As fans have no doubt read by now, heavyweight legend and former world champion Ken Norton passed away earlier today. The magnificently conditioned former U.S Marine, most famous for his three epic fights with Muhammad Ali, suffered a stroke last year and had been in poor health since. Today, fans and former champions everywhere are sending out messages of condolence to Norton’s family.
I had the opportunity to meet Kenny last year, in Las Vegas.
By way of a tribute to the Hall of Famer who met such heavyweight titans as: Ali, Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Gerry Cooney, Earnie Shavers and many, many more – I recall the short amount of time I spent with Norton during the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto fight week of May 2012.
Most experts are agreed: tomorrow night’s Floyd Mayweather-Saul Alvarez fight will go the distance and Mayweather will win. But could “The One” wind up being a draw? Of course it COULD, but will it?
(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) It could be said that the form book will very much be obeyed on Saturday night in Las Vegas, that the expected fighters will emerge victorious and that all fight fans who pointed out the obvious before it went down will be made to look like know-it-alls as a result. Indeed, most people think Floyd Mayweather will out-point Canelo Alvarez, that Lucas Matthysse will have too much power for Danny Garcia and that there will, by and large, be no shocks inside a buzzing MGM Grand.
Maybe Oscar De La Hoya has got it wrong, and his close (in the opinion of some, not in the opinion of many others) but losing fight with superstar Floyd Mayweather is not the real example of a blueprint on how to defeat the 44-0 master. Maybe – and it’s testament to Floyd’s greatness that we have to clutch at straws in such a way – we have to go back to the night of April of 2002, and Mayweather’s tough, close and gruelling encounter with Mexican warrior Jose Luis Castillo to find anything approaching a genuine blueprint on how to beat him. 
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Chris Arreola came into last night’s fight with Seth Mitchell wearing a robe that had written on it “you don’t play boxing.” A clear dig at Mitchell’s attempts to transfer his physical skills from the football pitch to the boxing ring, Arreola’s statement was borne out – in quite devastating style.
It’s always both very interesting and a great honour being a call in participant whenever a big fight is preceded by a teleconference; especially an international one ahead of a massive, massive fight such as the fast approaching Floyd Mayweather-Saul Canelo Alvarez clash. Yesterday, with big name scribes such as Dan Rafael and Lem Satterfield asking Canelo and Oscar De La Hoya questions regarding “The One,” it was hugely exciting being on the line.