<P> Norton next beat polished number two contender Jimmy Young (who himself had beaten George Foreman and Ron Lyle) via 15 - round split decision in a WBC title - elimination bout, with the winner to face reigning WBC champion Ali . (However, Ali's camp told Ring Magazine they did not want to fight Norton for a fourth time .) Both boxers fought a smart fight, with Norton using a heavy body attack whilst Young moved well and countered . The decision was controversial, with many observers thinking Young had done enough to win . </P> <P> Plans, however, changed on February 15, 1978 . On that night, in front of a nationwide television audience, Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks . The WBC then ordered a match between the new champion and its number one contender, but Spinks chose instead to give the fallen champion the first shot at taking his title rather than face Norton . The WBC responded on March 18, 1978, by retroactively giving title fight status to Norton's victory over Young the year before and awarded Norton their championship, which split the heavyweight championship for the first time since Jimmy Ellis and Joe Frazier were both recognized as champions in the early 1970s . </P> <P> In his first defense of the WBC title on June 9, 1978, Norton and new #1 contender Larry Holmes met in a classic fight . After 15 brutal rounds, Holmes was awarded the title via an extremely close split decision . The three judges' cards were as follows: 143--142 for Holmes, 143--142 for Holmes, and 143--142 for Norton . The Associated Press scored it 143--142 for Norton . The March 2001 edition of The Ring magazine listed the final round of the Holmes - Norton bout as the 7th most exciting round in boxing history . As noted above, Holmes - Norton is ranked as the 10th greatest heavyweight fight of all time by Monte D. Cox, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO). Holmes went on to become the third - longest reigning world heavyweight champion in the history of boxing, behind Joe Louis and Wladimir Klitschko . Years later, Holmes wrote of his experience that this was his toughest match in over 70 contests . </P> <P> After losing to Holmes, Norton won his next fight by knockout over sixth - ranked Randy Stephens in 1978 before taking on Earnie Shavers in another compulsory WBC title eliminator fight in Las Vegas on March 23, 1979 . It appeared for the first time that Norton's career had perhaps hit a decline, particularly after the Holmes match as Shavers took the former champion out in the first round . But it also created a view that his confidence wasn't good against all - time great hitters Foreman, Shavers and later Cooney . Although Norton himself always denied this and he was past his prime when he was stopped by Shavers and Cooney . (Norton's peak was 1973--1978 .) </P>

Who won the fight between norton and holmes