BoxRec

15 rounds.

Both in prime.

Who, how and why?

I guess, it would be a competetive bout. Both were technical boxers with advanced skillset and sheer determination. Both had enough vulnerable chins to hurt each other badly. Louis' game seemed to be more polished though, while his punching power and accuracy should have given him the edge. I'd pick Louis to score a decision win.

Louis got the better of Norton in an exchange and pounding him behind his powerful punches to decision him in their first match and in their rematch, Louis would out-jab Norton and wearing him down with body punches before putting him away with a big devastating right hand for a KO win in 12 rounds.

Louis finds the openings and gets an 11th round Tko.
Good exciting bout for the first 8 rounds.
Louis ultimately too strong. Too Powerfull.

As good as Norton was Joe Louis was probably the perfect fighting machine from the waist up. His combinations came so lightning fast with dynamite attached to each one that very few people stood up to it for very long.

His jab was also incredibly underrated--- people want to talk about Norton's jab, but long before Eddie Futch told Norton to shoot his own jab whenever he saw Ali's chest muscles begin to twitch, it was Joe Louis who mapped out the blueprint to out-box Ali many years before with that very same game plan.

I think Louis would have hurt Norton early, and would not have let him recover. Sure, Joe didn't have the best of chins either but it was better than Norton's. After all any man who can take straight right hands for 12 rounds against Max Schmeling, one of the top 100 punchers of all time, is not made of glass.

Louis only needed 6 inches of space to put his opponents away. You could look like a million dollars against him and make one mistake and you were being counted out. He fought all styles and all kinds of opponents, he had a very high ring IQ, and did not get discouraged or get thrown off his game plan all that much.

I'm going with Louis somewhere before the 8th or 9th round. I think Norton would have early success but would try to put the pressure on Joe and that would have been a fatal mistake.

Louis KO 9

Agian idiots who need to watch other era's picking joe who was always to outdated he would be koed its obvious