Ron Lyle

Ron Lyle
Lyle c. 1967
Statistics
Real name	Ronald Lyle
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Reach	76 in (193 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	(1941-02-12)February 12, 1941 Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 26, 2011(2011-11-26) (aged 70) Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	51
Wins	43
Wins by KO	31
Losses	7
Draws	1

Ronald "Ron" Lyle (February 12, 1941 – November 26, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged once for the undisputed world heavyweight title, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Lyle was known for his punching power, crowd-pleasing fighting style, as well as courage and determination inside the ring. He held notable wins over Buster Mathis, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Earnie Shavers, Joe Bugner, and Scott LeDoux, but is best known for his slugfest against George Foreman in 1976, which won Fight of the Year honors by The Ring magazine.

Early life

Lyle was one of 19 children born to William and Nellie Lyle of Dayton, Ohio. In 1954, they moved to Denver, Colorado as his father got a job as a sandblaster at Buckley Air Force Base. He grew up on the Northeast side of the city, a predominantly African American area, in public housing projects.

During his time in Denver, Lyle was known to have associated with violent gangs. At 19, after dropping out of Manual High School, Lyle was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 21-year-old gang rival Douglas Byrd. Lyle argued he was being attacked with a lead pipe and was not the one who pulled the trigger.^[1]

He was sentenced to 15–25 years in the Colorado State Penitentiary. While in prison, Lyle nearly died on the operating table after being stabbed by an inmate. He was released after serving 7 1/2 years.^[2]

Lyle credited Lt. Cliff Mattax, the athletic director at the prison, with getting him interested in boxing. In his first match for the prison boxing team, Lyle was defeated by Texas Johnson. He never lost a prison boxing match again, however.

Amateur career

After prison, Lyle joined the Denver Elks Gym and started boxing for Bill Daniels. Lyle's first amateur victory was a third-round knockout over Fred Houpe (who would later be Leon Spinks's final opponent). His amateur career lasted only 14 months, and he compiled a record of 25–4 with 17 knockouts.^[3] He was the 1970 National AAU Heavyweight Champion, the 1970 North American Amateur Heavyweight Champion, and the 1970 International Boxing League Heavyweight Champion. Lyle was a member of the United States Boxing Team. He lost to Russian Ivan Alexi, but knocked out Armenian (USSR) heavyweight Kamo Saroyan in a match broadcast by ABC television's Wide World of Sports.^[4]

Professional career

Lyle had a very late start in professional boxing. He turned professional under Bill Daniels, with trainer Bobby Lewis. His first fight was at the age of 30 in Denver, Colorado, against A.J Staples, which he won by knockout in the second round. Lyle went on to post a 19–0 record with 17 knockouts, and became the 5th rated heavyweight contender. He scored impressive knockouts over notables Vicente Rondon, a light heavyweight champion; hulking Buster Mathis; and won by unanimous decision over former WBA Heavyweight Champion, Jimmy Ellis.^[5] Lyle's undefeated streak ended on a one-sided decision to veteran Jerry Quarry: the latter gave one of his career best performances using a boxer/puncher style to create openings first, gaining the initiative using his greater experience. Lyle then lost to Jimmy Young in 1975. In a later rematch, Young again edged Lyle and went on to outpoint George Foreman in 1977.

Lyle vs. Ali

On May 16, 1975 he was given an opportunity to face heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, during Ali's second title defense in his second reign as champion. Lyle was the more aggressive fighter in the early rounds, with Ali conserving his energy and covering up in the center of the ring allowing Lyle to score. Lyle also showed restraint and did not respond to Ali's attempts at the rope-a-dope ploy. Though in danger of falling too far behind on points, Ali appeared to be in control of the pace of the fight, and picked his moments to score. The fight was close going into the 11th round, with Lyle winning on all three of the judges' score cards. Ali then hit Lyle with a strong right hand and followed with several flurrying punches, scoring. The referee stopped the fight, seeing that Lyle was unable to defend himself and Ali was punching him in the head at will. Lyle's corner was not happy with the referee's decision.^[6][7]

Lyle vs. Foreman

Lyle is perhaps best known for a brawling fight in 1976 with Hall of Famer George Foreman. Foreman was making a comeback after suffering his first loss to Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle.

The fight is looked upon to this day as one of the most exciting and brutal in heavyweight history. Lyle took the offensive against the former champion and won the opening round. At one point he hit Foreman with a staggering body punch. After almost being knocked out in Round Two, Lyle amazed the crowd by flooring Foreman twice in the fourth round. Other than Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Young, Lyle was the only boxer to have ever knocked down George Foreman during a professional boxing match. Foreman later wrote in his autobiography that Lyle was the toughest man he ever fought. The former champion recovered and scored a knockout in the fifth round.

Lyle scored impressive victories over rated Jose Luis Garcia, and big names Oscar Bonavena and Earnie Shavers during his career.^[8] He also won a split decision over Joe Bugner, boring in with a thudding body attack in a fine contest.

According to George Foreman, Ron Lyle was one of the three hardest punchers he had faced in his career along with Gerry Cooney and Cleveland Williams.^[9]

Later career

The year 1979 marked a decline in Lyle's abilities. Draws with fringe contenders Stan Ward and Scott LeDoux were followed by a stunning one-punch loss to unheard-of Lynn Ball. Ball went on to match other names but never achieved similar success. The Ring magazine quoted Lyle as saying afterwards "No one does that to me."

He would return to the ring, however, but not for long. Ron retired again after a first-round knockout loss to then-rising star and undefeated power-hitting Gerry Cooney. By then, Lyle was 39 years old and his best years had gone.^[10]

Comeback

In 1995, at the age of 54, Lyle decided on a brief comeback. After scoring four quick knockouts over second-rate opponents, Lyle tried to get a rematch with George Foreman. The match was never made, however, and Lyle retired from boxing.^[11]

Retirement

While Lyle was working as a security guard in Las Vegas, he was accused of another murder. He shot a man in his apartment who had spent time with him in the Colorado State Penitentiary. Lyle claimed self-defense and was found not guilty.^[12] A biography titled Off the Ropes: the Ron Lyle Story was written by Candace Toft and released by Scratching Shed Publishing in May 2010.^[13]

Lyle ran the boxing gym Denver Red Shield in Denver, Colorado.^[14] He was the former trainer of light welterweight contender Victor Ortíz, who fought out of Denver during some of his amateur career.^[15]

In 1992 Lyle trained a young promising talent from Las Vegas, Arash Hashemi,^[16] and under his mentorship Hashemi won two Golden Gloves championships.

Death

Lyle died at the age of 70, on Saturday November 26, 2011 from complications from a sudden stomach ailment.^[17] "We're gonna miss Ron. He was a friend", Earnie Shavers said. "He was the strongest man I have ever known, inside-and-out. When he gave advice, it was solid. He will never know how much I loved him. I will greatly miss him now that he is gone. I will never have a close friend like him again", states Lisa Dawn Sheridan.

Lyle in the media and popular culture

Ron Lyle appeared in the film Facing Ali,^[18] a 2009 documentary, where he discusses his life and career. About his fight against Ali, when referee Fredy Nunez stopped the fight, he said "I couldn't believe it, you know. I'm ahead on all scorecards. [...] Am I bitter? Forget about it. I never took it personal. If there don't be no Ali, you think you'd be sitting here talking to Ron Lyle? About what?"^[19]

During this documentary he revealed that, during his stint in prison, where he received one meal a day consisting of a bowl of spinach, he passed time by doing up to 1,000 push-ups in an hour each day.

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
51	Win	43–7–1	Dave Slaughter	TKO	2 (10)	Aug 18, 1995	Regency Hotel, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
50	Win	42–7–1	Ed Strickland	KO	2	Jun 9, 1995	Erlanger, Kentucky, U.S.
49	Win	41–7–1	Tim Pollard	TKO	2	May 12, 1995	Peel's Palace, Erlanger, Kentucky, U.S.
48	Win	40–7–1	Bruce Johnson	KO	4 (10)	Apr 7, 1995	Peels Palace, Erlanger, Kentucky, U.S.
47	Loss	39–7–1	Gerry Cooney	KO	1 (10), 2:49	Oct 24, 1980	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Hempstead, New York, U.S.
46	Win	39–6–1	George O'Mara	KO	10 (10), 0:37	Aug 23, 1980	Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
45	Win	38–6–1	Al Neumann	TKO	10 (10)	Jun 19, 1980	University of Puget Sound Fieldhouse, Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
44	Loss	37–6–1	Lynn Ball	TKO	2 (10), 2:55	Dec 12, 1979	Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
43	Win	37–5–1	Scott LeDoux	SD	10	May 12, 1979	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
42	Win	36–5–1	Fili Moala	TKO	8 (10), 1:51	Apr 6, 1979	San Diego Stadium, San Diego, California, U.S.
41	Win	35–5–1	Horace Robinson	RTD	8 (10), 0:01	Jun 3, 1978	Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
40	Win	34–5–1	Stan Ward	MD	10	Sep 14, 1977	Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
39	Win	33–5–1	Joe Bugner	SD	12	Mar 20, 1977	Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
38	Loss	32–5–1	Jimmy Young	UD	12	Nov 6, 1976	Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, U.S.
37	Win	32–4–1	Kevin Isaac	TKO	7 (10), 1:14	Sep 11, 1976	Memorial Auditorium, Utica, New York, U.S.
36	Loss	31–4–1	George Foreman	KO	5 (12), 2:28	Jan 24, 1976	Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For vacant NABF heavyweight title
35	Win	31–3–1	Earnie Shavers	TKO	6 (12), 0:47	Sep 13, 1975	Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
34	Loss	30–3–1	Muhammad Ali	TKO	11 (15), 1:08	May 16, 1975	Las Vegas Convention Center, Winchester, Nevada, U.S.	For WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles
33	Loss	30–2–1	Jimmy Young	UD	10	Feb 11, 1975	International Center Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
32	Win	30–1–1	Al Jones	TKO	5 (10), 1:43	Dec 13, 1974	Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
31	Win	29–1–1	Boone Kirkman	TKO	8 (10), 2:02	Sep 17, 1974	Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, U.S.
30	Win	28–1–1	Jimmy Ellis	UD	12	Jul 16, 1974	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
29	Win	27–1–1	Oscar Bonavena	UD	12	Mar 19, 1974	Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
28	Draw	26–1–1	Gregorio Peralta	PTS	10	Nov 17, 1973	Frankfurt, West Germany
27	Win	26–1	Larry Middleton	UD	10	Oct 31, 1973	Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
26	Win	25–1	Jürgen Blin	TKO	2 (10), 1:01	Oct 4, 1973	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
25	Win	24–1	Jose Luis Garcia	KO	3 (10), 1:01	Oct 4, 1973	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
24	Win	23–1	Lou Bailey	UD	10	Jul 3, 1973	State Fairgrounds International Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
23	Win	22–1	Wendell Newton	SD	10	Jun 11, 1973	Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
22	Win	21–1	Gregorio Peralta	UD	10	May 12, 1973	Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
21	Win	20–1	Bob Stallings	UD	10	Apr 14, 1973	Harry Adams Field House, Missoula, Montana, U.S.
20	Loss	19–1	Jerry Quarry	UD	12	Feb 9, 1973	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
19	Win	19–0	Larry Middleton	KO	3 (10), 2:34	Dec 9, 1972	Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
18	Win	18–0	Luis Faustino Pires	KO	3 (10), 2:55	Oct 28, 1972	Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
17	Win	17–0	Buster Mathis	KO	2 (10), 2:58	Sep 29, 1972	Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
16	Win	16–0	Vicente Rondón	TKO	2 (10), 1:41	Jul 11, 1972	Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
15	Win	15–0	Mike Boswell	TKO	7 (10)	May 25, 1972	Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
14	Win	14–0	Mel Turnbow	TKO	4 (10), 2:59	May 10, 1972	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
13	Win	13–0	George Johnson	KO	3 (10), 0:31	Mar 25, 1972	Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
12	Win	12–0	Chuck Leslie	TKO	2 (10), 1:47	Jan 22, 1972	Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
11	Win	11–0	Bill Drover	KO	2 (10), 0:45	Dec 18, 1971	Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
10	Win	10–0	Jack O'Halloran	KO	4 (10), 2:15	Nov 26, 1971	Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
9	Win	9–0	Joe E Lewis	KO	3 (10)	Nov 10, 1971	Silver Slipper, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
8	Win	8–0	Manuel Ramos	UD	10	Oct 9, 1971	Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
7	Win	7–0	Eddie Land	TKO	7 (10)	Sep 1, 1971	Silver Slipper, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
6	Win	6–0	Frank Niblett	KO	9 (10)	Aug 11, 1971	Silver Slipper, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Leroy Caldwell	UD	5	Jul 24, 1971	Playboy Club, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Edmund Stewart	TKO	2 (6)	Jul 16, 1971	Sunnyside Garden Arena, New York City, New York, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Gary Bates	KO	3 (4), 2:20	Jun 19, 1971	Sahara Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Art Miller	KO	5 (6)	May 22, 1971	Matthews Arena, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	A J Staples	TKO	2 (6)	Apr 23, 1971	Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado, U.S.	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

References

External links

• Ron Lyle at the Internet Movie Database
• Professional boxing record for Ron Lyle from BoxRec
• Ron Lyle at Find a Grave