Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton - boxing - WBC heavyweight title
20th Century Box
2023-11-25
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Ken Norton defended his WBC world heavyweight title against Larry Holmes
Date: June 9, 1978
Venue: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Norton stance: orthodox
Holmes stance: orthodox
Ken Norton's first world title fight against the undisputed champion George Foreman in 1974. As his previous fight had been a close and disputed split decision loss in his rematch with Muhammad Ali, Norton was given a good chance going into that fight. Foreman destroyed Norton in two rounds. Norton regrouped, and won seven straight bouts against fringe contenders, with his best result a five round stoppage of Jerry Quarry. He than challenged Ali for the undisputed world title and lost a very controversial decision over 15 rounds. In his next fight, Norton blasted out the unbeaten, and highly regarded, Duane Bobick in less than a minute.
After a routine stoppage win over Lorenzo Zanon, Norton faced Jimmy Young in a WBA final eliminator. Norton won that fight on a split decision. When Leon Spinks caused a huge upset by beating Ali, he chose to have a rematch rather than defend against Norton, so Ken Norton was awarded the WBC title outside the ring. His fight with Holmes would be his first defence.
Larry Holmes won his first 26 fights against a series of journeymen, and this winning streak was rewarded by the WBC which ranked him fourth in the world. He then faced Earnie Shavers, who was ranked third by the WBC, in a world title eliminator. Holmes surprised a lot of people by winning a very comfortable points decision. What those people had overlooked was that Larry Holmes had worked as a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers and Jimmy Young. He probably learned more from sparring these elite heavyweights than he did from beating his first 26 opponents.
What followed was an all time classic.
For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:
Ken Norton - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/168
Larry Holmes - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/150
Date: June 9, 1978
Venue: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Norton stance: orthodox
Holmes stance: orthodox
Ken Norton's first world title fight against the undisputed champion George Foreman in 1974. As his previous fight had been a close and disputed split decision loss in his rematch with Muhammad Ali, Norton was given a good chance going into that fight. Foreman destroyed Norton in two rounds. Norton regrouped, and won seven straight bouts against fringe contenders, with his best result a five round stoppage of Jerry Quarry. He than challenged Ali for the undisputed world title and lost a very controversial decision over 15 rounds. In his next fight, Norton blasted out the unbeaten, and highly regarded, Duane Bobick in less than a minute.
After a routine stoppage win over Lorenzo Zanon, Norton faced Jimmy Young in a WBA final eliminator. Norton won that fight on a split decision. When Leon Spinks caused a huge upset by beating Ali, he chose to have a rematch rather than defend against Norton, so Ken Norton was awarded the WBC title outside the ring. His fight with Holmes would be his first defence.
Larry Holmes won his first 26 fights against a series of journeymen, and this winning streak was rewarded by the WBC which ranked him fourth in the world. He then faced Earnie Shavers, who was ranked third by the WBC, in a world title eliminator. Holmes surprised a lot of people by winning a very comfortable points decision. What those people had overlooked was that Larry Holmes had worked as a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers and Jimmy Young. He probably learned more from sparring these elite heavyweights than he did from beating his first 26 opponents.
What followed was an all time classic.
For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:
Ken Norton - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/168
Larry Holmes - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/150
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