Ken Norton

CTL-E-7089 · Person · other · 1943–2013

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07961 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7089.

Kenneth Howard Norton was born August 9, 1943, in Jacksonville, Illinois, BoxRec records. A football scholarship athlete at Northeast Missouri State, he took up boxing in the United States Marine Corps and turned professional in 1967, the International Boxing Hall of Fame records. In 1973 he won a twelve-round split decision over Muhammad Ali for the NABF heavyweight title — only Ali's second loss — and, the Hall records, broke Ali's jaw in that first fight; he lost the rematch six months later by split decision. He was knocked out in two rounds by champion George Foreman in Caracas in 1974, and in the third Ali fight, at Yankee Stadium in 1976, Ali won a unanimous decision that the Hall notes many, including Norton, felt Norton had won — the official result and the objection are both carried here. After Norton decisioned Jimmy Young in a WBC title eliminator in 1977 and Leon Spinks declined to defend against him, the WBC awarded Norton its championship; he lost his first defense to Larry Holmes in a fifteen-round split decision in 1978. BoxRec's bout listing totals 42 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw with 33 knockouts. Norton retired in 1981, was inducted into the Hall in 1992, and died of congestive heart failure on September 18, 2013.

The record

• Also known as: Kenneth Howard Norton

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0467. Contested disposition (1976 Ali III scoring): the official unanimous decision for Ali stands as the result of record; the Hall itself notes many observers, including Norton, believed Norton won — both are carried and the record does not re-score the fight. The first 1973 fight's broken jaw is carried as the Hall states it. Title disposition: Norton's WBC championship was awarded on the Young eliminator win after Spinks declined the defense, and BoxRec notes he remains the only heavyweight champion never to win a world title fight — carried attributed, not as a slight or a first claim beyond that source. All Ali, Foreman and Holmes connections here are bout results carried in the description, not relationship edges. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Norton's record is the Ali-era contender record — three fights with Ali that define a career most heavyweights would trade for, plus a championship that arrived by sanctioning-body ruling and left by one point. Photo: CLEARED, Public domain, 1976 press photograph whose Commons file description names Ken Norton training before a fight.

Relationships

• Eddie Futch — student of
  Eddie Futch trained Ken Norton — one of the four Futch-trained fighters who defeated Muhammad Ali, in the exact sourced form carried in Futch's record (International Boxing Hall of Fame). Edge emitted by the head at assembly from Lane D's cross-lane flag.

Sources

• International Boxing Hall of Fame. "Ken Norton." IBHOF.com. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• BoxRec. "Ken Norton." BoxRec Wiki. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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Record CTL-E-7089 · Combined Graph record U-07961 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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