First he captured the WBA and WBC heavyweight titles after dominating Joe Frazier, scoring six knockdowns in less than two rounds in an easy technical knockout victory in January 1973.

Foreman would follow this by making his first defense against José Roman in Tokyo in September of that year, easily winning the bout by first-round knockout.

Norton's impressive performances against Ali made him one of the top heavyweight contenders for Foreman's titles, but the future hall-of-famer was installed as a 3–1 underdog against the hard-hitting champion and given little chance of obtaining a victory.

If Caracas seems like a strange destination to hold a heavyweight boxing event, there was a practical reason it was sought out as the host: an agreement had been reached stipulating all taxes would be waived.

Norton would get back up, but referee Jimmy Rondeau decided to call the fight and Foreman was declared the victor by technical knockout (TKO) at exactly two minutes of the second round.