Customer Reviews

Going the Distance : The Ken Norton Story

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

"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.

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

Growing up I remember the watching boxing with fighters like "Smokin'" Joe Frazier, Ali, Foreman and Ken Norton. I remember how Norton broke Ali's jaw and I can still hear Howard Cosell calling the fight. In Going the Distance you'll look into a man, a fighter and a father and see the side of Ken Norton that very few have ever seen before.

Follow along from the early days to his Professional boxing career to his life after boxing and the relationship with his son Ken Norton Jr. Larry Holmes has said the fighting Ken Norton as the best and hardest fright of his life and this book let you relive those fights.

As a fan of boxing I was impressed with how Ken Norton brings to life some of his more famous fights, and not all of them are in the ring. A more personal and in depth look at one of boxing true greats. Overall this is a great book and must have for the serious boxing fan.

"Going the Distance: The Ken Norton Story" makes a compelling read. It is one unassuming autobiography.
Ken was a remarkable fighter: a great one whose hulky hew was intimidating. His era was the one which notable names like Ali, Foreman and Frazier dominated; yet, he still fought his way to the top: becoming a champion in 1978. He is remembered as one of the few boxers who scored a victory over Muhammad Ali. He broke The Greatest's jaw in the process. Ken's (championship) fight against Larry Holmes was a gut-wrenching one: regardless of his losing it via majority decision.
This book rides one across his humble up-bringing; and then into the 1970s. I liked the way it refreshed my memory. It recounted Ken's life story in a candid manner. Reading it was a pleasure!

the problem with some boxers autobiographies is that they skim over big fights with a line or two. in ken nortons book he goes into FAR, FAR too much detail on his big fights, sometimes four to five pages of a round by round breakdown. it's all, quite frankly, too much.

kens a funny guy to listen to, but his humour doesn't really come across well in this book. overall it's a relatively interesting read, but does not draw you in the way the books of george foreman, joe frazier, larry holmes, and quick tillis do.

unless you really love kenny, i'd give this one a miss.

I thought Going the Distance was a good book. If you were into the greatest generation of heavyweight fighters like I was, I think It's a must read. Norton goes into detail about his relationship with Ali. He also describes a lot of his big fights in great detail, possibly a little to much detail on that but the book is still a good read for true boxing fans.

I am a longtime fan of Ken Norton - he was one of my heroes growing up - I thought he had real class and was a credit boxing. Norton earned a football scholarship to Northeast Missouri State. After two years of college foootball Norton enlisted in the Marines and learned to box. A turning point in Norton's pro boxing career was when he was given a book to read - Think and Grow Rich which changed his life. Upon reading the book Norton went on a fourteen fight winning streak and handed "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali the second defeat of his career in 1973. Ken Norton was twice voted as "Father of the Year" in 1977 and was heavyweight champion in 1978.

This book discusses what made Norton successful in his career and how he handled severe adversity from a near-fatal car accident by using what he learned from his family, coaches and lessons from the ring. Norton was a well-talented individual and what made Norton successful was support from his family and coaches to help him realize his potential. What I got from the book is the importance of facing up to problems with a positive attitude, working hard and when you get knocked down you need to get back up and learn how to handle adversity and go on - stay right there and keep going and don't quit.

Norton influenced me in my level of faith. He shows as a Christian you don't have to check your masculinity at the door. Norton is a great guy, a rugged guy - a guy's guy. I was never interested in the sweet kind of Christianity, so to speak. I didn't identify with something like that. But Norton said he believed in God and I relate to that - there has to be something to it because he's a man's man. I could see Norton's belief in God held him to be accountable. That doesn't mean he's straight and narrow - but he believes in God - he focuses on a personal relationship with God, which he discussed in the book.

P.S. Power For Living by the Arthur S. DeMoss foundation explains how to have a personal relationship with God. It was offered free of charge on TV infomercials by celebrities during the 1980s and 1990s.

With the literary assistance of Marshall Terrill and Mike Fitzgerald, Ken Norton presents and outstanding autobiography of his career as a heavyweight boxer. On March 31, 973 Norton defeated boxing legend Muhammad Ali and became a national sensation. Norton went on to challenge such boxing greats as Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Larry Holmes. But Going The Distance is more than a litany of boxing matches, it is also the candid, deeply revealing personal story of Norton's life including a stint in the Marines, a job on a Ford factory assembly line, and his very public separation from his son, Ken Jr., the NFL All-Star linebacker. Going The Distance is a "must" for all Ken Norton fans and boxing enthusiasts.