war of attrition. Maybe Bowe accepts the dogfight and gets taken to a close JD, but I think he KOes Norton several times in 10 fights and gets the KO or the JD on 6 or 7 occasions. I believe the other folks are clearly above him.

 

[ssx]

Foreman, Lewis and Tyson beat Norton 10/10 and by KO.
Joshua and Klitschko are a lot bigger and would probably KO Norton 9/10 times.
Prime Ali would not have been dragged into those close fights he had and won clear cut decisions over Norton.
Bowe, Holyfield and Holmes would beat Norton 7 or 8 out of 10 in my opinion.
I actually think Liston beats Norton 9/10 times. Norton always crumbled against big punchers and Liston could crack.
I think Norton would be more evenly matched in a hypothetical 10 fight series with guys like Floyd Patterson, Michael Dokes or
Michael Moorer.

 

[RichardSwingslo]

Gotta favor seano in this hypothetical 10/10 times.
He's far too seasoned for a borderline journeyman level fighter that gets way too much hype.

I know some say Seano isn't the same guy now, some say his reflexes and skill have deteriorated with age along with his social security.

However, the dude has always been a gym rat. So what if he doesn't start training until Matlock and Golden Girls are over these days, he's way too slick and knows all the tricks.
The man is a god damned Craftsman!

 

[Seano]

Ken Norton is probably the most overrated boxer of the past 50 years.

 

[mozfonky]

seanos strictly a club level guy, doesn't belong with Norton and the rest.

 

[mozfonky]

Norton was a really smart, awkward, big strong heavyweight who could do a little of everything. He had enough quickness to cause Ali problems, he had enough boxing smarts to beat Jimmy Young, his kryptonite was the big punch, he wasn't mentally strong enough to deal with punchers, a deer in the headlights against foreman and shavers or Liston or Lewis or Tyson. He'd give holyfield a tough time, anyone relying on skill and strategy rather than power and he'd come alive.

 

[Seano]

Norton was a really smart, awkward, big strong heavyweight who could do a little of everything. He had enough quickness to cause Ali problems, he had enough boxing smarts to beat Jimmy Young, his kryptonite was the big punch, he wasn't mentally strong enough to deal with punchers, a deer in the headlights against foreman and shavers or Liston or Lewis or Tyson. He'd give holyfield a tough time, anyone relying on skill and strategy rather than power and he'd come alive.

He had enough quickness to give an old Ali problems and be a punching bag to the rest of the elite.

 

[JayE]

Ali wasn't that far gone the first time he fought Norton. Norton always struggled with punchers. He could definitely beat a guy like Holyfield (and he gave Holmes a very tough fight when he was past his best) and I could even see him being very competitive with Lewis (although, Lewis could just bomb him out), but the likes of Foreman, Tyson, and Bowe would always be hell for him. I think he'd beat Wlad, peak for peak. He'd beat Fury peak for peak, as well. Likely Joshua, as well, but Joshua could improve a lot with time and has the type of punch that gave Norton a lot of trouble.

I always thought Frazier/Norton would have been an amazing fight.

 

[mozfonky]

He had enough quickness to give an old Ali problems and be a punching bag to the rest of the elite.

truth is, ironic as it was, quickness always gave ali problems, that goes back to the early sixties, doug jones and even henry cooper, it's no coincidence that some of his toughest fights came from guys under 200 pounds.

 

[RichardSwingslo]

seanos strictly a club level guy, doesn't belong with Norton and the rest.

Gotta disagree here. I believe they changed the rules to make it harder for him. Once they stopped allowing between round naps and the 7th round Metamucil break, his game suffered.

Nah, @Seano I'm obviously messing around and mean no offense. You're the man.