Editing Ken Norton (section)

====Norton vs. Ali III====
[[File:Ken Norton 1976b.jpg|thumb|Norton in 1976]]
{{Main|Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton III|}}
On September 28, 1976, Norton fought his third and final bout against Ali at [[Yankee Stadium]] in [[New York City]].<ref name="ESPN"/> Since their last meeting Ali had regained the world heavyweight championship title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in 1974. Many observers have felt this fight marked the beginning of Ali's decline as a boxer. The Norton bout was a tough bruising battle for Ali. In one of the most disputed fights in history,{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} the contest was even on the judges' scorecards going into the final round, which Ali won on both the referee's and judges' scorecards to retain the championship. The two judges, [[Harold Lederman]] and Barney Smith, scored the bout 8–7 for Ali, while referee Arthur Mercante scored it 8–6-1 for Ali. At the end of the last round, the commentator announced he would be "very surprised" if Norton had not won the fight.<ref>{{YouTube|Atzy49nQoNM}}</ref>

At the time of the bout, the last time a heavyweight champion had lost the title by decision was [[Max Baer (boxer)|Max Baer]] to [[James J. Braddock|Jimmy Braddock]], 41&nbsp;years earlier. The January 1998 issue of ''Boxing Monthly'' listed Ali-Norton as the fifth most disputed title fight decision in boxing history. The unofficial [[United Press International]] scorecard was 8–7 for Norton, and the unofficial [[Associated Press]] scorecards were 9–6 for Ali (Ed Schuyler), and 8–7 Norton (Wick Temple).{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Despite earning a victory, Ali received a pounding. His tactics were to try to push Norton back, but they had failed. He'd refused to 'dance' until the 9th. Norton has said the third fight with Ali was the last boxing match for which he was fully motivated, owing to his disappointment at having lost a fight he believed he had clearly won.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}