Muhammad Ali -vs- Ken Norton II 9/10/73 part 6

[redemp1234tion]

Ali punched his handler , because he was tired and frustrated, Also deep down inside he knew he really lost.

In his other fights he has his arms upraised and prancing.

Not this time, A gifted verdict!

Head down and when the verdict is read, a sheepish look on his face.

He knows that he lost!

[nickmatthew1]

@redemp1234tion Ali knew it was close, he wanted to hear the verdict before he celebrated. Norton had a style that troubled Ali nd he knew it. I've watched this fight around 5 times and everytime i have scored it 7-5 for Ali. The commentators scoring was half hearted and in the heat of the moment.

[MrWhoyouis]

@nickmatthew1 Ali Ass Kisser No.1

[kuriaki71]

@redemp1234tion yeah right, ali was tired thats all. It was close but Ali did win

[MrWhoyouis]

@kuriaki71 Ali Ass Kisser No.2

[vladiator100]

@redemp1234tion Ali and Bundini had a rocky relationship around this time. Plus just like the other guy said, Ali was simply tired. Ali was known not to celebrate with much emotion after winning by decision like your typical fighter. Ali won this clearly even if it was close. Norton has said himself that this is the fight in which Ali beat him the clearest. Stop being an Ali hater.

[carmodifire]

@vladiator100 Norton said Ali was better than Holmes, and hitting Ali felt like punching a piece of concrete!

[bballjunkie73]

what two great fighters,what ever happened to great heavyweight fighters,wish we could turn back the hands of time. todays fighters are garbage..

[SubvenioArguo]

At the end of the fight, at 7:09, Ali shoves the (Fight Doctor?) man in the white coat and then he punches him.

[Gazza63]

@SubvenioArguo That was Ali's handler Drew 'Bundini' Brown (the guy who originated the 'Float like a butterfly/sting like a bee' line. Ali was prone to giving him the occasional slap!.

[ADRIAN17814]

@SubvenioArguo ES EL QUE LE METIA LA DROGA,,

[whereskim89]

By the way this ring announcer was the announcer in Rocky part 2

[whereskim89]

at 7:08 did anyone notice Ali just shoving Budidni Brown out of the way with his glove and shove at him. I wonder why he did that I never seen a fighter do that before 

[tlig]

@whereskim89 Ali used to regularly slap him in camp. Regularly.

[chrispywilliams1992]

@whereskim89 yea i wonder wat thats abut. and then bundini hit that other guy

[whereskim89]

@chrispywilliams1992 I think that was Ali's brother, probably they had a difference of opinion in strategy for Ali, like maybe Budini Brown was riding Ali to hard and Ali was pissed angry he lost and shoved him. I was stunned when I saw that I never seen Ali do stuff like that before

[pippo321321]

@whereskim89

no it ali's best friend: howard bingham! you can see alis brother right behind him at 9:58

I think he slapped bundini because Ali knew that he didn't put up a great fight against norton once more, and bundini probably just voodoo-trashtalked to him after the fight like he always did, which made ali angry at this point :)

[tlig]

A judge called "John Thomas" and the ref Dick Young scored it in Ali's favour? What a couple of dicks.

[vgr112261]

Ali's right hand was clearly hurting him in this fight. He had no authority when throwing it, unlike the Foreman fight.

Still, Ali won this one cleanly.

[maripocita37]

Norton was blocking his head extremely well and leaving his body exposed because Ali never went to the body. Ali won this fight but he should have worked Nortons body. A 60s Ali wins this fight easily.

[21macca21]

@maripocita37

ali in 60`s greatest of all time

wudda stuffed joe frazier at fraziers peak

[maripocita37]

@21macca21 No argument there. He would have walked thru Norton too.

[tlig]

@maripocita37 Apparently they sparred (?) in 1967 and Norton gave Ali a lot of trouble even then.

[maripocita37]

@tlig Angelo Dundee and Cus D'Amato both said Ali was a completely different fighter when he trained than and in exhibitions than when he was in a match. He often allowed people to "handle" him. I have no doubt a 60's Ali would have walked through Norton.

[tlig]

@maripocita37 I agree with you about him (and a lot of fighters for that matter) being different in sparring but I'm not sure about the "walked through" part. He likely would have had less trouble than here but Norton was a stylistic nightmare for Ali. One thing I've found about guys like Ali (and Lennox Lewis and even Larry Holmes) who have good jabs is they struggle against opponents who jab back. It's strange and seemingly a simple thing but for some reason they just don't cope well.

[maripocita37]

@tlig Ali had trouble with Doug Jones and Henry Cooper because he took them lightly. You're right the jab is the best weapon a boxer has. Another thing I might add is Ali headhunted and virtually never worked the body. Held his hands low, pulled straight back, moved instead of slipping punches because of his freakish reflexes. Norton was underrated but I Ali beat every major fighter in the golden age of boxing when he was past his prime. I don't think Norton would touch a '67 Ali.

[pippo321321]

@maripocita37 I don't believe that you can say, that Ali would have walked trought Norton! It would have been a complete different fight! It's almost the same, if one claims, that Muhammad Ali wouldn't have lost the first bout against Frazier, if he had been the 66' Ali at the time! One has to wonder, what those fights, with a dancing Ali against these boxers, who never stopped coming at you, would have looked like...

[maripocita37]

@pippo321321 Well, obviously I can't prove either. I can't prove that a prime Ali would have beaten a prime Joe Louis or Marciano. It's just my opinion that he would have walked through Norton and Frazier. I do think a prime Louis gives Ali trouble, just as IMHO a prime Tyson gives Ali trouble. I don't know what the outcome in those fights would be.

[ramoneja]

What a great sportsman Ken Norton is!

Very close and even fight but he showed no bad feelings for decision.

[jintoor]

Ali true warrior he knew norton had the boxing style to trouble him,but still took the third fight with norton when ali could have easily retired after beating foreman and frazier for the third time.Ali did not duck no one.

[shocksl1]

Ali won the fight and at the end you can see Norton isn't compaining - fair result

[musiclover59]

What a big difference from Ali-Norton I. Ali was in much better condition: he danced a lot and Norton did not know how to handle this. Norton did little scoring compared to the first fight. The fact that the judges scored this a close split decision was a disgrace. I score Ali 8-1-3, with Ali winning 2-6, 9,10 and 12, and Norton winning 7, and 1,8 and 11 were a draw. Cosell called it well except for his comment afterwards that Ali would never again be a great fighter.

[sinistercharlie]

damm he got robd

[truthhitmanisback]

Ali would have beat Tyson. Do not let this fight fool you like it did George Foreman

[mrjoshjones1]

Norton had no problem against boxers like Ali,Young or Holmes.

Eddie Futch trained him for the 1st & 2nd Ali fights to a "T", you can see the

results in both.

Against sluggers, something failed him. (Garcia,Foreman,Shavers & Bernardo

Mercado).

I still consider him a great fighter,lb x lb best in 1976- 1978,

[IASOU2005]

Not one of Ali's best performances by far. Ali had a way of performing badly when he didn't train %100 and take the opponent seriously. What makes him so great is that his will carries him through to victory anyways. GOAT.

[GETole]

I scored this fight twice: 7-5, Ali, 115-113 and 7-3-2, Ali, 117-113.

Close fight, but Ali won.

[324582782]

ali won this fight

[lgr1013]

When someone says that someone in their prime can beat anyone easily, you have to be a little suspicious as to why would they think something like that.

[olivertyrrel]

As a kid it seemed so good. After time I realized he was always a bully and disrespectful to the competitors. Furthermore it was not even respectful of the rules and that once his rival fell stayed by his side to finish it off instead of going to a neutral corner. So for example you did Ringo Bonavena, who was far more people than Ali and the truth, more courageous ( Alí running as a coward! ) So I like to see Joe Frazier (RIP) breaks her face, thrown to the floor and wins the fight in 1971.

[DjLeonP]

What a 12 round!!!

[counterstriving]

In three fights, Ali never beat Norton decisively.

[Irishfanism]

I had Ali just winning this fight.

[LelandnSonya4eva]

He pushed the fuck out bundini, I wonder what happened. Then he shoved and puched him.lmfao wtf

[counterstriving]

@LelandnSonya4eva I've always wondered about that. One possibility might be that Ali thought he had lost, or hadn't performed very well, and it put him into a foul temper.

[sugarnadf]

very close fight..ali may have jus nicked it but ali at his stage off his career wud never beat norton convincingly ..only a prime ali maybe could have done that

[revelation6415]

@sugarnadf Yh a prime ali would beat anyone easily in my opinion, a prime ali at 22-25 would have beaten Frazier, Norton, Holmes, Foreman easily

[revelation6415]

@revelation6415 ...and Tyson

[lucky44124]

@revelation6415 ali was almost knocked into the 3rd row from a left hook from henry cooper in his "prime". ali old or ali young was WIDE open for left hooks

[revelation6415]

@lucky44124 yh but he was only knocked down 3 times by left hooks, and got up, he was still THE GREATEST

[mannybrucesalvador]

11th rnd Norton goes for the home run but gets backed up for the first time in the fight at the end of the rnd.12th rnd both fighters swinging away at the bell.8-4 ALI!!I saw this fight back in 73 & thought Ali won and I still do today.

[supersesqui]

Why did ali punch his second at the end ?

[fadethetrade]

The opponents TRIED to fight back with the 87-88 tyson but mike utilized what damato told him that his greatest asset is his head movement as frazier proved beating ali's ass in 71.ali was very disturbed because he kept missing his jabs and right hand too much in that fight and fraziers flickering movement discombobulated ali as tysons movement would have to a point but only the 87-88 tyson .The 1989 yson already was declined to a head hunter looking for one punch .

[olamf1977]

poor bundini..soonas tha fight ended ali shoved him away then threw a punch at him, like get up out my face bo-dini! witcho drunk ass! thats what he gets for bein alis' greatest cheerleader an all around lap dog.

[fadethetrade]

Classic TYson of 87-88 beats ali.Frazier said the trick is going to ali's midsection.Tyson was the best body attacker in history and was the fastest fighter ali would have ever faced.I dont see ali beating an 87-88 tyson.Thats when tyson beats any heavyweight in history except young foreman.

[gjc82071]

@fadethetrade I disagree. I don't think 87-88 Tyson would have had a chance against the Ali the beat Sonny Liston. Ali was just too slick and had 1 of the best chins in boxing. Tyson either lost by KO or had big trouble with any fighter that could take his punches and fight back.

[fadethetrade]

@gjc82071 smith and tucker were the only guys to make it 12 with the best tyson ever 87-88 and had smith committed to fighting,he would have been ko'd and tucker danced like an ali type performance and ran,ran and ran. Tysons shots were devistating when he got in close to a fighter,not his roundhouses that you see after 1988 .Tyson s perpetual motion back in 87-88 beats any fighter in history that bring a "set my pace" style. He beats all of them. Clay and foreman are the exception.

[fadethetrade]

@gjc82071 You know how great Clay was from 64-67 but he did struggle to ko chuvao and earnie terrell so two fighters not known for any power,lasted the distance in clays greatest tenure 3 yr period. If chuvalo could go 15 with clay,CERTAINLY the tyson of 87-88 would go the distance.Maybe he would lose but no way clay would ko tyson of 87-88 .Not even close. You cant look at douglas and prejudge tyson because he got his ass whipped in 1990.Its the 87-88 tyson .the tyson that decapitated holmes.

[timberwolves100]

Oh My.. the punch Ali took at 0:59 may been the hardest he's ever been hit with the exception of Joe Frazier and he maintained consciousness.

Ali was great but the commentators were obviously pro-Ali and rarely reacted when Norton landed some big punches. You can tell they were influenced to favor Ali.

[curtisjones400]

@timberwolves100 Ali said that George Foreman hit the hardest

[carvedinside1982]

@timberwolves100 ali said the hardest he's ever been hit was by shavers..and if u watch his fights..shavers was a power house and i wonder how ali took his right hands

[timberwolves100]

@carvedinside1982 Yeah, I just meant as far as getting hit flush. While Shavers and Foreman hit harder than any other heavyweight, Ali managed to not get hit from the full power of Foreman. Shavers did get him with some shots though I agree. But none of them seemed to rock Ali like the way he was hit at 0:59 and when he was knocked down by Frazier in '71 because they took him off-guard.

It's probably more because of the punishment he took in these fights though.

[timberwolves100]

@carvedinside1982 Of course that's just my opinion from watching Ali videos... only he knows for sure when he has been hit the hardest.

[dropway9]

@1990evren

9-3? Which rounds did you give Norton just out of curiosity? The fight is way closer than 9-3. Are you watching with your head or your heart. I used to be a huge Ali fan but then reality sunk in as I got older and watched his fights again.

This is the best he ever looked in the entire Norton series. The first fight was not a split decision but a clear victory for Norton. Norton also won their third fight. Even Ali said that going back to his corner. Ali maybe won this fight.

[sugarnadf]

@dropway9 u aswell as many others pick up on every tactic an old ali used to survive but make no mention of the amount of times guys like norton or frazier hit him on the hips or hit him with blatant low blows all which sap ur strength far more than smothering..all fighters do things they shouldn at times or which r border line breking the rules. this is ALI past his best..75% the fighter he was n thats y he uses these tactics more.he rarley did this in his prime 64-67

[dropway9]

Hold him Ali, smother him. Don't let him hit you. Push his head down. Not really boxing but if they let you get away with it and you have no moral compass in the ring then hey why not.

[1990evren]

i always questioned ali's training after zora folley(3.5 years lay off). he was truly in shape in few fights such as against quarry, bonavena, joe bugner(1st fight), fraizer(1st and 2nd fight), norton(2nd fight) and of course george foreman. yet he had lots of fights.

[1990evren]

in third fight although ali won, his victory did not look impressive because norton looked like he could carry on fighting more rounds. the problem was norton was winning his rounds more decisevely. it would have been very interesting if norton got the decision because ali would have trained very hard(as he usually does when he loses) and they would have fought for a 4th time.

[carvedinside1982]

EXACTLY! If i wasnt sure i won...i wouldnt be celebrating either...it's common sense ladies and gentleman. Relax! get over it..it was a close fight! All of Norton and Ali's fights were close! You never know how the judges are scoring these things...most of the time Ali throws more punches but Norton does a lot of power punches and hard connects...so it's a close fight no doubts there! Get over it...Ali won and it wasn't up to us youtubers ....let it go! It's in the Ali's record as a win lol

[bluflarp]

what happened at 7:12? ali was hitting one of his cornermen?

[rusk1963]

ali dominated the last round, so many swift combinations at the start

[kuriaki71]

i like norton but ali in the 60s would have easily beat norton

[bethoveenzeyad]

i see this fhgh more and more

norton won 3 rounds only in all fight !!! ali won 9 or 10

i dont now some people side norton won !! why ??? norton was bad night

[bethoveenzeyad]

mohammd kill him strong in last round

[carlitoboxing]

you should concentrate a little more in what happens during the fight... you talk about the corner, the faces after the fight and stuff like that... concentrate on the points, on the blows.. and anyway his name is Norton, not Norten

[bethoveenzeyad]

@carlitoboxing

but norton corner was jumping and jumping happy in third fight before unanimos decision in 1976 !!! in thise

secon fight 1973 we saw diffrent norton corner before read unanimous decision they sadness faces

however , thanks

[carlitoboxing]

@bethoveenzeyad the corner was different and I'll tell ya why... in the third fight norton wins a easier decision, this fight is surely much closer, as I wrote, I have Kenny winning 5-4 with 3 rounds even.. so of course you don't celebrate if you're not sure you've won.. In a close fight like that, you can't be sure of anything..

you're welcome

[1990evren]

i scored this fight as 9 - 3 to ali. i watched every round very carefully and counted the punches. i included norton's body shots as well. i think ali won. i dont know why it was a split decision. it should have been unanimous. i gotta admit though ken norton is a tough fighter.

[theMadH8r]

Ali wasn't really that impressive here I mean, he looked kinda shot and it's amazing that he had some more great fights left in him

[lorenzodemedici1]

hahaha. I had to laugh with the Ali fanboys that thought Ali won 8 or 9 rounds decisively and the fight wasn't close. Shit many hardcore boxing fans thought Ali lost 2 or even all 3 of their fights. But hey that's fanboys and nuthuggers. Ali is great but it's hard to argue that he beat Norton "easily" in this fight as they try to spin it.

[imamfollower]

0.42--0.450 ali footwork setup

to a sweet combo stuns norton

left right missed uppercut

finishes off with a

 mind warping left hook

[imamfollower]

is that a hater in disguise Josh22268 cassius clay hardly ever missed the important shots not only that you couldn't bob and weave him

ali vs patterson 1

he threw allot more punches and had allot more stamina

and speed

and more power and more heart never koed

> would hit you allot more on the head also fly in the air and score combo's punch thru strict defence 03:24 -- 03:37

looks good but still rusty

[Josh22268]

@jffrantz Exactly! except marciano would have thrown twice as many punches, would never have gassed out or let himself get tied up throughout the fight.

[carlitoboxing]

5-4 with 3 even.. norton won all three fights with ali and got robbed twice.. make no mistake about it

[bethoveenzeyad]

@carlitoboxing hahahahah sweet dream norten won !! thats why norten left eye becom balloon in this fight and ali clean face !! mohammd banger norten face i see ali won in 9 or 10 rounds not 8 same in thired fight norten lefet eye becon balloon and ali very clean face !! so wach again this fight and third fight in your eyes not in your heart you diden like ali becous hes muslim man ali kill him 2 time and kill frizer 2 time and kill george forman the man whos kill norten and frizor

[carlitoboxing]

@bethoveenzeyad I don't hate muslims.. I like Dwight Muhammad Qawi very much for example... so that's just my opinion.. I think Norton landed the hardest blows, Ali throwed more punches but almost all of them weren't effective.. It was a close fight but I think Norton won, that's all

[bethoveenzeyad]

@carlitoboxing

will norten ( him self ) side i loste that fight !! so what ??? norten lie about him selfe ????? hes

feeling won in the third fight 1976 not second fight norten feel that and almost people see ali won 8 - 7

but this second fight norten never side i won

and watch again after end to the fight norten corner not happy thay feeling lost

before read unanimous decision norten also not happy and his corner same thing

[musicmatty67]

Horse shit..Ali's last fight against Leon Spinks is one of his Best Performances ever!

[1990evren]

i wish he had retired after thrilla in manilla against joe fraizer. he could have even retired after he beat george foreman.

[hbk711x]

@1990evren

WHy he went on to beat Shavers and Spinks, If he would have beat Holmes at his old Age there he would have been ranked much better then Joe Louis instead of Slighty better or the same.

[1990evren]

@hbk711x

ur right actually but after the foreman fight he was not the same man. in thrilla in manilla he beat joe fraizer but he was not in great shape. thats why he took lots of punches. after thrilla in manilla he had nothing. after that fight he cannot handle a prime larry holmes.

[hbk711x]

@1990evren

HEa ebat three olympic medalists , foreman, frazier, adn spinks.

[7980COOL1]

@hbk711x You left out another olympic medalist - Floyd Patterson !

[1990evren]

i dont know why ali won on split decision. although i m aware that it was a close fight, i think it should have been unanimous decision. ali clearly landed more head shots. also i think if ali planted his foots on the ground more often he could have stunned ken more which would have made the victory more decisisive.

[bangitslo]

This fight wasn't even close I had the fight scored 8 -3-1 Ali. Not too far off from the Ref who scored it 7-5 Ali. Ali easy winner.

[bangitslo]

@XNorrinxRaddX I gave the fight to Ali 8 rounds to 3 one even. Not even close. ALI!!!!!!!

[marcxopoco]

At the fight's end as Ali returns to his corner he pushes Bundini in the face with his left hand, then with his left elbow, and finally swings at Bundini with his right hand. 7:05

Weird.

[sugarhitman]

@marcxopoco I noticed that too. Clearly Ali must have thought he lost, and it also reflects to me that he was a terrible person.

[marcxopoco]

Ali "winning" ? 0:25 LOL

[4real313]

@XNorrinxRaddX basically it is whto someone who wants a k.o

[4real313]

@XNorrinxRaddX a slit decision is a draw

[CassiusMClay]

It was a very close fight with Ali getting off to a fast start, Norton coming on in the middle rounds, and Ali closing the show in the 12th round. So much was riding on this fight. Had Ali lost there would in all probability been no Ali - Frazier II, and ultimately no Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman. Boxing history would have been very different.

[hbk711x]

I respect your opinion, It was a close fight in my opinion but Ali had the edge in the fights and had a career levels above him, lets just agree to disagree, your opinion as a fellow boxing fan is alright with me.

[faltagh]

@hbk711x Good enough.

[kylekeske]

6 rounds for Ali and 4 for Norton with 2 rounds even this bout is one of the best boxing match aver

[imamfollower]

evil ali never used his power to punch the f**** outa any m%&******&*%*% if you watch the 1st chavallo fight and terrell fight evil ali was a psycho thumpa

a evil ali could punch tru the tightest deffence with combos and underated time and power

ali had the fastest hands in the history of the division of all time

can you gulp dat down compare witherspoon vs holmes holmes vs norton

i still see evil ali a lil bit here

[joephil6]

Great fight. Great rally by Ali. Great heart to trade with Norton a big puncher.

[BringerOfTheTruth]

Wtf is happening at 7:07 ?

[faltagh]

Ali lost all three fights.

[hbk711x]

@faltagh

Ali didn't lose this one and i am about to watch the third, i wanted to watch them in order, lovely rivalry so far though, like with Joe Frazier. In addition Ali had his career cut down by one third and still left Norton shaking while Ali finished strong enough for this win.

[faltagh]

@hbk711x It was the closest of the three. Norton was "shaking" ? Norton was still throwing/landing the harder shots. I think Norton won.

The third fight was an absolute robbery !

[hbk711x]

@faltagh

Norton had mani missed shots as well, technique wise Norton was weaker in All three fights, Ali KO and defeated people who KOed Norton in 1 or two rounds, strength isn't everything, ITs the technique and placement of the punch that Ali did much better to clearly defeat NOrton, in the third fight he just swung alot and had alot of those shots blocked while getting toyed with.

[faltagh]

@hbk711x You see what you see, and clearly don't see what you DON'T SEE. Your commentary tells me we have nothing further to discuss. Study the game and quit idolizing.

[kuriaki71]

a young ali would have had little trouble with a ken norton

[29ungido]

really tough fight mmm the first 6 rounds were ali's the latter part was was norton's and the last round was even but i think ali did better on the last round than norton

[nickmatthew1]

I have it 6-3 to Ali before the start of the 11th, Norton needs a KO.

[yuhong1]

If you look for a reason why Norton lost I would say that in the first rounds he was to passive. Ali couldnÄt land power punches but jabs because he feared Norton as a counter puncher but he won most of the early rounds and Norton knew it. Round eleven looks pretty even .... but from my point of view Norton now needs every round

[Sage99]

It was a hell of a fight. Ken Norton has serious KO power but since Ali can take a good hit in the end he just outpointed Ken. Ken needs to get a least a knock down to win against a good outside fighter.

[nickybutterfly]

Ali appeared to be somehow upset at the end of the fight, he even pushed back Bundini and punched him a bit .. really weird! It might be because of him being a little sore of not fighting as much as he expected to do in the beginning + the tiredness of this amazing battle ..

Great champions

[brybry19871987]

Yea I think he was disappointed in himself... Didn't like taking praise if he wasn't gonna be sure of the outcome... I hate it when someone tells me I did good or I won just to make me feel better....

[JJHusker]

WHAT A BATTLE