Terry Norris was born on June 17, 1967 in Lubbock, Texas. He was a natural athlete, as was his brother Orlin (who would also become a world champion boxer), and excelled at baseball. Norris was so good at America’s national pastime that he was being eyed by a number of college and universities and sporting scholarships were dangling in the air. However, at one game a member of the opposing team called out Norris with racist remarks. Norris decked the loudmouth, and was promptly jumped by the entire team. The result was that Norris was branded a troublemaker and the scholarships evaporated.
However, in defending himself Norris sent three boys on the other team to the hospital. As a result, Terry Norris turned to boxing, at which he excelled. He ran up an amateur record of 291-4 and earned four Texas Golden Gloves championships. Terry Norris turned pro in August 1986 with a 1st Round knockout victory in San Jose, California.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Backward
Standing 5’9.5″ and with a 68.5″ reach, Norris applied his substantial athleticism to create a fluid, speedy style defined by an aggressive offensive posture and dizzying combination punching. Norris was quick, powerful, blessed with excellent reflexes, and when he had his rhythm going the man was very hard to beat.
However, Norris usually failed to adjust well when he was taken out of his game plan. Furthermore, he developed a dangerous tendency to not stay in shape between training camps. He often had to lose a lot of weight before the weigh-in, as well as sweat out water and dehydrate in a final push to make the scales. This was compounded by Norris fighting his entire career in the 154-lb division. Finally, sparring played a much bigger role in Norris’s training camps than is the norm, as he often sparred a dozen rounds every other day. That greatly multiplied the wear and tear on his body. The result of all this was a career marked by inconsistent performances.
In many ways, Norris’s rise to world contention foreshadowed his entire career. Norris did well in the early stages of his career, but he suffered two losses, an oddity for such a talented, rising fighter. In 1987, he was out-pointed by another rising fighter Derrick Kelly (whose career later stalled) and was disqualified for hitting Joe Walker while he was down.
Still, Norris was not halted for long. By December 1988, “Terrible” Terry was duking it out with Steve Little for the NABF title (a North American belt affiliated with the WBC). Little would later win a 168-lb world championship, but that night Norris knocked him out in the 6th with one straight right. He then dominated former champ Buster Drayton to win a lopsided points victory.
That led to a July 1989 challenge of Julian Jackson for the WBA Light Middleweight Title. Norris boxed well in the 1st Round, but in Jackson he was facing one of the hardest pound-for-pound punchers of all-time. “The Hawk” drove “Terrible” Terry onto the ropes, staggered him with a right cross-left hook combo, and then flattened him with a right to win a 2nd Round knockout. The fight continues to enjoy a certain notoriety, as Jackson’s knockout of Norris has become a fixture of knockout highlight reels ever since.
Run at the Top
The crushing knockout defeat at the hands of Jackson would not stymie Norris for long. He was still the NABF champ, which in due course made him the #1 contender for the WBC title. In March 1990 he got his shot at the much-feared knockout artist, John “The Beast” Mugabi. Norris knocked Mugabi out in a single round, and in so doing eliminated part of the lingering shadow of the Jackson loss.
In February 1991, Norris erased the remainder of that shadow by humiliating a badly faded, comebacking “Sugar” Ray Leonard. Leonard was knocked down in the 2nd and 7th and was lucky to survive the fight, an outcome which led him to return to retirement shortly thereafter. “Terrible” Terry cemented his grip on the 154-lb division in June when he stopped the faded former welterweight king Donald Curry in eight rounds. Curry finished 1991 and continued his roll by routing Jorge Fernando Castro, a future 154-lb champ, on the scorecards.
Norris kept winning through 1992. In February he knocked out undefeated contender Carl Daniels, and in May Norris whipped the faded former 140-lb champion Meldrick Taylor. Then in 1993, “Terrible” Terry knocked out contenders Maurice Blocker and Troy Waters.
Fumble!
By the end of 1993, Norris had defended his WBC belt 10 times and felled a heap of “name” opponents in the process. While many of those names were clearly past their best, Norris still had a solid record of achievement behind him. Thus, it was a huge upset (named Upset of the Yearby The Ring, in fact) when Norris was out-foxed and knocked out by hard-hitting Simon Brown in December.
May 1994 brought a rematch with Brown, and Norris ably out-pointed the DC-based contender to win back his green WBC belt. However, Norris then turned around and became embroiled in an ugly trilogy of fights with a journeyman named Luis Santana. In November 1994 and April 1995, “Terrible” Terry was disqualified both times, first for hitting behind the head (rabbit punching) and then again for hitting Santana while he was down. It took Norris a third fight in August 1995 to discipline himself sufficiently to knock out Santana before he could get himself disqualified again, which he did by stopping Santana in the 2nd Round. It was an ugly muddle that brought no credit whatsoever to “Terrible” Terry Norris.
If the time-wasting clashes with Santana deterred Norris, however, he didn’t show it. Norris was by now a longtime resident of San Diego, California, and in December 1995 he clashed with his bitter crosstown rival, 24-0 IBF champ Paul Vaden. He beat Vaden in an overwhelming Unanimous Decision, taking his belt and his “0.”
Now the WBC-IBF champion, Norris defended his two belts through 1996 and 1997, including a knockout win over former champ Vincent Pettway. During this period, Norris’s promoter Don King was angling to set up a showdown between “Terrible” Terry and the Puerto Rican puncher Felix Trinidad. However, that was not to be. Trinidad instead sought a fight with Oscar de La Hoya. For his part, Norris was stripped of his IBF title and then knocked out by a tough, underrated Army veteran named Keith Mullings.
Terry Norris was by now steeply in decline. By his early 30s, Norris was already showing signs of slurred speech. The bout with Mullings was close when Norris faltered in the later rounds, but no such fortune prevailed in “Terrible” Terry’s attempted comeback. In 1998, Norris was out-pointed by fringe contender Dana Rosenblatt, and then stopped by WBA Light Middleweight Champion Laurent Boudouani of France. Following that second defeat, the Nevada State Athletic Commission stripped Norris of his boxing license on medical grounds, effectively forcing him into retirement.
Legacy
Terry Norris retired with a record of 47-9 (31 KOs), and enjoyed two lengthy championship reigns. During that time he won The Ring’s Knockout of the Year for his stoppage of John Mugabi, and that magazine’s Round of the Year for the 3rd Round of his fight with Troy Waters. Norris was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. However, Norris’s greatest victory might have come outside the squared circle. Norris’s promoter Don King has a terrible reputation for fleecing his fighters out of much of their earnings, and Norris was no exception. In 2005 — the same year Norris was elected to the Hall of Fame — King was forced to settle out of court and pay Norris $7.5 million.
Sources: boxrec.com; cyberboxingzone.com; live fight footage.
