Ken Norton Loses The Fourth Fight, Dies in Arizona at Age 70
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Ken Norton, who along with Joe Frazier fought a trilogy of fights with Muhammad Ali which are considered classics, has died at age 70. Norton suffered a series of strokes in recent years and had been in poor health.
Boxing, however, was not Norton’s undoing. Norton had a love of fast cars and fast motorcycles. In 1986, Norton was seriously injured when he crashed his car into an on-rmap on the Santa Monica Freeway. Norton fractured his own skull and was wheelchair bound for years until he physically recovered, and regained the ability to speak after extensive therapy. The strokes followed from that point on. Perhaps the greatyest comparison or Norton would be the late heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, who love speeding in fast cars until he wrecked and killed himself.
Norton, also a real estate agent and business entrepreneur who sold licensed keychains for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, did himself permanent neurological damage after his 1986 car crash at age 43, and was never physically or emotionally the same from that point on.
A native of Jacksonville, Illinois, Norton won the all-Marine heavyweight championship three times after college. He turned boxing pro in November 1967 with a fifth round stoppage of Grady Brazell. Norton won 30 of 31 bouts to open his career, losing only to Jose Louis Garcia, whom he later beat in a rematch. After breaking Muhammad Ali’s jaw and defeating him in March 1973, Norton lost a rematch to Ali and got stopped in two rounds by George Foreman. Norton got robbed of a 15 round decision for the world heavyweight title against Muhammad Ali in 1975 at Yankee Stadium in the golden days of Ali’s career, perhaps Norton’s most sparkling performance-and Ali’s greatest robbery.
The three best fights and the three worst fights of Ali’s career were yet to come. Norton kayoed the 38-0 Duane Bobick on the first round, defeated Jimmy Young by decision after Young beat George Foreman, and lost a 15 round questionable decision to Larry Holmes which cost Norton his World Boxing Council World Heavyweight title. On the flip side, Norton got kayoed in the first round by Earnie Shavers and Gerry Cooney, and got dropped twice in the tenth round in a ten round draw with Scott LeDeux. Norton won only two of his last six professional bouts, a kayo of Randy Stephens and a ten round split decision over 17-0 Randy ‘Tex’ Cobb. Norton finished with a professional record of 42-7-1 with 33 knockouts.
Norton also dabbled in an acting career, appearing on the 1975 movie ‘Mandingo’ as a plantation slave who eventually gets boiled alive. He also appeared on several television series, most notably ‘The A-Team’ with George Peppard, ‘Cover Up’ with Jon-Erik Hexum, and ‘Knight Rider’ with David Hasselhoff. He last appeared played the grandpa in the 2008 movie ‘The Man who Came Back’ with Billy Zane. Norton’s son, Ken Norton Jr., is a retired professional football player who now works as an assistant coach for the Seattle Seahawks.
Norton was a boxing luminary. His breaking of Muhammad Ali’s jaw in 1973 earned Norton mythical status and a cult following. In the end it was fast vehicles which did him damage. Norton was never punch drunk, just a wild driver. His driving did him in. A number of famous boxers, from Young Stribling to Salvador Sanchez, met their end driving motorcycles and automobiles in their ‘life in the fast lane’. Joe Frazier wound up walking with a cane after a car accident. Norton overcame paralysis and loss of speech after three years from his car accident, and like Joe, came away lucky to be alive but was never again the same soul.
According to his son, Ken Norton Jr., who survives him, Ken Norton died in Henderson, Nevada.
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