He was a hell of a man and a hell of a fighter, but I also thought that Ken Norton, while obviously effective, had a very unusual style. (I hate to use the word goofy; let's go with unorthodox.)
It was especially evident against Muhammad Ali. I'm paraphrasing somebody else with the coming description, but it's accurate. Norton had that Archie Moore shell defense, but he dragged his back foot behind him, kind of like a crab. His jab almost looped up over the top.
It worked great until he ran up against a truly big puncher and couldn't really retreat (George Foreman, Earnie Shavers, Gerry Cooney).
Goofiest styles
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margaret thatcher
- Featherweight
- Posts: 39268
- Joined: 22 Jul 2019, 15:43
Re: Goofiest styles
Ya can see what you mean
Re: Goofiest styles
Pretty much every Barney fight stunk like week-old pilchards left out in the sunRemember that fight. Was a horrible clash of styles.
The lad was a real oddity - never, ever wanted to engage, horrible style that could not sell tickets - yet, perversely he won some fights and was not made to look idiotic at a reasonably high level.
He landed a few TV appearances partly because he was so different/bloody annoying and the producers probably knew that any fans tuning-in wanted to see him get properly clattered by someone.
Froch mentions Barney in his book......a sort of very back-handed compliment reference
Re: Goofiest styles
Sung-Kil Moon. Apart from holding his hands up, he didn't do anything right. Very awkward, ugly stylist. Made up for it with strength, durability, pace, and raw punching power. Had innate timing on his punches, too.
Re: Goofiest styles
Vic Darchinyan's crab style was really awkward to watch.
Re: Goofiest styles
Genc Pllana has a style that seems like it should not work but it works effectively for him.
Re: Goofiest styles
Sam Soliman was a bit of a disaster in the ring.
Always off balance and awkward but it worked for him.
Always off balance and awkward but it worked for him.