He was awarded the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978, after winning a close split decision over Jimmy Young in a title eliminator bout, after which Leon Spinks refused to fight with him.

Norton also fought a slugfest with Larry Holmes in 1978 during the first defense of his championship, narrowly losing a split decision and his WBC title.

As a result, the "Ken Norton Rule", which limits participation of an athlete to a maximum of four track and field events, was instituted in Illinois high school sports.

Norton was a manual morse intercept (MOS 2621), graduating from NCTC Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida.

Norton built up a steady string of wins, some against journeyman fighters and others over fringe contenders like the giant Jack O'Halloran.

He suffered a surprise defeat in 1970 just after The Ring magazine had profiled him as a prospect, to heavy-hitting Venezuelan boxer Jose Luis Garcia, who was unknown at the time.

[13][page needed] In an article which appeared in The Southeast Missourian[14] Norton said, "One thing I do is only watch films of the fights in which I've done well or in which my opponent has done poorly."

His first big break came with a clear win over respected contender Henry Clark, which helped him gain world recognition.

Though both were top boxers in the mid-1970s, Norton and Frazier never fought each other, in part because they shared the same trainer, Eddie Futch, and also because they were good friends and didn't want to fight each other.

[16][page needed] For the first match, on March 31, 1973, Muhammad Ali entered the ring at the San Diego Sports Arena[17] wearing a robe given to him by Elvis Presley, as a 1–5 favorite versus Norton, then rated a number 6 world contender[18][better source needed] in a bout televised by ABC's Wide World of Sports.

[19] Norton won a 12-round split decision over Ali in his adopted hometown of San Diego to win the NABF heavyweight title.

[citation needed] In 1975, Norton regained the NABF heavyweight title when he impressively defeated Jerry Quarry by TKO in the fifth round.

[citation needed] On September 28, 1976, Norton fought his third and final bout against Ali at Yankee Stadium in New York City.

[21] Since their last meeting Ali had regained the world heavyweight championship title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in 1974.

[citation needed] In 1977, Norton knocked out previously unbeaten top prospect Duane Bobick in one round, then dispatched European title holder Lorenzo Zanon in a 'tune-up' fight.

[23] Norton then defeated polished number two contender Jimmy Young (who had beaten Foreman for the former champion's second loss, as well as twice top heavyweight contender Ron Lyle) via 15-round split decision in a WBC title-elimination bout, with the winner to face reigning WBC champion Ali.

Both boxers fought a smart fight, with Norton using a heavy body attack whilst Young moved well and countered.

[4][26] In his first defense of the WBC title on June 9, 1978, Norton and new number one contender Larry Holmes met in a brutal 15-round fight.

[28] The March 2001 edition of The Ring listed the final round of the Holmes–Norton bout as the seventh most exciting round in boxing history and International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) member Monte D. Cox ranked the bout as the tenth greatest heavyweight fight of all time.

Holmes went on to become the third-longest reigning world heavyweight champion in the history of boxing, behind Joe Louis and Wladimir Klitschko.

[31][32] In his next fight, he fought to a split draw with unheralded but durable lower ranked contender Scott LeDoux at the Met Center in Minneapolis.

The guard was also used by boxers Archie Moore and Tim Witherspoon, as well as by Frazier in parts of his third fight with Muhammad Ali and Foreman during his famous comeback years.

He was best when advancing, unconventionally dragging or sliding his right foot behind him, relying on immense upper body strength to deliver his heavy blows.

By comparison, most conventional boxers have elbows in at the torso with forearms vertically parallel to each another, the gloves being both near sides of the face and driving off their rear foot to deliver power punches.

[citation needed] Norton received the Boxing Writers Association of America J. Niel trophy for "Fighter of the Year" in 1977.

He also was a member of the Sports Illustrated Speakers Bureau and started the Ken Norton Management Co., which represented athletes in contract negotiations.

[citation needed] Norton continued making TV, radio and public speaking appearances until suffering injuries in a near-fatal car accident in 1986 which left him with slow and slurred speech.

[42][43][44] He appeared along with Ali, Foreman, Frazier and Holmes in a video, Champions Forever, discussing their best times, and in 2000 he published his autobiography, Going the Distance.