Norton built up a steady string of wins, some against journeyman fighters and others over fringe contenders like the giant
Jack O'Halloran. He 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. Garcia floored Norton five times, before Norton was eventually knocked out. Norton overpowered and avenged his loss to Garcia in their rematch five years later, when both were rated contenders. Norton was given the motivational book
Think and Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill, which he said "changed my life dramatically. I was going to fight
Muhammad Ali. I was a green fighter, but yet I won, all through reading this book." Upon reading
Think and Grow Rich, he went on a 14-fight winning streak, including the shock victory over Muhammad Ali in 1973 to win the
North American Boxing Federation heavyweight champion title. Norton said, "These words [from Napoleon Hill's
Think and Grow Rich] were the final inspiration in my victory over Ali: 'Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can'." Norton also took a complete course by Hill on gaining wealth and peace of mind. "It can be related to anybody, to be the best in a career, to think positive", said Norton. In an article which appeared in
The Southeast Missourian Norton said, "One thing I do is only watch films of the fights in which I've done well or in which my opponent has done poorly." He also said, "In boxing, and in all of life, nobody should ever stop learning!"
Rise to prominence Norton vs. Ali I, II Norton's opponents were elusive in his early career. His first big break came with a clear win over respected contender Henry Clark, which helped him gain world recognition. His big break was when Ali agreed to a match.
Joe Frazier, who'd sparred with Norton and defeated Ali, presciently said of Ali, "He'll have plenty of trouble!" Though both were top boxers in the mid-1970s, Norton and Frazier never fought each other, in part because they shared the same trainer,
Eddie Futch, and also because they were good friends and didn't want to fight each other. For the first match, on March 31, 1973, Muhammad Ali entered the ring at the
San Diego Sports Arena wearing a robe given to him by
Elvis Presley, as a 5-1 favorite versus Norton, then rated a number 6 world contender in a bout televised by ABC's
Wide World of Sports. Norton won a 12-round split decision over Ali in his adopted hometown of
San Diego to win the NABF heavyweight title. In this bout, Norton broke Ali's jaw in the second round causing Ali to fight defensively for the remaining 10 rounds. This led to only the second defeat for "The Greatest" in his career. (Ali's only previous loss was to Frazier, and Ali would later go on to defeat
George Foreman to regain the heavyweight title in 1974.) Almost six months later at The Forum in
Inglewood, California, on September 10, 1973, Ali won a close split decision. Norton weighed in at 206 lbs (5 pounds lighter than his first match with Ali) and some boxing writers suggested that his preparation was too intense and that perhaps he had overtrained. There were some furious exchanges in this hard-fought battle. From Ali's point of view, a loss here would have seriously dented his claim of ever being "The Greatest". During the ABC broadcast of the fight, broadcaster (and Ali confidant and friend)
Howard Cosell repeatedly told viewers a dancing and jabbing Ali was dominating the action despite Norton's constant offense and Ali's inability to penetrate Norton's awkward
crab-like cross-armed defensive style. The close scoring and decision favoring Ali were both controversial.
Norton vs. Foreman In 1974, Norton fought Foreman for the
world heavyweight championship at the
Poliedro de Caracas in
Caracas,
Venezuela, suffering a second-round knockout. After an even first round, Foreman staggered Norton with an uppercut a minute into round two, pushing him into the ropes. Norton did not hit the canvas, but continued on wobbly legs, clearly not having recovered. He shortly went down a further two times in quick succession, with the referee intervening and stopping the fight.
Career peak Norton vs. Quarry In 1975, Norton regained the NABF heavyweight title when he impressively defeated
Jerry Quarry by
TKO in the fifth round, although being hurt by a left-hook to the body in the second round. Norton would go on to dominate Quarry for the remainder of the fight, until the referee stopped the fight in the Fifth Round. Norton then avenged his 1970 loss to Jose Luis Garcia by decisively knocking out Garcia in round five, flooring Garcia five times with shots to the mid-section before Garcia was counted out. At the time of the bout, the last time a heavyweight champion had lost the title by decision was
Max Baer to
Jimmy Braddock, 41 years earlier. The January 1998 issue of
Boxing Monthly listed Ali-Norton as the fifth most disputed title fight decision in boxing history. The unofficial
United Press International scorecard was 8–7 for Norton, and the unofficial
Associated Press scorecards were 9–6 for Ali (Ed Schuyler), and 8–7 Norton (Wick Temple). Despite earning a victory, Ali received a pounding. His tactics were to try to push Norton back, but they had failed. He'd refused to 'dance' until the 9th. 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.
WBC heavyweight champion Norton vs. Young In 1977, Norton knocked out previously unbeaten top prospect
Duane Bobick in one round. The fight had an interesting narrative to it, as Norton's previous trainer, Eddie Futch, opted to train Bobick instead of Norton. Norton then dispatched European title holder, Lorenzo Zanon in a 'tune-up' fight. Light-hitting but fast, Zanon was ahead on the scorecards until a barrage of right-overhands and looping-body shots put him down and out. Norton then defeated polished number two contender
Jimmy Young (who had beaten Foreman for the former champion's second loss, as well as twice top heavyweight contender
Ron Lyle) via 15-round split decision in a WBC title-elimination bout, with the winner to face reigning WBC champion Ali. (However, Ali's camp told
The Ring they did not want to fight Norton for a fourth time.) Both boxers fought a smart fight, with Norton using a heavy body attack whilst Young moved well and countered. The decision was controversial, with many observers thinking Young had done enough to win. Although Norton was expected to face Ali for a fourth time, to fight for the WBC heavyweight championship, plans changed due to Ali's loss of his title to
Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978. The WBC then ordered a match between the new champion and Norton, its number one contender. Spinks however, chose to face Ali in his first title defence, instead of facing Norton. The WBC responded on March 18, 1978, by retroactively giving title fight status to Norton's victory over Young the year before and awarding Norton their championship, which split the heavyweight championship for the first time since
Jimmy Ellis and Joe Frazier were both recognized as champions in the early 1970s.
Norton vs. Holmes In his first defense of the WBC title on June 9, 1978, Norton and new number one contender
Larry Holmes met in a brutal 15-round fight. Holmes was awarded the title via an extremely close split decision. Two of the three judges scored the fight 143–142 for Holmes while the third scored the bout 143–142 for Norton. before taking on legendary puncher
Earnie Shavers in another compulsory WBC title eliminator fight in Las Vegas on March 23, 1979. Shavers took the former champion out in the first round. underscoring Norton's difficulty with hard hitters such as Foreman, Shavers and later Cooney. However Norton himself always denied this, saying that he was past his prime when he was stopped by Shavers and Cooney.
Scott LeDoux In his next fight, he fought to a split draw with unheralded but durable lower ranked contender
Scott LeDoux at the
Met Center in
Minneapolis. 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 Norton became decidedly fatigued. Norton was down two times in the final round, resulting in the draw; Norton fell behind on one scorecard, kept his lead on the second, and dropped to even on the third (the unofficial AP scorecard was 5–3–2 Norton).
Tex Cobb After the fight, Norton decided that at 37 it was time to retire from boxing. However, not satisfied with the way he had gone out, Norton returned to the ring to face the undefeated
Randall "Tex" Cobb in Cobb's home state of Texas on November 7, 1980. In an all action back-and-forth fight, Norton escaped with a split decision, with referee
Tony Perez and judge Chuck Hassett voting in his favor and judge Arlen Bynum giving the fight to Cobb. In the March 1981 issue of
The Ring, Norton was still one of the world's top ten ranked heavyweights.
Final bout Gerry Cooney The win over the title-contending Cobb gave 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. Very early in the fight Norton was buckled by Cooney's punches. Norton took a series of big punches from Cooney in his corner before Tony Perez stepped in to stop the 54 seconds into the first round, with Norton slumped against the ropes, leaving Cooney the victor by first-round technical knockout. Norton retired after the fight and turned to charitable pursuits. ==Boxing style==