Customer Reviews

Ali-Norton Trilogy [VHS]

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I used to own this video. And I gave it to my uncle. And he died. And now, his girlfriend has it. And I don't know where she lives. Rats!!!

But if you can get your gloves on it, this is a fabulous video to own. Ken Norton was one of Muhammad Ali's toughest opponents, and a case can be made that he deserved the decision in all three of their fights (I thought Ali definitely won the 2nd fight).

This video has highlights of all three fights, skipping some of the dull rounds. Watch Ali get his jaw broken in the last minute of the first fight en route to a 12 round decision loss. But see Ali get his revenge in a hard fought decision win 6 months later.

And three years later, you'll see 8 of the 15 rounds of their rubber match at Yankee Stadium. Watch Ali dance in round 15 and steal the first 2 1/2 minutes of the final round.

I wouldn't pay more then twenty dollars for it. But you can sometimes find it on the cheap at Ebay.

Glad to see copies of this still exist for sale. If you dig around you can sometimes find them on DVD. The picture quality is pretty good considering the fights were over 30 years ago.

Norton was a 7-1 underdog when he beat Ali in their first fight, and they key rounds are shown here. The rematch took place a few months later, after Ali's broken jaw healed, and a fitter, faster Ali boxed his way to victory. The rubber match took place three years later and by then Ali had aged, but the fight was still good. The decision is one of the most controversial in history. The last round perhaps most telling, as the judges felt Norton coasted and let Ali steal the round, and the fight. Did he? You watch and judge for yourself. All of the fights are close, and action packed.

As I recall, not every round is shown in all of the fights, making your chance to score them not easy to do, but you can find the missing rounds online. George Foreman and Joe Frazier have both said Ali never beat Norton, and Ken won all three fights. I simply don't agree on the 2nd fight, but the third one will forever be controversial, without doubt.

What's missing, and this would be great to see on a DVD set, is interviews and pre-fight hype, and reflections from the fighters on each fight. Some analysis from some boxing experts would have been nice as well. Unlike other fighters in that era, Norton never let Ali's teasing and taunting get to him. He actually found it rather amusing like the rest of us did, building a friendship over the years, often supporting each other in fights against other people, and becoming great friends after both retired. To see some of that friendship build over the years, between the 39 rounds of pounding on each other, would be a treat to see.