Orlin Levance Norris (born October 4, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the WBA cruiserweight title from 1993 to 1995. As an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves title. He is the brother of retired former champion Terry Norris.

Professional career Heavyweight contender Norris turned pro in 1986 as a heavyweight and became a highly ranked and much avoided contender. In 1988 he won the NABF heavyweight title with a decision over the towering Larry Alexander, and followed it up with more easy points wins over respected challengers Renaldo Snipes, Jesse Ferguson, and ex-world champion Greg Page (boxer).

Page had been considered as an opponent for Evander Holyfield; however, after defeating Page, the shot was not offered to Norris. In 1990 he was outboxed by crafty ex-world champion Tony Tubbs (a decision later changed to a no-decision after Tubbs tested positive for an illegal substance), and followed up that momentum killer with a further loss, an 8th-round TKO to hard hitting Bert Cooper, where Norris was decked in the 8th round and twisted his knee, unable to continue.

In 1990 Norris regained some ground by beating future world champion Oliver McCall by split decision, and in 1991 regained his NABF title with a first-round knockout of Lionel Washington. He defended the title against ex-world champion Tony Tucker; however, he lost on a controversial split decision, after it appeared Norris had outboxed his giant opponent rather easily.

Cruiserweight World Champion After the Tucker performance, Norris struggled to find contenders who would risk fighting him, and was forced to move down a division, into the cruiserweights. Having won the USBA belt in that division, in 1993 Norris beat Marcelo Victor Figueroa to capture the vacant WBA cruiserweight title and went on to successfully defend the title five times, including two wins over Arthur Williams and a victory over Adolpho Washington (two future world champs). Norris also retained his WBA Cruiserweight title in Mexico with a crushing win over fellow American James Heath.

In 1995 the weight draining caught up with Norris, as a very sluggish, strange performance saw him lose his belt to Nate Miller via 8th-round KO in London, England. Norris was hospitalised after the fight although he checked himself out the following morning.

Return to heavyweight In 1996 he moved back up to heavyweight and scored a revenge win over an aging Tony Tucker. However, a long legal battle with Don King saw him lose his WBA mandatory #1 challenger status and instead of a challenge to King-promoted champion Evander Holyfield, Norris was forced to fight 6'7" King-managed heavyweight Henry Akinwande in an eliminator. Akinwande stayed at long range and scraped a decision over Norris. Once again a heavyweight title fight escaped Norris.

In 1999 he travelled to the UK and demolished colourful prospect Pele Reid in one round, but Herbie Hide pulled out of a WBO title fight with Norris at the last minute.

Norris fought Mike Tyson in 1999. After the first round ended, Tyson knocked Norris down with a left hook and Norris injured his knee when he went down, although he walked back to his corner in a normal manner, showing no discomfort. Norris said he was unable to continue the fight and the bout was ruled a no contest. After the fight, Norris received an MRI scan at the Valley Hospital Medical Center and was diagnosed with a dislocated kneecap. Nevada State Athletic Commission physician Dr. Flip Homansky confirmed that the scan "clearly shows the path his kneecap took" as he fell and then got back up, popping it back into place. Tyson accused Norris of throwing the match. Norris was an aging fighter by the time he came back in 2000, outscored by Andrew Golota, and in 2001 making little effort and collapsing in sixty seconds against Vitali Klitschko in Germany, and losing a 12-round decision to Brian Nielsen in Denmark for the IBO title.

In 2005, he scored a draw with former champion Vassiliy Jirov, injecting some life back into his career.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes70Loss Ola AfolabiKO7 03/11/2005 69Draw57–9–1 Vassiliy JirovMD821/07/2005 68Loss57–9 Albert SosnowskiMD828/05/2005 67Win57–8 Ken MurphyTKO6 01/10/2004 66Win56–8 Mike PeakUD819/06/2004 65Win55–8 Roberto CoelhoUD813/05/2004 64Win54–8 Troy WeidaTKO3 13/06/2003 63Win53–8 Harry FunmakerTKO5 15/03/2003 62Loss52–8 Brian NielsenUD1216/06/2001 61Win52–7 Brian YatesUD824/04/2001 60Loss51–7 Vitali KlitschkoKO1 27/01/2001 59Win51–6 Bradley RoneUD1002/11/2000 58Loss50–6 Andrew GolotaUD1016/06/2000 57NC50–5 Mike TysonNC1 23/10/1999 56Win50–5 Pelé ReidKO1 26/06/1999 55Win49–5 Nate MillerUD1206/08/1998 54Win48–5 Adolpho WashingtonUD1222/05/1998 53Loss47–5 Henry AkinwandeUD1213/12/1997 52Win47–4 Marion WilsonSD1014/11/1996 51Win46–4 Jeff PeguesKO1 12/10/1996 50Win45–4 Tony TuckerSD1024/02/1996 49Win44–4 Cleveland WoodsRTD6 10/02/1996 48Loss43–4 Nate MillerKO8 22/07/1995 47Win43–3 Adolpho WashingtonUD1217/03/1995 46Win42–3 James HeathKO2 12/11/1994 45Win41–3 Arthur WilliamsTKO3 02/07/1994 44Win40–3 Arthur WilliamsSD1204/03/1994 43Win39–3 Art JimmersonTKO4 09/01/1994 42Win38–3 Marcelo Victor FigueroaTKO6 06/11/1993 41Win37–3 Jack BastingTKO4 19/08/1993 40Win36–3 Richard MasonUD1223/04/1993 39Win35–3 Troy JeffersonTKO2 06/02/1993 38Win34–3 David SewellTKO5 25/11/1992 37Win33–3 Keith McMurrayKO2 27/05/1992 36Win32–3 Anthony HembrickTKO8 25/03/1992 35Win31–3 James PritchardPTS813/12/1991 34Win30–3 Jesse ShelbyTD10 17/08/1991 33Loss29–3 Tony TuckerSD1203/06/1991 32Win29–2 Lionel WashingtonTKO1 30/04/1991 31Win28–2 Jamie HoweTKO7 09/02/1991 30Win27–2 Tony WillisRTD9 11/12/1990 29Win26–2 Oliver McCallSD1017/11/1990 28Win25–2 Henry HearnsKO1 17/11/1990 27Win24–2 Greg GorrellTKO8 25/09/1990 26Win23–2 Danny WoffordTKO10 28/08/1990 25Loss22–2 Bert CooperTKO8 17/02/1990 24NC22–1 Tony TubbsNC1221/11/1989 23Win22–1 Dee CollierUD1201/08/1989 22Win21–1 Greg PageUD1225/04/1989 21Win20–1 Jesse FergusonUD1215/11/1988 20Win19–1 Dwain BondsUD1227/07/1988 19Win18–1 Andrew StokesPTS1027/05/1988 18Win17–1 Renaldo SnipesUD12Mar 19, 1988 17Win16–1 Woody ClarkKO1 23/02/1988 16Win15–1 Larry AlexanderMD1225/11/1987 15Win14–1 Billy Joe ThomasTKO3 04/09/1987 14Win13–1 John BarbierKO1 13/08/1987 13Win12–1 Gary LightbourneUD1027/05/1987 12Win11–1 Eddie RichardsonKO2 03/04/1987 11Win10–1 Avery RawlsPTS1020/03/1987 10Win9–1 Mike GansKO7 26/02/1987 9Win8–1 Rufus HadleyUD1012/02/1987 8Win7–1 Roger TroupeKO2 05/02/1987 7Win6–1 David SmithUD421/11/1986 6Win5–1 Mike BardwellUD628/10/1986 5Win4–1 Ricky ReeseTKO1 25/09/1986 4Win3–1 Ray MitchellUD418/09/1986 3Loss2–1 Olian AlexanderPTS402/08/1986 2Win2–0 Levi BillupsKO1 25/07/1986 1Win1–0 Lionel WashingtonKO3 16/06/1986

See also List of world cruiserweight boxing champions

References

External links