By Ken Hissner: It was back in the ’60s, and 70’s when the heavyweight division was stacked with names like Muhammad “The Greatest” Ali, “Smokin” Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and “Big” George Foreman!
Ali won the light heavyweight Olympic Gold Medal in Rome, Italy, in 1960, and Foreman won the Gold Medal in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1968. Frazier lost in the Olympic Trials to Buster Mathis, but when Mathis broke his right middle finger, Frazier took his place and won the Gold Medal in Tokyo, Japan, in 1964. Norton won the Pan Am trials in 1967 but was replaced due to the fact his “crab style” defense was not international enough. He never fought amateur again.
Ali turned pro in October of 1960 and won his first 20 fights with he won the heavyweight title by stopping champion Sonny Liston, 35-1, in February of 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida.
Frazier turned pro in August of 1965 and won his first 20 fights with that won the New York Commission heavyweight title, stopping Buster Mathis, 23-0, in March of 1968 at Madison Square Garden, New York, later considered the world title. In February of 1970, he stopped Jimmy Ellis, 27-5, for the WBA and WBC titles.
In March 1971, Frazier defeated Ali 31-0 in a title defense at Madison Square Garden. In January of 1973, he was stopped by Foreman, 37-0, in Kingston, Jamaica. In January of 1974, he lost to Ali by decision and again in January of 1975 by stoppage in Manila, Philippines. After losing again to Foreman, he ended his career drawing with Floyd “Jumbo” Cummings, 15-1, in December of 1981. His final record was 32-4-1 with 27 stoppages.
Norton turned pro in November of 1967 and won his first 16 fights before being knocked out by Jose Luis Garcia, 12-2-1. In August of 1975, he stopped Garcia, 30-7-1; that was to be an elimination match, but he had to wait a year after scoring three wins and losing to Ali.
In February of 1968, Olympic Gold Medalist Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title and was to defend against Ken Norton, who had won an eliminator over Jimmy Young and was supposed to get the title fight. When Spinks decided to give Ali a rematch, he was stripped of the WBC title though he retained the WBA title, and Norton was awarded the WBC title in March of 1978. He was 40-4. In his first defense, he lost a split decision to Larry Holmes, 27-0.
Norton had two previous world title fights; after losing to Ali in his next fight, he still got a title fight losing to George Foreman, 39-0, by stoppage in March of 1974.
Norton was 29-1 when he broke Ali’s jaw in March of 1973, winning a split decision for the NABF title in San Diego, California. He ended at 42-7-1 with 33 stoppages. In May of 1981, he lost his final match to Gerry Cooney, 24-0. He was 1-2 against Ali and 0-1 against Foreman. He and Frazier were friends and never fought one another.
Foreman, 37-0, won the title by stopping Frazier, 2-0, as previously mentioned in Kingston, Jamaica, in January of 1973. In October of 1975, he was stopped by Ali, 44-2, in Zaire, Africa.
In March of 1977, he lost to Jimmy Young, 20-5-2, and began to yell, “Jesus Christ is alive in me,” and retired from the ring. Ten years later, he started a comeback, winning 24 in a row before losing to world champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield, 25-0, in April of 1991.
In June of 1993, Foreman lost to Tommy Morrison, 36-1, for the vacant WBO world title. In his next fight in November of 1994, he stopped IBF and WBA champion Michael Moorer, 35-0, at the age of 45. He was stripped of his title for not fighting the No. 1 contender Tony Tucker.
In November of 1977, in his final fight, he lost a disputed majority decision to Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs, 29-1. His final record was 76-5 with 68 stoppages.
After winning the title stopping Liston, Ali stopped him again in the rematch. Then he defended his title 8 more times before having his license revoked by the WBC organization for not entering the military after a March of 1967 knockout over Zora Folley, 74-7-4.
Ali’s license was given back to him in October of 1976, some three years and seven months later, winning twice before losing for the first time to Frazier. In January of 1974, he defeated Frazier, 30-1, earning a title fight with Foreman, 40-0, stopping him for his third time winning the world title.
In February of 1978, Ali lost to Leon Spinks, 7-0-1, but won the rematch for the second time, winning the world title in September of 1978. His cut man Ferdie Pacheco refused to work his corner again, advising Ali to retire.
Ali would go on to lose to Larry Holmes, 35-0, for the title and in next, in his final fight, lost to former world champion Trevor Berbick, 19-2-1, in December of 1981. His final record was 56-5 with 37 stoppages.
All four were inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Ali and Frazier in 1990, Norton in 1992, and Foreman in 2003.
Ali, Foreman, and Frazier appeared together on tv. When asked by the host how they felt about one another, Foreman said, “How would you feel about a guy who knocked you down with a right hand? Another who missed you with a left hook and almost took your neck off, Joe Frazier.”
Frazier was asked, “Did you ever hurt each other?” He replied, “How do you feel about a guy who knocks you down seven times in the first fight and six times in the second fight?”
