Ken Norton is a total class act. He was a childhood hero of mine, followed him closely and met him in person many years later. Carries himself very well unlike most athletes today.
It seems Cosell's announcement of the final round favored Norton; he mentioned every punch Norton threw but ignored the punches Holmes landed. Not once did he mention a punch that Holmes landed and H certainly landed in that final round.
When you see how "tough" Frazier and Norton were in fights against Ali and Holmes (Norton anyway) you start to appreciate just how bad-ass Foreman must have been. The dude wiped both guys out with embarrassing ease, so much that you start to believe the fights were fixed.
The back of Larry's neck line is built just like a hyena, known for its nuchal rigidity and strenght...that's why it's hard to knock and keep him down. His moniker should be Larry the Hyena Holmes.
@Ghstwn I was posting the time link as a point of interest to the video. It's a common practice on youtube. If your field of reference is bakelite cylinders then this might be an unusual concept.
@capablemachine Bakelite cylinders,... (Chuckle) Settle down. I see your attempt at humor there,... It's weak, but cute. You are thinking of Edison cylinders. Which was actually a hard wax cylinder. Backlite was rigid and mostly used for radio cases, kitchen ware, and pan handles in the 1930's. Still Edison's early cylinder audio source remained prior to the 78 rpm discs which prevailed shortly after. :) BTW,... having nothing to do with video whatsoever. But still,. great 15th round eh? :D
@Ghstwn The listening media was called by some bakelite records because it was made of similar materials. Simple as that. I don't know why you picked this video to try and incite some anger. Mouthpiece out at 1:44
@Houseofthe7gayboys You are so correct! It was a pitty patty fight. (And being from the house of Gay boys,.. You know about pitty patty fights,...Right?) :D Bet you are still the bitch on the bottom though. LOL!
i like how almost everyone here decided to make comments of their objective scoring rather than anything else, and interesting how some others would view the fight round by round
However, Holmes showed no interest in unifying the belt - ever. And even on the WBC side of the ledger, he was content to face the likes of Lorenzo Zanon, Alfredo Evangelista, and Scott LeDoux rather than face mandatory challengers. He left a lot of fighters out in the cold during his reign: John Tate (before Weaver got to him), Greg Page, Michael Dokes, Pinklon Thomas, and Gerrie Coetzee to name a few. If he wants to know why he didn't get his "just due", the evidence is there.
@vidnut67 You are completely wrong because Holmes was signed to fight WBA champion Gerrie Coetzee but the fight when down the tubes because the promoter messed up the money He also was slated to fight Tate in that package too!. Evangelista and Zanon were ranked by the WBC. What are you talking about? Who should Holmes had fought instead of them? He left out John Tate? I do not think Tate was recognized by the WBC. By the way Weaver defeated Tate. Didn't Holmes defeat Weaver?
@vidnut67 You are wrong about Holmes showing no interest in unifying the title. Tate, Page, Dokes, Thomas and Coetzee were not mandatories when Holmes fought Evangelista, Zanon, and Ledoux. Did you know Page fought Evangelista? How about Dokes drawing against Ocasio? Did you realize Weaver and Berbick defeated Tate? Do you understand the WBC striiped Hagler for scheduling a 15 rounder because tghe WBC reduced its title to 12? Do you relaize this rule prevented unification?
@vidnut67 Do you realize Coetzee was not originally ranked by the WBC because he fought out of apartheid South Africa? Do you realize Berbick defeated Thomas? Do you realize you need to give a retraction in reference to your original statement. By the way, when did Tate, Page, Dokes, Thomas, and Coetzee unify the titles? Cooney was supposed to fight Weaver. Why didn't Weaver fight Cooney, tell me please!
@76WestSports You raise legitimate points, and I do retract my statement concerning Holmes' lack of desire to unify the title. I do remember the proposed Coetzee match, but I did not know about the plans to fight Tate. No hard feelings. Thanks for the clarification. Peace.
@vidnut67 I did not mean to offend you. My apologies. Its just misinformation written by those jerk ass sports writers for years bashing Holmes. They were to busy telling the world who Holmes "dodged", but did not examine the guys making those claims.
@76WestSports No offense taken. Holmes could never get a break from the media for the same reason Ezzard Charles couldn't after the Joe Louis era; they all still had the previous legend on the brain and couldn't let go. Holmes had every right to be bitter, but now after all the years, in my view, like his friend Joe Frazier he's gone over the top with it, especially with Ali.
@vidnut67 Interesting. I never seen Holmes bitter over Ali. I have always seen Holmes praise Ali. Holmes in his book and interviews always credit Ali for giving him a chance as a sparring partner. I know Holmes have talked about the negative backlash from fans after he beat Ali. But my thing is if the reporters are asking him about Ali 100% then I can see him getting annoyed. It was the same thing with Marciano. I think Holmes is closer to Ali than Frazier in friendship.
@76WestSports I read a recent interview in which, while Holmes shows no hatred of Ali, he gets defensive at the mention of his name. I like Holmes, but I wish he'd let it go. In terms of net worth and his faculties, he walked away from boxing with a lot more than Ali did. On top of that, he displayed consistency in defense of the championship that even Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis couldn't match, and over a longer period of time. If others don't see it, it says more about them than him.
In looking back at heavyweight history, I can't think of a fighter who won the heavyweight championship in such a life-and-death manner, and for those too young to remember it wasn't even the real belt he won that night; Leon Spinks was considered the real champion despite the WBC's stripping him of the belt. One would have thought that Holmes would have desired to unify the belt and fought the Ali-Spinks winner in 1979, or the winner of the subsequeny WBA elimination tournament.
Looking at Larry Holmes today, he has done well for himself. He kept most of his money as well as his brains, and he owns a lot of property in Easton, Pennsylvania. However, to me his verbal campaign for all-time greatness is wearing thin. If he wonders why he doesn't get the respect given to Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Ali, and even Foreman and Tyson, he needs only to go back to this fight as a point of reference.
after watching this fight several times I concluded Holmes won by two rounds, maybe three but my final tally was Holmes 143-141, I dont believe in even rounds
holmes was out on a strecher right after the fight if he would have fought marciano for 15 rounds who hit twice as hard as norton holmes would had gone byby to intensive care on that strecher.
I gave the 15th round to Norton and therefor the fight. There is no way Holmes won the 15th round, yet all 3 judges had it even (myself too) going into the 15th.
I gave Norton
1789 11 12 14 and 15
There were some close rounds and Holmes did win the 13th decisively. I think Norton kind of got robbed.
Shame someone had to lose this fight. Two great champions with huge hearts. No one fights like this anymore. This was voted the fight of the year, and the 15th round the round of the year.
All three judges had the fight 7-7 going into this last round. If Holmes won it, it was in the last 15 seconds of the fight, I think.
I thought Norton won the 15th, but Holmes won the fight 8 rounds to 7.
(144-141) 9 rounds to 6, Larry Holmes; Holmes i thought won the first 7 rounds, i then gave Kenny 8 and 9, Holmes went on to take 10, Norton then would win 11 and 12 only to get hurt in the 13th where i thought Larry won it big. Kenny however showed the heart as i think he gutted it out to take the final two rounds in that vicious slugfest. All in all Kenny just took too long to get into the fight and those 7 rounds he gave up early were just too much to overcome.
@LMLR187 Agreed. Vegas scoring has always been mystifying. Hagler can vouch for that. I remember how Benitez won, in my view, 13 out of 15 rounds against a flat Duran in 1982, yet the scorecards were very close. Norton did finish strong, but he gave up too many rounds early. At best, he was 8 rounds to 2 down going into the 11th round. I remember reading Arthur Mercante's remarks years later, and he had it scored the same way.
The 15th round was one of the best I have ever seen!!!! Very sad that these two never had a re-match. Norton definitely deserved it with the fight being that close.
keni was very tough guy..dammmm......greatest fight all time......may be holmes anouced winer butt peoples loves keni in this fight,,,,,,,bravo
jedigujjar01 1 day ago
draw match i sure,,,,,its needed rematch
jedigujjar01 1 day ago
Ken Norton is a total class act. He was a childhood hero of mine, followed him closely and met him in person many years later. Carries himself very well unlike most athletes today.
Stevetheperformer 4 days ago
@ 6:34 is that Richard Pryor or a young Don King or there love child lol
VincentVegas76 2 months ago
god damn! Ken Norten nearly killed Larry Holmes!!
nightcbs 2 months ago 2
i wonder why they never had a rematch
kuriaki71 3 months ago
@kuriaki71 would you want to go through that again?
whitenightist 2 months ago
It seems Cosell's announcement of the final round favored Norton; he mentioned every punch Norton threw but ignored the punches Holmes landed. Not once did he mention a punch that Holmes landed and H certainly landed in that final round.
Richard40171 3 months ago
When you see how "tough" Frazier and Norton were in fights against Ali and Holmes (Norton anyway) you start to appreciate just how bad-ass Foreman must have been. The dude wiped both guys out with embarrassing ease, so much that you start to believe the fights were fixed.
tlig 4 months ago 2
@tlig foreman is a beast. he is just so BIG!!!!!
jbthekilla1 2 months ago
3.19 is that ron jerremy lol
alanmeires 4 months ago
Comment removed
alanmeires 4 months ago
love all these old fights nice post
alanmeires 4 months ago
Holmes pulled out the 15th and thus the fight. gotta feel bad for Kenny though, loses another close one.
90038jhon 5 months ago
epic. Thanks for posting!
varnishyourboard 6 months ago
The back of Larry's neck line is built just like a hyena, known for its nuchal rigidity and strenght...that's why it's hard to knock and keep him down. His moniker should be Larry the Hyena Holmes.
Houseofthe7gayboys 6 months ago
brilliant fuckin fight
TheGraffhead83 7 months ago
@TheGraffhead83 Brilliant Fuckin' Comment! Work on it long? LOL!
Ghstwn 6 months ago
Holmes mouth piece punched out at 1:44
capablemachine 7 months ago
@capablemachine Yes, some of us actually saw that. It was even announced in the video.Thanks for the help Edison. :)
Ghstwn 6 months ago
@Ghstwn I was posting the time link as a point of interest to the video. It's a common practice on youtube. If your field of reference is bakelite cylinders then this might be an unusual concept.
capablemachine 6 months ago
@capablemachine Bakelite cylinders,... (Chuckle) Settle down. I see your attempt at humor there,... It's weak, but cute. You are thinking of Edison cylinders. Which was actually a hard wax cylinder. Backlite was rigid and mostly used for radio cases, kitchen ware, and pan handles in the 1930's. Still Edison's early cylinder audio source remained prior to the 78 rpm discs which prevailed shortly after. :) BTW,... having nothing to do with video whatsoever. But still,. great 15th round eh? :D
Ghstwn 6 months ago
@Ghstwn The listening media was called by some bakelite records because it was made of similar materials. Simple as that. I don't know why you picked this video to try and incite some anger. Mouthpiece out at 1:44
capablemachine 6 months ago
@Ghstwn Sorry I stand corrected some cylinders were made using bakelite.
capablemachine 6 months ago
Norton won 8-7...highway robbery...
nomadbill 8 months ago
@nomadbill Since when is 8-7 hyw robbery? LOL! Even if that was a real score,.. who robbed your brain?
of course you wouldn't know,...It's gone! lol!
Ghstwn 6 months ago
Them two dudes ain't go no power in them punches
Houseofthe7gayboys 8 months ago
@Houseofthe7gayboys You are so correct! It was a pitty patty fight. (And being from the house of Gay boys,.. You know about pitty patty fights,...Right?) :D Bet you are still the bitch on the bottom though. LOL!
Ghstwn 6 months ago
@Ghstwn Ha, Ha...that was sum funny shit bro...u do know it's my personal homage to Nat Hawthorne?
Houseofthe7gayboys 6 months ago
the round of the year
ThunnChris 8 months ago
Ken Norton was the last person in the world I'd wanna meet in a dark alley.
gotch09 8 months ago
GEAT FIGHT!
THANX KATIS999
abudujana13 9 months ago
WHAT GUTS FROM THIS TWO REALLY IMPRESSIVE
00SENNENGOROSHI00 9 months ago
Prime Muhammad Ali or Prime Larry Holmes ???
truthhitmanisback 10 months ago
@truthhitmanisback I have prime Ali by split decision. It would come down to the judges The judges were more favorable towards Ali than Holmes.
76WestSports 9 months ago
i like how almost everyone here decided to make comments of their objective scoring rather than anything else, and interesting how some others would view the fight round by round
LMLR187 10 months ago
Pardon me, I meant "subsequent" earlier.
vidnut67 10 months ago
However, Holmes showed no interest in unifying the belt - ever. And even on the WBC side of the ledger, he was content to face the likes of Lorenzo Zanon, Alfredo Evangelista, and Scott LeDoux rather than face mandatory challengers. He left a lot of fighters out in the cold during his reign: John Tate (before Weaver got to him), Greg Page, Michael Dokes, Pinklon Thomas, and Gerrie Coetzee to name a few. If he wants to know why he didn't get his "just due", the evidence is there.
vidnut67 10 months ago
@vidnut67 You are completely wrong because Holmes was signed to fight WBA champion Gerrie Coetzee but the fight when down the tubes because the promoter messed up the money He also was slated to fight Tate in that package too!. Evangelista and Zanon were ranked by the WBC. What are you talking about? Who should Holmes had fought instead of them? He left out John Tate? I do not think Tate was recognized by the WBC. By the way Weaver defeated Tate. Didn't Holmes defeat Weaver?
76WestSports 10 months ago
@vidnut67 You are wrong about Holmes showing no interest in unifying the title. Tate, Page, Dokes, Thomas and Coetzee were not mandatories when Holmes fought Evangelista, Zanon, and Ledoux. Did you know Page fought Evangelista? How about Dokes drawing against Ocasio? Did you realize Weaver and Berbick defeated Tate? Do you understand the WBC striiped Hagler for scheduling a 15 rounder because tghe WBC reduced its title to 12? Do you relaize this rule prevented unification?
76WestSports 10 months ago
@vidnut67 Do you realize Coetzee was not originally ranked by the WBC because he fought out of apartheid South Africa? Do you realize Berbick defeated Thomas? Do you realize you need to give a retraction in reference to your original statement. By the way, when did Tate, Page, Dokes, Thomas, and Coetzee unify the titles? Cooney was supposed to fight Weaver. Why didn't Weaver fight Cooney, tell me please!
76WestSports 10 months ago
@76WestSports You raise legitimate points, and I do retract my statement concerning Holmes' lack of desire to unify the title. I do remember the proposed Coetzee match, but I did not know about the plans to fight Tate. No hard feelings. Thanks for the clarification. Peace.
vidnut67 10 months ago
@vidnut67 I did not mean to offend you. My apologies. Its just misinformation written by those jerk ass sports writers for years bashing Holmes. They were to busy telling the world who Holmes "dodged", but did not examine the guys making those claims.
76WestSports 9 months ago
@76WestSports No offense taken. Holmes could never get a break from the media for the same reason Ezzard Charles couldn't after the Joe Louis era; they all still had the previous legend on the brain and couldn't let go. Holmes had every right to be bitter, but now after all the years, in my view, like his friend Joe Frazier he's gone over the top with it, especially with Ali.
vidnut67 9 months ago
@vidnut67 Interesting. I never seen Holmes bitter over Ali. I have always seen Holmes praise Ali. Holmes in his book and interviews always credit Ali for giving him a chance as a sparring partner. I know Holmes have talked about the negative backlash from fans after he beat Ali. But my thing is if the reporters are asking him about Ali 100% then I can see him getting annoyed. It was the same thing with Marciano. I think Holmes is closer to Ali than Frazier in friendship.
76WestSports 9 months ago
@76WestSports I read a recent interview in which, while Holmes shows no hatred of Ali, he gets defensive at the mention of his name. I like Holmes, but I wish he'd let it go. In terms of net worth and his faculties, he walked away from boxing with a lot more than Ali did. On top of that, he displayed consistency in defense of the championship that even Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis couldn't match, and over a longer period of time. If others don't see it, it says more about them than him.
vidnut67 9 months ago
@76WestSports I didn't mean to offend you, either. Holmes was a great fighter and much underappreciated.
vidnut67 9 months ago
In looking back at heavyweight history, I can't think of a fighter who won the heavyweight championship in such a life-and-death manner, and for those too young to remember it wasn't even the real belt he won that night; Leon Spinks was considered the real champion despite the WBC's stripping him of the belt. One would have thought that Holmes would have desired to unify the belt and fought the Ali-Spinks winner in 1979, or the winner of the subsequeny WBA elimination tournament.
vidnut67 10 months ago
Looking at Larry Holmes today, he has done well for himself. He kept most of his money as well as his brains, and he owns a lot of property in Easton, Pennsylvania. However, to me his verbal campaign for all-time greatness is wearing thin. If he wonders why he doesn't get the respect given to Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Ali, and even Foreman and Tyson, he needs only to go back to this fight as a point of reference.
vidnut67 10 months ago
I had it 8 too 7 for norton he won the last round big
willis7319 10 months ago
after watching this fight several times I concluded Holmes won by two rounds, maybe three but my final tally was Holmes 143-141, I dont believe in even rounds
jsjr421 11 months ago
after watching this fight several times I concluded Holmes won by two rounds, maybe three but my final tally was Holmes 143-141,
jsjr421 11 months ago
after watching this fight several times I concluded Holmes won by two rounds, maybe three but my tally was Holmes 143-141,
jsjr421 11 months ago
I think that fight should've been a draw...
truebeliever786 1 year ago
I gave Holmes a 10-8 round in 13 plus I had him up 6 rounds to 2 after 8 Holmes won this figh I was shocked how close the judges scored it
whitedeviltx 1 year ago
how long are larry holmes arms??
acocfulfilld 1 year ago
@acocfulfilld His wingspan was 79 inches, with rather slim shoulders for a boxer. In other words, very long.
Myndir 11 months ago
holmes was out on a strecher right after the fight if he would have fought marciano for 15 rounds who hit twice as hard as norton holmes would had gone byby to intensive care on that strecher.
jeryd2003 1 year ago
I gave the 15th round to Norton and therefor the fight. There is no way Holmes won the 15th round, yet all 3 judges had it even (myself too) going into the 15th.
I gave Norton
1789 11 12 14 and 15
There were some close rounds and Holmes did win the 13th decisively. I think Norton kind of got robbed.
christo930 1 year ago
Shame someone had to lose this fight. Two great champions with huge hearts. No one fights like this anymore. This was voted the fight of the year, and the 15th round the round of the year.
All three judges had the fight 7-7 going into this last round. If Holmes won it, it was in the last 15 seconds of the fight, I think.
I thought Norton won the 15th, but Holmes won the fight 8 rounds to 7.
zenmachinefilms 1 year ago
(144-141) 9 rounds to 6, Larry Holmes; Holmes i thought won the first 7 rounds, i then gave Kenny 8 and 9, Holmes went on to take 10, Norton then would win 11 and 12 only to get hurt in the 13th where i thought Larry won it big. Kenny however showed the heart as i think he gutted it out to take the final two rounds in that vicious slugfest. All in all Kenny just took too long to get into the fight and those 7 rounds he gave up early were just too much to overcome.
LMLR187 1 year ago
@LMLR187 Agreed. Vegas scoring has always been mystifying. Hagler can vouch for that. I remember how Benitez won, in my view, 13 out of 15 rounds against a flat Duran in 1982, yet the scorecards were very close. Norton did finish strong, but he gave up too many rounds early. At best, he was 8 rounds to 2 down going into the 11th round. I remember reading Arthur Mercante's remarks years later, and he had it scored the same way.
vidnut67 10 months ago
I scored this fight 8 rounds for Holmes 6 for Norton with 1 even!
Irishfanism 1 year ago
The 15th round was one of the best I have ever seen!!!! Very sad that these two never had a re-match. Norton definitely deserved it with the fight being that close.
MetalstarX 1 year ago
Comment removed
MetalstarX 1 year ago