EX HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP NORTON SUFFERS A HEART ATTACK
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 01 Oct 2012
Ken Norton.
World Boxing Council president Don Jose Sulaiman has announced that former heavyweight champion Ken Norton has suffered a heart attack and is in a delicate condition at a Las Vegas hospital.
Sulaiman who visited Norton in hospital said ?He?s not good, though the doctor said to me that he will be OK.?
Because of the heart attack the 69 year old Norton was unable to attend the extremely successful ?Legendary Night? event that was promoted by the WBC and Hublot Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The WBC raised $1 million by auctioning twelve Hublot watches with the photos of 12 boxing legends engraved on the watch.
The Norton watch fethched $60,000.
Aside from Norton, Oscar De La Hoya also failed to attend citing a family emergency.
Norton won the WBC heavyweight title when he scored a 15 round split decision over Jimmy Young in an eliminator for the title on November 5, 1977.
Shortly after the fight the WBC awarded Norton the title as Leon Spinks refused to defend the belt against the No.1 contender and instead fought Muhammad Ali.
In his first title defense Norton lost the title by a 15 round split decision to Larry Holmes on June 9, 1978..
In his last ring appearance Norton was lost by a 1st round TKO to ?The Great White Hope? Gerry Cooney at Madison Square Garden on May 11, 1981.
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