"Norton retains his British and Commonwealth titles" - ran the boxing headlines on Saturday morning, yet, sadly, the Norton they referred to was not me but British cruiserweight Rob Norton (pictured above right).
The Stourbridge southpaw fought out a lacklustre draw with his British rival David Dolan, less than a year after beating him on points in a bruising encounter back in February 2009, to hold on to his belts. Norton improved his record to 32-4-2, very respectable it has to be said but at 38 years old it's hard to see where he can go from here.
A far more illustrious namesake from boxing history is of course the former heavyweight champion and boxing hall-of-famer Ken "Jaw Breaker" Norton (pictured left).
Norton inflicted only the second defeat of Muhammad Ali's career when the pair met for the first time in 1973. Norton broke Ali's jaw in that fight - hence the nickname - to take the old NABF heavyweight title. Norton went on to fight Ali twice more, losing both, although their third fight at Yankee Stadium in 1976 is one of the most hotly disputed decisions of all time.
Norton was a tough guy, and went on to have a brutal encounter with Larry Holmes for the WBC title in 1978, again, losing on points. His son Ken Jr enjoyed a highly successful career in American football.
The excellent website boxrec.com lists four boxers actually called Tommy Norton (that's my name in case you hadn't guessed) although sadly they don't have a single victory between them.
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