LANDOVER, MD - APRIL 30: Ken Norton, left, talks with broadcaster Howard Cosell, right, after defeating Ron Stander in a heavyweight fight April 30, 1976 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Norton won the fight in a fifteen round split decision. Norton won the fight in the fifth round by TKO. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Ken Norton Sr. was an American professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981….and held the WBC heavyweight title in 1978…..who is best known for his trilogy with Muhammad Ali….in which Norton won the first fight by split decision….and lost the latter two fights by split and unanimous decision, respectively…..as Norton also fought a slugfest with Larry Holmes in 1978….after narrowly losing a split decision…..with the post fight interview with Howard Cosell being seen herewith. Ken Norton officially retired from boxing in 1981….and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.
Larry Holmes is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002…..whose left jab is rated among the best in boxing history….as he held the WBC heavyweight title from 1978 to 1983….The Ring magazine and lineal heavyweight titles from 1980 to 1985….and the inaugural IBF heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985. …when he made 20 successful title defenses….which places him 3rd all time behind only Joe Louis at 25 and Wladimir Klitschko at 22….who also holds the record for the longest individual heavyweight title streak in the modern boxing history…..as Holmes is one of only five boxers along with Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks and Trevor Berbick to defeat Muhammad Ali….for he is the only one to have stopped Ali….while The Greatest was suffering with early Parkinson’s disease.