Going the Distance : The Ken Norton Story [Hardcover]

Marshall Terrill (Author), Ken Norton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

The 1970s ushered in boxings greatest class of heavyweight fighters. The fight game has never before or since seen such a talented and charismatic group. Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and Ken Norton have been hailed as Champions Forever, as the world heavyweight title was passed among them throughout the decade. On March 31, 1973, Norton broke Alis jaw in the process of winning a 12-round decision over The Greatest. Going the Distance will trace the incredible path of Nortons life, from Jacksonville, Illinois, to Northeast Missouri State University, to the U.S. Marines, to his historic bout with Ali in San Diego, California, and on to his life today. The book includes exclusive personal photos from Nortons collection, as well as a chronology of Nortons 49 professional fights. Foreword by Joe Frazier 6 x 9 Eight-page photo insert

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Norton, the likeable former Marine whose crossed-arm, off-kilter style gave Muhammad Ali fits in their three close fights in the 1970s, was briefly heavyweight champion himself before losing in a rousing battle with Larry Holmes. Following his retirement and several movie roles, Norton nearly died when his car tumbled from the Santa Monica Freeway in 1986. Norton emerged from the TV death watch and recovered enough to tell his story and see his son, Ken Norton Jr., become a star in the NFL. This book, with a foreword by Joe Frazier, is two-thirds a narrative of his dramatic life and one-third approving testimonials from family and friends. Norton harbors surprisingly little bitterness, especially toward the impressive group of men (Ali, Foreman, Shavers, Holmes) he fought in the ring: I!ve always liked Ali. I liked him before we fought; I liked him after we fought: Just not during. This patchy but honest telling of his life should appeal to Norton!s fans and to large sports collections."Nathan Ward, Library Journal
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Nortons boxing career (is) now one for the books... --San Diego Union-Tribune

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC; 1st ed edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582612250
• ISBN-13: 978-1582612256
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,029,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Boxing Book, July 13, 2000

By 

Hawk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going the Distance : The Ken Norton Story (Hardcover)

A recent issue of Ring Magazine reviewed this book and basically ripped it apart. It also stated that with the exception of the Bio of George Foreman, All relatively recently written books on the great Heavy's of the 70's have been major disapointments. Huh? THe Frazier and Holmes books were excellently written by Phil Berger and do I even need to defend THomas Hauser's and David Remnick's works on Ali? THe Ken Norton bio was a superb addition to this group. Kenny was very open, honest and revealing. He went into great detail in talking about his fights with Ali, Holmes, Foreman and Quarry. THe Ring review blasted these parts of the book, stating that it read like a compubox readout. I couldn't disagree more. One of the pluses of this book was that he talked about his fights as opposed to glossing over them with a sentence or two. Far too many boxing books take that approach and I feel it hurts those books. I'd give the Norton book 4 and 1/2 half stars as it ransk on par with the Frazier and Foreman books, but was not quite as goood as the Holmes and two Ali pieces. Of which there is no shame in. Ring Magazine should be ashamed of their review though. That deserved 0 stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You'll Go the Distance with this Autobiography!, November 27, 2005

By 

Tony Ukena "TU" (CA, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Going the Distance : The Ken Norton Story (Hardcover)

"Going The Distance" is the great heavyweight boxer Ken Norton's life story. He breaks it down primarily into 5 parts:

1. Childhood
2. Early Adulthood
3. Boxing Years
4. Life Recovering from his Life Threatening Auto Accident
5. Life after that

I found his childhood to be fascinating as well as his early adulthood. His style is open and sincere. Although he's egotistical at times, he's also very honest and is ultimately a very good man.

A sigificant portion of the book discusses his primary boxing matches. I didn't care for his descriptions of his matches with Ali, but I did find value in his description of boxing matches with Jimmy Young, Larry Holmes, and even Scott LeDeoux. It ended gently with him going into poignant details about the 2 1/2 year fall out with his son, Ken Norton Jr (great Linebacker for the Cowboys/49ers).

The ending made me want to book reservations to go to the annual Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. Ken Norton's Autobiography is very useful if you enjoy reading boxing books.

In addition to his autobiography, there are passages from other people from Ken Norton Sr., Gerry Cooney, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Scott LeDoux, Larry Holmes, Eddie Futch, a local media person from the town he grew up in, his mentors, and even the referees that decided his very close loss to in Norton-Ali III.

From a boxing standpoint, I found Norton's descriptive of boxing fascinating because of his perspective of boxing as a person who did not get into boxing until late in his life, 20.

I was intrigued by his wiley personality which makes him come off as a very charming man. I was also impressed by his amazing focus despite at times being completely out of focus in his life due to his, as he put it, "being spoiled" as a child.

I read this in 2 two days which tells me it was worth reading.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ken Norton's Book Does NOT Go The Distance, May 5, 2003

By 

kone "kone" (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Going the Distance : The Ken Norton Story (Hardcover)

Being a boxing fan since 1971, I lived through the era of great heavyweights of the seventies: Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Foreman, and Norton. Ken Norton was a terrific competitor of that era, and I expected his book to be an exciting retelling of his experiences of that era. Unfortunately, the book left me disappointed. Norton spends too much time explaining blow by blow, round by round, his greatest fights. Although this may appeal to some, I found it repetitive and somewhat boring. One can get the round by round analysis by watching the fight videos. I found myself skimming over these sections to get to his feelings and thoughts about the fights. This was THE major drawback of the book.

Norton's three fights with Ali are covered in great detail, as these fights brought him into the public's consciousness. But once again the emphasis was on the blow by blow coverage instead of anecdotes and recollections about the fights. He expresses his bitter feelings about his third fight with Ali in which he feels he should have been given the decision. Having trained so tremendously hard for this fight and then having the decision go against him, Norton relates how this heart went out of boxing at this point. Although he becomes the Heavyweight Championship of the World title two years later when Ali retires, Norton is unable to retain te title in his first defense against Larry Holmes. He blames his failure to defend the title on his lack of dedication to boxing after the last Ali match. His heart was just not in it. I can't help but think Norton would have received the professional recognition and justification he so craved had he defeated Holmes. Their match was an exciting battle that culminated in perhaps one of the greatest rounds of boxing ever. Had Norton pulled out the decision, he would have probably been rematched with Ali one final time and had his best chance to defeat his nemesis decisively. However, history and fate turned a different direction, one that did not include a prominant role for Ken Norton.

Norton's private and then public feud with his son, Ken Norton Jr., make up a complete chapter in the book but this held little interest to me, a boxing fan.

Ken Norton is a decent man who had an interesting career, being both a boxer and a fighter. His experience acting as the characters "Mandingo" and "Drum" are only briefly mentioned. Again, there are few interesting stories or revelations about this time of his life. I would have liked to hear more.

Norton's book is a quick and easy read, as there are no major character controveries, conflicts, or issues to digest. I did not find it compelling in any regard. It was an easy book to put down. I had hoped for much more. As far as boxing books go, I have to rate it sub-par.

Jim Koenig