Ron Lyle: The Knockout Artist

Ron Lyle is not often mentioned in the first place among the feared heavyweight punchers of the 1970s, the division's golden age. That place is typically saved for Earnie Shavers or George Foreman, or perhaps Joe Frazier. However, Ron Lyle outslugged Shavers, and met Foreman blow for blow in one of the most thrilling heavyweight encounters of all time. Lyle was not the hardest hitter of the 1970s. Instead, he was its great knockout artist.

The Early Years

Born in 1941 and the youngest of 19, Ron was the only one of the Lyle children to get into serious trouble with the law. Not yet out of his teens, he shot and killed a man in a gang fight and was sentenced to 15-25 years in Colorado. While in prison he was nearly stabbed to death, and had to spend 7 hours on the operating table, receiving 35 blood transfusions. It was in prison that Lyle took up boxing, and as with so many troubled youths, it seemed to provide him with some needed discipline. He was paroled after 7 1/2 years, and promptly started training for amateur competition at the Denver Elks Gym.

At the age of 28 Ron Lyle came late to the amateurs, but with his hard punching style he exploded onto the scene. In 1970, he racked up a national, North American, and an international amateur title. With an amateur record of 25-4 with 17 knockouts, Ron turned pro in 1971.

At 6'3" and weighing in between 215-220lbs in his prime, Lyle was among the biggest heavyweights in his era. He had a good jab, but also had a tall man's tendancy to paw with it. His straight right was a lance - sharp, but it needed room to do its work. For a big guy he was also a decent infighter, and wasn't not shy about using his strength to wrestle and rough up an opponent up in the clinches. He also had a good chin, which ate some of the best punches the best heavyweights who ever lived could offer.

Between April 1971 and December 1972, Lyle kept busy and undefeated. He ran up an impressive 19-0 record, with 17 knockouts. Among his early victims was overweight former contender Buster Mathis, who Lyle knocked out in 2. Mathis retired after that fight.

The First Setback: Jerry Quarry

Jerry Quarry was supposed to play the role of "gatekeeper" for Lyle. Although almost four years older than Quarry, Lyle was the fresh face and an undefeated up-and-comer. Quarry, on the other hand, had lost all of his big fights over the last 3 1/2 years: stopped by Joe Frazier, George Chuvalo, and twice by Muhammad Ali. Although only 27, "Irish" Jerry Quarry was looking shopworn, and was supposed to be a test, but also a certain victory for Lyle. The problem was that no one had shown Quarry his copy of the script. They met in February 1973, just days before Lyle's 31st birthday.

Quarry thoroughly outboxed Lyle, using his speed and mobility to move in and out, setting the pace of the fight and never giving Lyle a chance to plant his feet and unload. It helped that Quarry was a tough customer who could take a punch, and packed a mean left hook. While not one of the most renowned punchers of the era, Quarry could hit and that kept Lyle honest. Also, Quarry did not get one of his infamous cuts that night. Many consider his performance against Lyle to be Quarry's career best. He won a decisive unanimous decision.

Lyle put his career back on track after his loss to Quarry with 8 wins over lesser opposition. He then fought and defeated fading Argentine contender Oscar Bonavena in March 1974. He followed that four months later with a points win over former champion Jimmy Ellis. His new winning streak was ended in February 1975 when he was outboxed by Jimmy Young, and lost by a lopsided decision.

The Glory Days

Lyle's loss to Jimmy Young only seemed to help his career, however, because it made him an attractive opponent for Muhammad Ali. Lyle got his first and only crack at the world title in May 1975. Against the famed Ali, Lyle was cautious and took a different approach: he tried to outbox the boxer. Lyle was reasonably successful with this approach for a time, and going into the 11th round was ahead on two scorecards, and tied on the third. Then Ali caught Lyle with a hard right hand, hurting him badly. Ali swarmed Lyle with almost two dozen punches, looking to finish him, and the referee stopped the fight.

Most prizefighters take an easy bout after their first loss by knockout, but not Ron Lyle. His next fight was with the hardest puncher of all time, Earnie Shavers. This meeting foreshadowed Lyle's later match with George Foreman. Lyle hit the canvas in the 2nd round before rallying to stop Shavers in the 6th.

Lyle's next fight was the stuff of legends. Ron Lyle met George Foreman in January 1976. The fight was awarded The Ring's Fight of the Year award for 1976, and is widely considered an action-packed classic, and among the most exciting heavyweight bouts of all time. It was arguably the best non-title bout in heavyweight history.

It was Foreman's first fight since his stunning upset loss to Muhammad Ali at the famed "Rumble in the Jungle" a year and a half before. Lyle, seeking to take advantage of Foreman's rust, and his perhaps-shaken confidence, jumped on him from the outset and rocked Foreman with a hard right. Foreman came back with a big right of his own and shook Lyle in the second. In the fourth round, the great rollercoaster ride began. Lyle hurt Foreman with a right, followed up and knocked him down. Foreman gets right back up, takes the standing 8 count, and the two sluggers trade blows. Lyle took the worst of it, and down went Lyle! Lyle got back up and retreated to the ropes. Foreman followed him, looking for the kill, but Lyle hit Foreman with a smashing left, knocking him down again! The bell rang, ending Round 4. At the start of 5, it was Lyle's turn to come out, looking for the finish. The two men traded blows again, and this time Foreman put Lyle down and out for the count.

Lyle had a tune-up fight in September, and then had a rematch with Jimmy Young in November 1976. Young handily outboxed Lyle a second time. However, Lyle chased that loss with a narrow March 1977 win over the British-Hungarian contender Joe Bugner. He campaigned on, outpointing Canadian fringe contender Scott LeDoux in 1979. Finally, in 1980, Lyle was knocked out in the first round by another Irish fighter, Gerry Cooney. Lyle retired, but came out of retirement in 1995. In his early '50s, Lyle was hoping to cash in on the late career resurgence of middle-aged champion and old nemesis George Foreman. However, Lyle was unable to attract interest in either a rematch with Foreman, or his comeback in general, and returned to retirement.