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Kenneth Howard Norton is a heavyweight boxer who
was born in Jacksonville, Illinois. Norton gave
Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes hard fights. 

Ken "The Black Hercules" Norton was a well
regarded heavyweight contender for the title in
the 1970s.  He was an ex marine and is well known
for his win over Muhammad Ali although many felt
Norton was hard done by in their two other bouts.
In the first bout Norton broke Ali's jaw in the
early rounds and went on to win a Unanimous
Decision.  The other two bouts, Norton lost on
points.  Norton also fought George Foreman and was
stopped in two rounds.  Then he was stopped by
hard hitting Earnie Shavers in one round.

Norton nonetheless kept as a top contender. 
Following Leon Spinks victory over Muhammad Ali
for the world championship in February, 1978,
Spinks elected to fight a return bout against Ali
rather than face Norton.  The World Boxing
Council, which had mandated a Spinks-Norton bout
for their championship, withdrew its recognition
of Spinks as champion.  

On March 18, 1978, the WBC made history by naming
Norton its champion without benefit of a title
match.  The WBC stated that they considered
Norton's victory over Jimmy Young (boxer)|Jimmy
Young a 'retroactive championship match').  Norton
wouldn't hold onto the title for very long.

In his first 'defense' of the World Boxing
Council|WBC title, Norton and new #1 contender
Larry Holmes met in what many consider a classic
fight.  After 15  brutal rounds, Holmes was
awarded the title via an extremely close split
decision.

Norton remains unique among all heavyweight
champions, as he is still the only world
title-holder to have never won a single world
title fight. 

In 1981, Norton retired after getting knocked out
in one round by Gerry Cooney.  Retiring at age 33
with an overall record of 42-7-1, Norton went on
to act in motion pictures until suffering an auto
accident which resulted in temporary brain and
permanent physical damage.

Norton is a member of the International Boxing
Hall Of Fame, and his son, Ken Norton Jr, played
American football in the National Football
League|NFL.

start box
succession box |
  before= Leon Spinks |
  title= List of heavyweight boxing
champions|Heavyweight boxing champion (WBC) |
  years= 1978 |
  after= Larry Holmes

end box