The man who broke Muhammad Ali's Jaw, the legendary Ken Norton. Known as the 'Black Hercules', he had possibly the most aesthetically pleasing physique in boxing history. Hopefully this video can be used as motivation for you to get a Ken Norton level six pack.
Ali's physique between 1964 and 1967 was the best!Not too muscle bound,perfect for heavyweight boxing.Norton and Anthony Joshua probably joint second to Ali!😊😊
I watched Kenny train at Grossingers hotel for the Quarry fight during the seventies. Had to be about 1975. After watching him spar with His sparring partner Howard Ko Smith I knew boxing was what I wanted to try. I was 17 years old. About a week later in the Middletown times herald record there was an article about Floyd Patterson running a boxing gym on his property. I quite playing high school football and started boxing under Floyd Patterson. I had to hitch hike 27 miles each way from Ellenville to NewPaltz for the first three years. 120 amateur fights and eight years later I turned pro under Lou Duvas Main events. My third pro fight I suffered a hyperextended elbow and had to have an ulnar transplant surgery ending my short pro career. Over the years the memories from those times at Floyd Patterson’s gym are amazing! I had the opportunity to compete with some of the best amateur fighter in the world including Tony Tucker,Alex Ramos,Marc Mero,Duane Thomas,David Sears and quite a few other awesome fighters.Great memories I would not trade for anything. A book can be written from those experiences from fighting all over the country and around the world and in Golden Gloves competitions.
@@MiggsMultiple According to bodybuilder Dennis Tinerino they used to train together at World's gym in the mid-late 1970s this was around the time Ken Norton made the film Mandingo around 1975 (for which Norton received a lot of criticism) He has also said to have trained at Vince Gironda's gym who called Norton a freak because he couldn't understand how Norton could run all the miles he did and still maintain all the muscle mass he had. Norton said he was never the same fighter after the 1976 rubbermatch with Muhammad Ali. Even Ali admitted himself and said he lost that one and was gifted the decision. Ferdie Pacheco Ali's physician said the real cut off point for Ali was he should have retired after the third Norton fight although Pacheo stayed another year and left in 1977 after Muhammad Ali's fight with Earnie Shavers.
Where did he say that? I've been looking for any footage of him training strength etc and am in denial and jealous his genetics allow him to look that good by jumping rope alone 🤣
@@MiggsMultiple He said it in an interview with a Weider sports training magazine. Also Steve Reeves said he bumped into Ken at an awards dinner long after Norton retired and Norton asked him to write up a very basic weight training routine. He told Reeves he never lifted before.
George was a beast among men. His punching power was phenomenal. Norton's chin was just good,against boxers he took strong punches and kept going. But compared to similar boxers like Ali and Holmes his chin was not special. They(combined) took shots from Foreman,Shavers and Cooney and still beat them in contrast with Ken who was knocked out by huge punchers. If you want to rule a division for long you should have a granite chin apart from other skills.
@@majimamike4097 Agree. Great Champ, very skilled and under rated around in a special era of heavy weights. Beat Ali, Foreman's power legendary winning the title again by KO with Moorer. Nothing wrong with Frazier and Norton's, chins only Foreman's and - Ernie Shavers chin crushing power their x factor.
Don't think its too fair to say he doesn't have a good chin. Any man in the world could be brought down by foreman's punches. Joe Frazier is probably has the most heart and can take more punches than aLMOSt any other heavyweight and he was destroyed by foreman. Ali had in-human amounts of heart around when he returned from his suspension, it really shocks me how much he digs deep, but against foreman he never took too many solid blows to face at all. Ali had a game plan and did his best to break down foreman mentally and physically as a way to win. Norton was a very smart fighter, but he was very unlucky to run into foreman. Almost any fighter would be.
What’s unfair is that they almost always show footage only from his losses. If you look at Norton’s record, he beat ALOT of good tough young heavyweights! He was a monster in the ring and Ali’s worst nightmare!
@@danielwilliams5528 definitely ,would love to see that fight ,i would have favor Frazier for his unavoidable pressure and how much damage he can inflict to his opponents but Norton was a skillful boxer and a decent puncher .i would be ok with a few wholes rounds of these two sparring ,this sample is too short right?
@@valegendre would of been great real back and forth a lot of punches landed from both guys both pressure fighters would of picked Frazier to win probably within 6 bigger puncher and better chin but don’t think it would of been easy for him. I think from the clip I saw looked as if Kenny was trying to imitate Ali preparing Joe for that fight from the way he was moving and jabbing
nobody destroyed Ali 💯they outboxed him once ,Ali not only outboxed Norton in the rematch but ken norton used smelling salts between rounds 11 and 12 and Ali came out dominated the championship round to cement the victory
He was like the Bo Jackson of boxing, he was a tremendously gifted athlete, played football, track before picking up boxing. His son played in the NFL, it’s in the genes.
I love the ending of your videos when u add the sound to the clips it fits the rhythm of the beat to make a perfect ending to the video it makes me feel so nostalgic my fav vid of yours is the Joe Frazier one bc of the beat and I especially love the Larry Holmes ending with the perfect ending with his shout and the beat thankyou Rainy day Boxing
Kenny “Black Hercules” Norton was a great fighter always worked hard and got his body in top condition I’ll never forget the joy and excitement when he his name called as the new heavyweight champion when he beat Ali. It’s a shame that him and so many other fighters aren’t talked about as much but it’s good to know there’s a few people in this world who appreciates fighters, RIP Kenny “Black Hercules” Norton 💯.
That last clip with him and Joe Frazier was BEAUTIFUL!!! I still wonder how it would’ve went if they both fought each other in their prime although I know they were friends and sparring partners but styles make fights!!
God bless Ken . One of my all time favourites from the Golden Age . The later years of his Life were blighted by accidents and injuries. He deserved much better .
The last sparring sequence in this video is Ken Norton sparring with Joe Frazier. Norton was one of Frazier's long-time official sparring partners and was one of the few sparring partners that could last the entire training camp without getting busted up and leaving. Frazier was well known for breaking down and beating up his sparring partners due to his all-offensive 'buzzsaw' style. Larry Holmes, for a short time, was also a paid sparring partner for Frazier too, but left within a couple of days after Frazier broke his ribs.
Yeah and George Foreman ran up against Jimmy young and got knocked out and George foreman ran up against ali and got knocked out. We all are no ken Norton lost to george foreman genius. Unless you rocky marciano or floyd mayweather then you got your behind whipped eventually since those the only two boxers that never lost.
Of all the heavyweights from the Golden Age of the '70s (Ali,Foreman,Frazier) he definetly had the most impresive physique from the point of view of aesthetics, just amazing Black Hercules ineed
My coach was on the same Marine Corp boxing squad as him. My coach always told me Ken was one of the most nervous individuals he ever met. He said Ken was always bigger than the guys he fought in the Marines and would always go up to Art Redden who was the coach and would say "LOOK HOW BIG THAT GUY IS." Only to have the whole team look at Ken and assure him "Ken...you're bigger than those guys!" He also admitted he was always worried about getting KO'd and hated fighting good punchers. But my coach said nobody could do as many pushups or pull-ups as Ken, and he was always in the best shape. Apparently, he was a much better football player than boxer.
I'm big fan of this channel, bro... The best channel of boxing in RU-vid. I make videos of boxing in my channel, also. You is a big inspiration for this!!
Does anybody know how he trained for strength and conditioning, diet etc? Can't seem to find much on it, he had one of the best physiques in the history of all sports in my opinion.
He was a top contender in the heavyweight division in a tough era, so I don’t need to mention training hard work. Mostly genetics though. On top of that he’s a heavyweight so he looks even greater.
