Norton holmes 1978

On June 9, , the late Ken Norton Sr. Norton was awarded the WBC title in March, , after Leon Spinks reneged on a prior agreement to face him and opted, instead, for a lucrative rematch with Muhammad Ali, whom he had suprisingly outpointed, by split decision, at the Hilton Hotel the previous month.

However, it was Holmes who made the early running, using his exceptional hand speed to win four of the first five rounds.

By contrast, Norton started slowly and it was not until the sixth round that he started to hurt his opponent. Remarkably, having lost four of the first five rounds, Norton won five of the next six. In rounds twelve and thirteen, Holmes responded, landing a succession of heavy shots as Norton, once again, covered up. I have absolutely no thought of retiring.

And he was man enough to come over and congratulate me. I gave him a few of the middle rounds, but you know how strong I looked in the 13th round, and I knew I had him in the 15th. Twenty-eight is a pretty good number, right? Holmes stated that he had nothing to gain by fighting Norton again, and that he would tackle the winner of the Ali-Spinks rematch for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. Thursday, January 13, Follow Us:. Holmes right scores flush on fellow heavyweight legend, Ken Norton. Photo from The Ring archive. Original closed-circuit art. Liam Williams; Claressa Shields vs. The final scores: Two judges had it for Holmes while one scored it for Norton , giving Holmes a split decision victory and the heavyweight title. Holmes later called it the toughest fight during his championship years.

The fans called it a joy to watch. The new champion would end up with the third longest reign in heavyweight history, serving as champion until he lost his belts to Michael Spinks in He would make 19 successful defenses.

Photos: Jake Paul knocks out Tyron Woodley with one punch. Photos: The wild Deron Williams vs. Frank Gore exhibition. Photos: Frank Gore, Deron Williams train for boxing match. Things were looking up for Joe Smith Jr. Unification bouts against titleholders Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol were on the horizon for ….