Ken Norton Boxing & Dustin Brown RW Los Angeles Kings on The Final Word with JayReelz & J.D.

Boxing Legend Ken Norton:
‘I Had a Heart Attack’

Unbeknownst to most of the world, Ken Norton recently suffered cardiac arrest. But don’t fret: the former heavyweight champ is still spry when it comes to sizing up his old nemesis, Muhammad Ali. Interviewed on The Final Word with JayReelz & J.D. , Norton, 66, tells hosts Jason Nazario and J.D. Valladares: “Lately, I’ve been doing nothing. I had a heart attack...about a month ago…In fact, I’m just getting back from the doctor.” Later in the show, when asked how he beat Ali, whose jaw he famously broke during a 1973 upset—only to lose to The Greatest in two subsequent rematches—Norton said it was a case of “mind over matter”: “I could fake Ali. Every time before he did something, he would lean just a little bit to his left or to his right. And when he tried to throw a jab, his pecs would tighten up. So I watched his pecs.” The fighter, who retired in 1981 after being knocked out by Gerry Cooney, also reflects on that one-round fiasco: “I wasn’t satisfied, because I didn’t train for that fight with Cooney. I did a lot of things that I didn’t do earlier in my career. But I have no regrets.”