Ken Norton is an American professional boxer, who had a net worth of $5 million when he died in 2013. Ken Norton began his professional career after leaving the military in 1967. He went on to fight 50 matches in his professional career, winning 42 and 33 via knockout.

How did Ken Norton die?

Ken Norton died on September 18, 2013, at a Las Vegas care facility.[54] He was 70 years old and had experienced a series of strokes in his later years. Throughout the boxing world, tributes were given, with Foreman calling him “the fairest of them all” and Holmes stating that he “will be incredibly missed in the boxing world and by many”. He was buried at Jacksonville, Illinois’s Jacksonville East Cemetery.

Meanwhile, Ken Norton was born on August 9, 1943, in Jacksonville, Illinois. As an adolescent, he attended Jacksonville High School and excelled in football and track. He was an All-State football player who also competed in eight separate track and field events during his senior year, winning seven of them. After winning seven of the eight events, the “Ken Norton Rule” was adopted for all Illinois track and field teams. A student-athlete could only participate in four track and field events.

Norton is well known for being one of just two boxers who defeated Muhammad Ali in his heyday. He shattered Ali’s jaw in the 12th round of their fight in March 1973. They battled twice more. He lost both fights, though the third is still being contested. Norton was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

He died on September 18, 2013. Ken’s son, Ken Norton Jr. went on to become a professional football player and coach.

After dropping out of college, Norton joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served from 1963 to 1967. During this period, he began boxing and went 24-2 while capturing three all-Marine heavyweight titles. Norton finished his amateur career as the best boxer ever in the Corps, winning the North Carolina AAU Golden Gloves, International AAU, and Pan American crowns.

After going professional in 1967, Norton went on an unbroken winning streak. During his first three years as a professional boxer, he defeated Grady Brazell, Harold Dutra, Jimmy Gilmore, Wayne Kindred, Gary Bates, Stamford Harris, and Ray Junior Ellis.

Norton’s first loss came in July 1970 to the unproven Jose Luis Garcia, which surprised many. Not long after, he was handed the motivational book “Think and Grow Rich”; after reading it, he went on a 14-fight winning streak, culminating in his stunning split-decision victory over Muhammad Ali in March 1973.