After his loss to Muhammad Ali in their second bout in September of 1973, his career didn’t miss a beat. George Foreman had become the heavyweight champion in January of 1973 by destroying Joe Frazier. His one title defense over Joe ‘King’ Roman was in September of that same year, an easy one round knockout in Tokyo, Japan. When he agreed to fight Norton in March of 1974, it promised to be a test for both.
The March 26th bout took place in Caracas, Venezuela, and saw Muhammad Ali sitting ringside cheering Ken Norton on enthusiastically. There was little opportunity however, because after a slow back and forth first round, ‘Big’ George caught Norton, dropped Ken twice, and stopped him before the second round ended. His tremendous punching power was a force to be reckoned with, and it didn’t appear that anyone on the heavyweight landscape could beat him. What was supposed to have been a test, had been an easy night after all.
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