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Ex-heavyweight champ dies
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Ken Norton, the former heavyweight champion who broke Muhammad Ali’s jaw in a 1973 bout, died on Wednesday at an Arizona hospital at age 70, his manager said.
Norton, who died in Bullhead City, near the Arizona-Nevada border, had been suffering from congestive heart failure, said Patrick Tenore, the boxer’s corporate manager and friend.
“He’s been in rehab (for ill health) for almost a year — and early this afternoon, he passed away,” Tenore said. “He was not only a tremendous boxer, but also the most righteous, polite, generous human being.”
Norton took up boxing as a heavyweight when he was serving in the US Marine Corps, and turned professional after his discharge in 1967, ESPN said.
A power puncher, he burst on the scene in 1973 when he broke Ali’s jaw during their first fight, claiming the North American Boxing Federation heavyweight title in a split decision over 12 rounds. Ali’s camp said his jaw broke early in the fight, but Norton said more than three decades later, that a punch thrown in the 11th round caused the fracture.
Ali narrowly won a split decision in a rematch nearly six months later, and held on to his title in a bruising third encounter in 1976.
Norton retired in 1981, with a record of 42 wins, seven losses and a draw.
He took on a second career as an actor, making more than a dozen television and film appearances, including the 1975 movie “Mandingo.”
His son Ken Norton, Jr, played in the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.
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