Ken Norton’s son, former Super Bowl champion and current NFL assistant coach, confirmed that his legendary father has passed away.
Norton, like his counterpart Joe Frazier, fought Ali in a three-bout boxing brawl, with Norton and Ali splitting the first two and Ali narrowly taking the third bout in a controversial split decision. Norton was never the same after that that loss. Norton is also known for playing a boxer in the slave-themed film Mandingo that has become part of the urban lexicon to mean a virile, formidable man.
Kenneth Howard Norton was born on Aug. 9, 1943, in Jacksonville, Ill., a couple of hundred miles southeast of Chicago. He starred on the basketball, football and track teams in high school. Norton enlisted in the Marine Corps after attending what was then called Northeast Missouri State University (Now Truman State University) on a football scholarship but had injured his shoulder. While in the Marines, Norton took up the sport of boxing, compiling an impressive record of 24-2.
Norton then turned pro and won 16 straight fights before losing his first one. The fights with Ali and the bout with former champ Larry Holmes represented the apex of his career.
Many people paid posthumous homage to Norton on Twitter, including former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson.
Ken Norton was always nice to me even when I was just an amateur fighter. He always treated me like I was somebody. Remarkable man.
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) September 19, 2013
Take a look at what Twitter had to say about the great former champion Ken Norton below.
