Page 7
Boxers of Yesteryear
Ken Norton
Ken Norton, a natural gifted athlete, made boxing history when he met Muhammad Ali for the North American Boxing Federation title, and won a12-round victory by split decision, on March 31, 1973, breaking Ali's jaw in the process.
Norton became the second man to defeat Ali as a professional (after Joe Frazier, who beat Ali via 15-round unanimous decision, on March 8, 1971). He and Ali would fight twice more in their trilogy, with Ali officially winning narrowly both returns, although many felt Norton deserved the decision of their 3rd fight.
Born on August 9, 1943, Norton was an outstanding athlete at Jacksonville High School. He was a member of the state championship football team and was selected to the all-state team on defense as a senior in 1960. His track coach once entered him in eight events: He placed first in five events and second in three. As a result, the "Ken Norton Rule" was instituted in Illinois high school sports, which limits participation of an athlete to a maximum of three track and field events. After graduating from high school, Norton went to Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) on a football scholarship and studied elementary education.
Illinois boxing was not one of Ken Norton's early interests, and it wasn't until he enlisted in the Marine Corps that Ken was introduced to boxing. In time, Ken became the best boxer to ever fight for the Marines, compiling a 24-2 record between1963–1967, and was awarded the North Carolina AAU Golden Gloves, International AAU and Pan American titles. Following the National AAU finals in 1967, he turned professional (Ken Norton was inducted into the Marine Corp Hall of Fame in 2004).
Success would come slowly, however, as he started off as a sparring partner to Joe Frazier. In his biography Norton said:
“I wasn’t making any money; I got so depressed I consideredrobbing for food.”
Norton believed in himself and pushed himself he started to build up a string of steady wins, including some over fringe contenders like the giant Jack O'Halloran. But then he suffered a surprise defeat, ironically just after Ring magazine had profiled him as a prospect, at the hands of Jose Luis Garcia in 1970. Down in the first he had a surprise 5 round Knock out. It was Garcia's career peak.
After this loss Norton, engaged a hypnotist. The goal being to change his “over confidence into self confidence” and “make him listen to trainer Eddie Futch.” Following this he went on a fourteen fight winning spree.
Finally in 1973 Norton got his big break when Muhammad Ali signed him up for a contest. When asked about the then upcoming match Joe Frazier, said of Ali " He'll have plenty of trouble!". A very apt prediction it was too.
Norton took his winning streak to fourteen fights with a split-decision victory over Ali in Norton's home town of San Diego to win the NABF Heavyweight Title. It was in this bout that Norton broke Ali's jaw. This would be the start of a trilogy between the fighters. Six months later in the same year, Norton had another bout against Ali, and this time Ken Norton lost a split decision. The two heavyweights met a final time in 1976, for the title, Norton lost this bout in a highly disputed split decision.
Sr.