BY THE NUMBERS:
victories » Though Lyle may best be known for losing one of the most dramatic bouts of the decade to George Foreman, the rest of his resume is impressive. Starting his pro career in 1971, Lyle won 30 of his first 32 bouts, the only blemishes being a decision loss to perpetual contender Jerry Quarry and a draw with the always pesky Gregorio Peralta (whom Lyle had previously defeated). The wins were over a who’s who of the time, including such veterans as “Scrap Iron” Johnson, Manuel Ramos, Jack O’Halloran and Leroy Caldwell, plus bigger names such as Buster Mathis, the rugged Oscar Bonavena and former WBA titlist Jimmy Ellis. It was a promising start for Lyle, who had spent seven and a half years in prison for second-degree murder and didn’t begin his
memorable fight with George Foreman »
Lyle’s reward for beating Shavers was a bout with Foreman in Las Vegas. With both fighters suffering losses to Ali and hoping for rematches with him, each wanted to win in a big way. The result was five
losses to Jimmy Young »
Young was a counterpunching Philadelphia heavyweight who defeated Lyle on points in 1975 and again in 1976. By the second time he’d failed against Young, the press had begun to write Lyle off as a fading trial horse. Before a scant crowd of less than 2,000
rounds of thunderous action and multiple knockdowns, with Foreman taking a beating before coming back to stop Lyle at 2:28 of the fifth. Unlike the Lyle-Shavers bout, this one was on national TV with Howard Cosell screaming his head off. It went into the history books, and The Ring selected it as Fight of the Year. In the immediate aftermath, though, the Foreman- Lyle fight wasn’t embraced as a classic. Many writers dismissed Foreman as “slipshod,” “shoddy” and “lucky” to get the win. “Have you ever seen such ineptitude,” wrote the Chicago Tribune, “from heavyweights who are supposed to be ranked among the best in the world?” Some people are just hard to please. If nothing else, Lyle should’ve received a certificate of merit for facing Ali, Shavers and Foreman within a span of eight months.
professional boxing career until he was 30. He ended his career with a record of 43-7-1 (31 knockouts).
customers in San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium, Lyle simply couldn’t catch the lighter, quicker Young. “For aging Ron Lyle, losing may have been the last hurrah,” wrote the Associated Press. Lyle managed to defeat some good competitors in the next few years, including Joe Bugner and Scott LeDoux, but he was clearly on the way out.
rounds with Muhammad Ali » To the surprise of the boxing world and the fans in Las Vegas, Lyle gave Ali a difficult
time for the first 10 rounds of their 15-round championship bout in 1975. Not intimidated by the magnitude of the event or Ali’s reputation, Lyle not only gave the champion some tough moments, but he was ahead on two of the three scorecards. Yet any hopes for an upset were dashed in the 11th when Ali landed a right hand that sent Lyle staggering backward into the ropes. Sensing the big finish, Ali fired away with approximately 40 unanswered punches until referee Ferd Hernandez stopped the bout at the 1:08 mark. Lyle’s camp objected to the stoppage, but the challenger was just standing there taking blows to the head. Still, Lyle had done well in what would be his only title shot. “He’s a good fighter,” Ali said. “Much better than I thought he was.”
fights at age 54 » Lyle left boxing in 1980 after an embarrassing one-round KO loss to Gerry Cooney. But when Foreman regained the
RON LYLE by Don Stradley • Illustration by KronkAAArt The 1970s are rightfully considered a golden era of heavyweight boxing. Even beyond the triangle of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman, there were too many fine fighters to be crammed into a top 10, with even fringe players earning devoted followers and regular television dates. Ron Lyle was a major part of this era, and any discussion of the period would have to include him. Filled to the brim with death and violence, here’s his story by the numbers.
years old when he died » Lyle (1941-2011) spent his later years working odd jobs and training fighters in Las Vegas. He
heavyweight title at age 45, Lyle embarked on his own comeback, minus Foreman’s circus-like atmosphere. In a venue known as Peel’s Palace in Erlanger, Kentucky, a club known for hosting punk rock concerts and pro wrestling, Lyle spent April, May and June of 1995 dusting off a trio of unspectacular opponents, their combined record being 13-52-2. One of them, Ed Strickland, was 0-20 at the time. In August, Lyle’s final fight brought him back home to Colorado, where he faced Dave Slaughter at the Regency Hotel in Denver. Slaughter, a 37-year-old whose record was 5-17-1, quit after two rounds. “Fans cheered as Lyle blew kisses,” reported the Scripps Howard News Service. “For a moment it was like it used to be – except that he’s 54.” Lyle talked about fighting Foreman or maybe Larry Holmes in a special old-timer match, but such bouts never materialized.
remained one of boxing’s great “What if?” stories, as in, “What if he hadn’t spent so much time in prison and had turned pro at 20 instead of 30?” It was an interesting thought, but it was the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City that made Lyle into a boxer. While serving his sentence – he allegedly shot a rival gang member – he fought on the prison boxing team and then, once paroled, had a brief amateur career. Lyle’s background became an easy hook for publicity, particularly an episode where he nearly died after being stabbed by a fellow inmate. Though Lyle appeared to be a thoughtful, soft-spoken man outside the ring, there were problems in his private life that were often violent in nature. Shortly before his bout with Ali, Lyle was in court for shooting at his wife, Nadine. On New Year’s Eve 1977, he shot and killed a man in his home. Lyle was acquitted, his attorney arguing that he’d acted in self-defense. Yet Lyle certainly seemed quick-tempered and not afraid to use a gun. “All my life has been hard,” he once said, “and I’ve had no one but myself to blame.” Lyle may not have been an all-time great, but in a decade overflowing with superb heavyweights, he made an indelible imprint. If we’re left to wonder, “What if?,” it’s only because what we got was so damned exciting.
rounds to stop Earnie Shavers » The 1970s were so flush with high-quality heavyweights that the Lyle-Shavers battle took place with minimal fanfare. Why these two hard-punching behemoths weren’t on a major network, or even the fledgling HBO, is unfathomable. Yet on Saturday, September 13, 1975, on Lyle’s home turf of Denver, Colorado, the two went at each other like a couple of street fighters armed with sledgehammers.
They didn’t stop swinging until Shavers was counted out at 0:47 of the sixth. Mike Hayes, vice president of the Denver Boxing Club, spoke for many when he called it “one of the most amazing nights in Colorado sports history.” What made it so memorable was that the mighty Shavers bombarded Lyle in the first round and then dropped him in the second. Down for the first time in his career, a badly hurt Lyle somehow got back on his feet just as the bell sounded. Shavers’ manager, Joe Gennaro, would claim Lyle was given a long count (not true), and even Shavers, known as a humble man, complained that the fight had been “stolen” from him. Regardless of Gennaro’s grousing, the fight was a masterpiece of its kind. Some of the exchanges were so brutal that if you saw these two fighting in an alley, you’d probably call the cops to break it up, lest one of them not come out alive.
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