Former heavyweight champion Ken Norton dies at 70, career included Muhammad Ali trilogy

FORMER world heavyweight boxing champ Ken Norton, who beat Muhammad Ali then lost a controversial title fight to him, has died.

BOX-USA-HEAVY-NORTON-FILES

KEN NORTON once had the body of a Greek god and a left hand that was good enough to break the jaw of Muhammad Ali.

But time eroded both and on Thursday at the age of 70 the former world heavyweight champion and one-time movie star succumbed to congestive heart failure following a stroke. He died in an Arizona hospital.

Today a great man passed away. A legend in the boxing world and a good man. Condolences to Ken Norton's family on this very sad day.

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) September 19, 2013

Mike Tyson, who became world champ a decade after Norton, tweeted: "Ken Norton was always nice to me even when I was just an amateur fighter. He always treated me like I was somebody. Remarkable man. A legend in the boxing world."

Ken Norton was always nice to me even when I was just an amateur fighter. He always treated me like I was somebody. Remarkable man.

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) September 19, 2013

Of all the opponents Ali faced, few gave him as much trouble as the former marine from San Diego whose long left jab and awkward style were the perfect weapons to counter Ali’s speed.

Norton and Ali fought three times. 

Ken-Norton

The first was in San Diego on March 31, 1973 and Norton went into the bout with just one loss in 30 fights.

Just six weeks earlier in Las Vegas, Ali had been given a hard time by European champion Joe Bugner, who had used his left jab to great effect in losing a close, a hard 12-rounder.

Norton's trainer Bill Slayton took careful note at the way Bugner was able to keep Ali in two minds as he threw jabs straight back over Ali’s lead.

He told Norton to use the same tactics against Ali, whose only previous defeat had been against Joe Frazier two years earlier.

It worked.

BOX-USA-HEAVY-NORTON-FILES

Shuffling after Ali with his curious crab-like style and with his unorthodox cross-arms defence , the man with the biggest muscles in boxing won a split decision for the North American heavyweight title, leaving Ali with a broken jaw.

In a desperate bid to prove he was still ``The Greatest’’ Ali challenged Norton to an immediate rematch and six months later, with his jaw healed, Ali squeaked home by the narrowest margin in another 12-rounder.

Despite the defeat Norton headed to Venezuela for a world heavyweight title shot against the ferocious George Foreman who had just squashed Frazier for the world championship in two rounds.

Foreman was still in steamroller mode and decked Norton three times inside five minutes for another second-round KO.

Yankee Stadium Revival Boxing

Later that year, 1974, Ali pulled off the remarkable upset by beating Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire to regain his world heavyweight title.

A third and deciding fight was set with Norton and they squared off in Yankee Stadium, New York in 1976. Ali did just enough to win a close decision over 15 rounds. Many in the huge arena thought Norton deserved the decision.

Norton never won a world title in the ring but in 1977 he was awarded the WBC title after having earlier won an elimination bout with slick Jimmy Young. The WBC title had been stripped from Ali’s conqueror Leon Spinks for not fighting Norton but the new champ then lost his title on another close decision to Larry Holmes.

He won only two of his final fives, and retired in 1981 after Gerry Cooney crushed him a round at New York’s Madison Square Garden. His overall record was 42 wins, seven losses and a draw (33 KOs).

Norton was born on August 9, 1943 in  Jacksonville, Illinois and was a star footballer in his youth.

He started amateur boxing in the marines.

CORRECTION Obit Norton Boxing

He also put his athletic 190cm, 95kg frame to use in films and television  starring in the slave trade epics Mandingo and Drum off the back of his win over Ali. He went on to appear in more than 20 movies. 

Norton suffered near-fatal injuries in a car accident in 1986 and spent the last years of his life with limited movement and slurred speech.

His son, Ken Norton Jr., became a star NFL linebacker with Dallas and San Francisco.