Lyle vs Foreman - Why Was Lyle Able To...

[JIm Broughton]

Ron was roughly the same size as Foreman and was a decent boxer with good power to boot. Joe was quite a bit smaller and had to try and reach George where Ron found it much easier to reach Foreman. Ron's style made it difficult for George as well. Ron was a decent counterpuncher with fairly quick hands. No Ali mind you but pretty good none theless. He didn't have to come right at George the way Frazier did in order to hurt a fighter. Size and style is what made Lyle a more dangerous foe for George than Frazier.

[jowcol]

George was still basically brain dead from Zaire (and Ali never gave him a rematch) I still think Ali was the greatest HW...BUT...

Prime Lyle vs. George circa June 74...Lyle is out like a light inside of 2...

[shommel]

why no lyle vs foreman II?

[markedwardscott]

Lyle was as big as Foreman with a long reach and great power. Also as another poster said, he was a great counter-puncher. One of my all time favorite fights.

[ThinBlack]

Lyle was slightly smaller than Foreman, and had some serious skills.In addition, George was coming off the layoff from over a year from the Zaire disaster, and was never the same fighter he was.In all, the intangibles were right for Ron.

[AnthonyJ74]

Ron Lyle looked physically stronger than George Foreman. Lyle even had Foreman retreating on numerous occasions!

[groove]

long lay-off, being mentally far weaker all contributed to lyle's greater success (lyle could punch). foreman who was going through the motions but wasn't all there. foreman's peak ended in zaire as he could never get over that first defeat.

Originally Posted by guilalah

Probably a combination of 1) Lyle perhaps being a little harder puncher, and 2) Lyle and Foreman mixing it at a distance congenial to both of them, while Frazier probably had to punch outside of his distance. Second factor probably the bigger one. (The more the hook opens up (past forearm perpendicular to upper arm), the less the fore-arm (with the fist at the end) corresponds to the vector of force).

As for the Ali KO, I think that a) the count was a little quick, and b) at that point a quick count was fine by Foreman. I'm not saying, though, that Foreman didn't try to get up in time. He got screwed slightly, but I don't think he much minded.

I thought this was close enough to the definitive answer

...but then I read this one >>>

Originally Posted by mr. magoo

The primary difference Russell, is that Lyle had a counter punching style that Frazier did not have. Lyle cought Foreman ( and other opponents ), as they were walking in, whereas Frazier persued by pushing forward. Frazier had the wrong style for Foreman, by lowering his center of gravity and lunging forward. Lyle stood back and countered. Now, why did Lyle manage to floor Foreman, and not some of his other opponents? I think the main reason is that guys like Joe Bugner and co. fought safer fights. Didn't walk in the way that George did. Additionally, I think there may have been an underestimating factor at work here as well. Foreman had just got through fighting Joe Frazier, Ken Norton and Muhammad Ali ( albeit a loss ). For him, the thought of losing to a #5 or #7 ranked contender was probably infathable.

Those two posts for me answer the question very nicely

[hookfromhell]

Epic slugfest. From what I remember Lyle hurt Foreman at the end of round 1
with a flush right hand. I believe Lyle had the power to hurt a lot of fighters and
was probably the most powerful fighter Foreman had faced. Lyle also had
Underrated technical skills as previous posters mentioned. Foreman also had
a different trainer and a different gameplan anticipated fighting style right?

[Unforgiven]

As someone else mentioned, it was the choice of shots.
Foreman was vulnerable to straight right hands. Lyle hit him some hard straight rights.

[Bummy Davis]

Frazier was basically a one handed fighter and Frazier also fizzled out of his prime form by the time he met Foreman, he did not look great vs Stander or Daniels and was not the Frazier of FOTC....George got hit with right hands and Lyle nailed him with both hands...Lyle was not a puncher like even Quarry but he had 2 hands and Lyle knew George avoided the punchers

[AnthonyJ74]

Foreman got lucky the bell rang when it did in that first round; he was in bad shape. But yeah, Lyle had physical traits that allowed him to deliver his power shots in a more direct, precise manner than did Frazier. Frazier had to crowd you; Lyle could stand back and throw bombs. And I think Lyle was closer to Foreman power wise than Lyle was to Frazier.

[ushvinder]

Ron Lyle gave him a tough fight due to styles, i laugh when people say foreman was past it during the lyle and young fights. If he was past it, then it just helps confirm that he's pretty overrated. Wlad and Lennox had primes that lasted for over a decade, while foreman was 'washed up' after 18 months, lol.

[Azzer85]

Originally Posted by ushvinder

Ron Lyle gave him a tough fight due to styles, i laugh when people say foreman was past it during the lyle and young fights. If he was past it, then it just helps confirm that he's pretty overrated. Wlad and Lennox had primes that lasted for over a decade, while foreman was 'washed up' after 18 months, lol.

Foreman wasnt sparked by one punch like Lennox Lewis and his first loss came to Ali. Wlads first loss was when he was 21-0 and to a bum named Ross Purrity, theres a big difference between losing to Ali and Ross Purity

Foreman, mentally was never the same again after the Ali loss, proof if you watch the video on Youtube, where Foreman 'fought' 5 guys in one night.