I admit, if Norris stays disciplined he should win. Too fast and dynamic for Spence. But with that idiot hothead, ya never know. He might go to war with Spence, in which case Spence is more durable and could stop him.
I'd pick Spence, mainly because Norris was hardly ever able to stay concentrated. Of course to win, Spence would need to be at his sharpest too
Spence need only land one good shot and he’s got a great chance ... He’d be the best guy Norris ever beat if Norris won
I think Norris is overall the better fighter. But the intangibles possibly work against him here. He could very easily be up on the cards and get over confident and go to war in an attempt for bragging rights in this all Texas showdown. Give me Spence via come from behind stoppage after being dominated early.
I always wonder if there's something to glean from the SRL fight. Sure SRL wasn't prime, but he was coming off two decent to good performances
Something to glean from it in terms of what? The fight showed that Terry Norris was quite a talented fighter, and too much to handle for an over-the-hill Leonard. I'm sure that 91 Leonard could have beaten mediocre champ like Thurman or Berto, but not a guy the level of Norris. Doesn't change the fact that the early 80s Leonard would have wiped his ass with Norris.
I have thought about the same. Maybe it is too easily accepted that the outcome was completely result of Leonard's diminished skills. He was, however, 34 years old, didn't have that many fights and he didn't get hit a lot in them (because of his skills). If nothing else, it might mean that Leonard was somewhat like Roy Jones in the sense that his success was based a lot on his outstanding physical abilities. When he lost his timing, his punching power disappeared too. What Ray also showed in that fight was his heart, but that was never a question either
34 in 1991 wasn't the same as 34 in 2020. "Modern training supplements" (wink wink) are keeping these guys fresher for longer now. 34 was old for a fighter in 1991. The outcome was purely due to Ray's diminished capacity. There's no case to be made for Norris beating a prime Leonard. There's a BETTER case to be made for him beating a prime Curry, but even that one I don't see. I think 84-85 Curry would have stopped Norris.
I don't think so, but at least it's arguable. Norris vs early 80s Leonard isn't arguable. But I struggle to see Norris beating the Curry of the McCrory fight. I think that Curry was a level above Norris.
Norris's power seemed to come on later in his career. When he fought Mugabi his KO % was unimpressive. From memory, I think he was 24-1 (13 KOs.) Then he went on a knockout spree. Until Simon Brown busted his ass. I'm not saying it was roids but... I'm still pissed that Norris-Trinidad fight was canceled back in '93.
Mugabi whose only recent activity had been against a pair of tomato cans no one has ever heard of at 168 ... imagine how much we’d laugh at a guy now scoring a KO over a guy boiling down two divisions whose only notable victory over the previous few years after coming out of retirement was a fluke win where he got a paper belt when his opponent suffered a busted ankle straight away independent of anything he did...
Norris always beat Mugabi. The norris ''haters'' are funny. Every wins he has was because the guy was shot to shit. Yeah whatever
Not all of them. Castro, Pettway, Daniels, and Vaden were all in their primes. It's just that he's most famous for Leonard, Curry, Mugabi, and Taylor... three were washed up, and Taylor was too small. Taylor never beats Norris. He'd always be too small, but it's a different ball game if Leonard and Curry were at their peaks. Mugabi? Probably, I guess a case can always be made for Norris, but I just have zero confidence in Norris remaining upright if prime Mugabi hits him. However, I do acknowledge that Mugabi's delivery system was far inferior to Julian Jackson's, so it's no guarantee he catches Norris.
Mugabi was a twice retired guy with weight issues who hadn’t registered a legitimate good win in years ... he was a far cry from what he’d been
Norris notables 1989-1993 Jorge Vaca, Welterweight coming off back to back KO losses ... split decision Mugabi, gluttonous super middleweight boiling down two divisions... KO Rene Jacquot, journeyman with an upset win under his belt (Curry) who lost to Mugabi via fluke injury ... decision Ray Leonard, inactive shot former great who hadn’t fought below 160 since 1984 ... decision Donald Curry, coming off of a KO loss, clearly well past his prime ... KO Jorge Castro, slow slugger with gaudy record against nobodies ... decision Carl Daniels, undefeated against cans, not one quality opponent, was beaten by every halfway decent guy he ever fought ... TKO Meldrick Taylor, welterweight, teensy tiny at 154, coming off of a difficult night with Glenwood Brown... KOd by Espana in the fight after this one ... TKO Pat Lawlor... LOL Mo Blocker... welterweight, previously KOd by Simon Brown, not strong at 147, never mind 154 where he’d never fought before... like Taylor, went right back down to 147 ... KO Troy Waters... a complete bum who made his name in this fight by nearly knocking Norris out... KO Joe Gatti... complete nothing fighter, known solely because of his brother... KO Simon Brown, on a modest winning streak against clubfighters... another former welterweight... KO’d in 4 Especially for the time period, a fighter being hyped as a superstar in the making off of a resume this hollow was unprecedented... the reach of Don King and his cozy relationship with the WBC was never more apparent than in the pushing of Norris as a P4P candidate Look at that list... what’s the best victory? Blocker? Norris isn’t devalued enough
The John Mugabi that Hagler fought, the one who bludgeoned Frank Fletcher and Earl Hargrove and James Green was a totally different guy than the one Norris was in there with and he’d knock Norris fucking dead
I thought then and think now he'd deck Trinidad in the opening frame and probably finish him off within three minutes as slow and mechanical and open as Felix was. I was gonna go out West to bet that one.
