The knock on Norton about him being unable to deal with punchers is a little extended, IMO. Quarry, Bobick, Garcia & a few others were most certainly capable of whacking fellas out, & all fell to him. Norton could be quite savage, in truth, if he didn't fear your punch, & while he clearly had problems overcoming the big-league hitters, it isn't as crippling as history makes out. Bruno was a good fighter, legitimately good, but he was, IMO, a step short of belonging on the world-stage. His endurance & finishing were never my cup of tea, & he could be terribly stiffened if he had anything approaching fear of his opposition. He did run a green Lewis & a prime (if a little distracted) Tyson close for a bit, but I'm leary of the idea he has the tools & intelligence to effectively combat Norton's vicious bodypunching & high work-rate. Bruno was no stronger than Norton physically, & would not bull him at close-range, I feel. Unless Bruno can get him out of there early --- & which fighter at this level did he --- I can't see him having the motor to stay with Norton, who got busier & more aggressive with each round, especially if he ever sensed he was getting on top of you. Norton on a stoppage of a beleaguered Bruno around the eleventh or final round, IMO.
Bruno isnt the kind of hitter Norton was scared of... it was only the BIGGEST hitters (Shavers, Foreman, Cooney) that caused Norton to freeze up and wait to get hit Bruno is not in that class... Norton is a major handful for any fighter who can't immediately spook him with power... he uses that brilliant counter jab of his, digs to the body and wears Bruno out, stopping him around the 10th
Bruno was a good puncher, but nothing special. I don't see any advantage for Bruno. He's not going to outbox, outslug or outmuscle Norton. And Norton has a big advantage when it comes to stamina. It's a pretty good fight for the first few rounds, but Norton's better skills, stamina and wicked body attack start to tell and gets him the win. Bruno's tendency to gas is exacerbated by Norton's body work and relentless pace. Bruno, as usual, is brave, but gets stopped between rounds 8 - 10, probably on his feet, but taking all kinds of punishment.
If you look down this thread, each man predicts Bruno will be stopped in progressively shorter fashion. 12...11...10...8-10. Poor Frank can't take a trick ::
Gotta go with Norton even though his chinny chin chin is always teh X factor against a puncher. The difference, however, between the punches of Bruno....and Cooney, Shavers and Foreman...is that Bruno lacks the speed and intensity and so is less likely to catch Norton early. As such, the longer the fight lasts the more Norton beats the danger out of Bruno until Bruno is ready to go by the 10th.
you think thats the only difference between Bruno's punches and the punches of the others? its funny how you denigrate all of the opponents of your favorite fighter
you denigrate Norton by making it even possible that Bruno could ever hope to duplicate against him what Shavers/Foreman/Cooney did! Shavers and Cooney were both slow and plodding, Shavers had almost no real skills other than punching... there is no way those guys have some sort of appreciable speed or skill advantage over Frank Bruno Bruno was a good puncher, but those guys (Foreman, Shavers, Cooney) are amongst the most powerful men to ever box, they were LEGENDARY bangers... Bruno was nowhere near their class as a hitter
