45 Facts About Ken Norton

Ken Norton is best known for his fights with Muhammad Ali, in which Norton won the first by split decision, lost the second by split decision, and lost the final by a controversial unanimous decision.

Ken Norton retired from boxing in 1981, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

Ken Norton was an outstanding athlete at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Ken Norton was selected to the all-state football team on defense as a senior in 1960.

Ken Norton enlisted into the United States Marines Corps after leaving school, serving from 1963 to 1967.

Ken Norton was a manual morse intercept, graduating from NCTC Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida.

Ken Norton built up a steady string of wins, some against journeyman fighters and others over fringe contenders like the giant Jack O'Halloran.

Ken Norton suffered a surprise defeat in 1970 just after The Ring magazine had profiled him as a prospect, to heavy-hitting Venezuelan boxer Jose Luis Garcia, who was unknown at the time.

Ken Norton overpowered Garcia in their rematch five years later, when both were rated contenders.

Ken Norton won a 12-round split decision over Ali in his adopted hometown of San Diego to win the NABF heavyweight title.

In 1974, Ken Norton fought Foreman for the world heavyweight championship at the Poliedro de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela, suffering a second-round knockout.

Ken Norton did not hit the canvas, but continued on wobbly legs, clearly not having recovered.

Ken Norton shortly went down a further two times in quick succession, with the referee intervening and stopping the fight.

In 1975, Ken Norton regained the NABF heavyweight title when he impressively defeated Jerry Quarry by TKO in the fifth round.

Ken Norton then avenged his 1970 loss to Jose Luis Garcia by decisively knocking out Garcia in round five.

On September 28,1976, Ken Norton fought his third and final bout against Ali at Yankee Stadium in New York City.

The Ken Norton bout was a tough bruising battle for Ali.

Ken Norton's tactics were to try to push Norton back, but they had failed.

Ken Norton has said the third fight with Ali was the last boxing match for which he was fully motivated, owing to his disappointment at having lost a fight he believed he had clearly won.

In 1977, Ken Norton knocked out previously unbeaten top prospect Duane Bobick in one round, then dispatched European title holder Lorenzo Zanon in a 'tune-up' fight.

Ken Norton then defeated polished number two contender Jimmy Young via 15-round split decision in a WBC title-elimination bout, with the winner to face reigning WBC champion Ali.

Ken Norton dominated until sustaining an injury when he took a thumb in the eye in the eighth round, which immediately changed the bout.

LeDoux rallied from that point and Ken Norton became decidedly fatigued.

Ken Norton was down two times in the final round, resulting in the draw; Ken Norton fell behind on one scorecard, kept his lead on the second, and dropped to even on the third.

However, not satisfied with the way he had gone out, Ken Norton returned to the ring to face the undefeated Randall "Tex" Cobb in Cobb's home state of Texas on November 7,1980.

The win over the title-contending Cobb gave Ken Norton another shot at a potential title-fight, and on May 11,1981, at Madison Square Garden he stepped into the ring with top contender Gerry Cooney, who, like Cobb, was undefeated entering the fight.

Ken Norton continued to take shots from Cooney in his corner for nearly a full minute before Tony Perez stepped in to stop the fight fifty-four seconds into the first round, as Ken Norton was slumped in his corner, leaving Cooney the victor by first-round technical knockout.

Ken Norton decided to retire following the match and turned his attention to charitable pursuits.

Ken Norton was a forward-pressing fighter who was notable for his unusual crab-like cross-armed defense.

Ken Norton was best when advancing, unconventionally dragging or sliding his right foot behind him, relying on immense upper body strength to deliver his heavy blows.

Ken Norton was a 1989 inductee of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, a 1992 inductee of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, a 2004 inductee into the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, and a 2008 inductee into the World Boxing Council Hall of Fame.

Ken Norton received the "Napoleon Hill Award" for positive thinking in 1973.

In 2001, Ken Norton was inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.

Ken Norton was inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

In 1975, at the peak of his boxing career, Ken Norton made his acting debut starring in Dino De Laurentiis blaxploitation film Mandingo, about a pre-Civil War slave purchased to fight other slaves for their master's entertainment.

Ken Norton worked as an actor and TV boxing commentator following his retirement from boxing.

Ken Norton was a member of the Sports Illustrated Speakers Bureau and started the Ken Norton Management Co.

Ken Norton continued making TV, radio and public speaking appearances until suffering injuries in a near-fatal car accident in 1986 which left him with slow and slurred speech.

Ken Norton appeared along with Ali, Foreman, Frazier and Holmes in a video, Champions Forever, discussing their best times, and in 2000 he published his autobiography, Going the Distance.

Ken Norton married Jeannette Henderson in 1966 while still in the Marines.

Ken Norton was twice voted "Father of the Year" by the Los Angeles Sentinel and the Los Angeles Times in 1977.

Ken Norton followed his father in serving in the Marine Corps.

Ken Norton died at a care facility in Las Vegas on September 18,2013.

Ken Norton was 70 years old and had suffered a series of strokes in later years.

Ken Norton was buried at Jackonsville East Cemetery, in Jacksonville, Illinois.