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Styles make fights. Jimmy Young was a heck of a good heavyweight. However, if you purposely lean outside the ropes to get the referee to call a break -- back to the center of the ring -- it can be counted as a knockdown. It's up to the referee. Young did that often in his big fights, including with Ali. Even if the ref doesn't call it a knockdown, when it is a tactic used frequently, you lose the round.

Ken's style always caused problems for Muhammad. Norton's trainer studied the Cassius Clay vs Doug Jones fight. It was tougher than expected -- though the ref's card had the correct score. Futch knew how to jab upward when Ali was jabbing. Thus, it frustrated Ali's ability to land combinations. It didn't matter if Jones or Norton's jab landed cleanly. And it allowed them to follow up. When we think of Ali's fights with Smokin' Joe, we see the risks associated with jabbing down at the opponent. Not that Jones or Norton fought from as low a stance, but the idea is much the same. Unless you dip at the knees when punching an oppoent who is lower, you always leave an opening.

Back to styles making fights. While Frazier could take a hell of a punch -- only Foreman and Ali TKOed him -- Norton was knocked out by hard punchers throughout his career, starting with Garcia. Now, I have great respect for Norton. (He stayed across the hall from my brother & I at the Statler Hilton for the second Frazier vs Ali fight, and was such a nice guy.) And Frazier was such a great warrior. (His son Marvis used to help me train my son.) But neither Ken or Joe would have gone two rounds with Sonny Liston or the great Joe Louis. Same with a prime Mike Tyson. Styles dictate.

Yet the version of Ali in the first part of his career handled Liston, and even at the reduced level of his second-half, knocked out Big George. I think Joe would have made for a heck of a fight against the Ali of, say, the Williams or Terrell fights. Joe was such a tough guy mentally. But Ali's speed of hand & foot at that time would have made Norton an easier win. Just my opinion, of course.