Ken Norton vs Randy Stephens - boxing - heavyweights
- 6 months ago
Ken Norton vs Randy Stephens in a ten round non-title heavyweight bout
Date: November 10, 1978
Venue: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Norton stance: orthodox
Stevens stance: orthodox
Ken Norton beat Jimmy Young on points in November 1977 in a final eliminator for the undisputed heavyweight title. Defending champion Muhammad Ali then lost to Leon Spinks and Spinks decided to rematch Ali rather than defend his belts against Norton. As a result, the WBC stripped Spinks and awarded their title to Norton. The first defence of that belt was against Larry Holmes who won an all time classic by split decision. The bout against Stevens five months later was the start of Norton's comeback.
Randy Stephens had a record of 10-4 at this point, but was actually a lot better than the statistics might suggest. He lost to unbeaten Bernardo Mercado by knockout, and his points loss to Unbeaten Gerrie Coetzee in South Africa was very controversial. He avenged a loss to Tom Prater with a knockout, and he beat Stan Ward on points.
For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:
Ken Norton - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/168
Randy Stephens - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/333
Date: November 10, 1978
Venue: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Norton stance: orthodox
Stevens stance: orthodox
Ken Norton beat Jimmy Young on points in November 1977 in a final eliminator for the undisputed heavyweight title. Defending champion Muhammad Ali then lost to Leon Spinks and Spinks decided to rematch Ali rather than defend his belts against Norton. As a result, the WBC stripped Spinks and awarded their title to Norton. The first defence of that belt was against Larry Holmes who won an all time classic by split decision. The bout against Stevens five months later was the start of Norton's comeback.
Randy Stephens had a record of 10-4 at this point, but was actually a lot better than the statistics might suggest. He lost to unbeaten Bernardo Mercado by knockout, and his points loss to Unbeaten Gerrie Coetzee in South Africa was very controversial. He avenged a loss to Tom Prater with a knockout, and he beat Stan Ward on points.
For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:
Ken Norton - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/168
Randy Stephens - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/333