How does he do against the fading versions of Tyson and Holyfield? Does he have punchers' chance against Lennox Lewis? Does he make it against Moorer, Tua, Morrison, Briggs or Mercer? How does it go?
Don't know exactly what the verdicts would be against the guys you listed.. But I suspect that his status would probably be about the same as it was in the 70's - a solid contender with a mixed bag of wins and losses to good fighters, but probably not a world champion.
Yeah, I can't really see him doing much more than he did in the 70s. He would no doubt lose but I would still love to see him mix it up with Evander and Tyson,. Pre-Steward Lewis still might blast him out but never know. He's a step above Mercer, Briggs, and Morrison and should be able to beat them. But Moorer and Tua are on his level and make for interesting toss ups.
I´m not sure if he is a step above Mercer......but he would beat Tua, or Morrison, Moorer, Briggs, etc.....
In order to beat Tua, Moorer and Briggs I'd say that he'd have to be at least on Mercer's level or even a slight step higher... Morrison is another story
He'd have been a beltholder,and that's for sure. It would have taken the peak versions of Holyfield and Tyson to have beaten Ron. And on a certain night,he could've beaten Lennox.
Tyson beats him very easily IMO. Holyfield makes the fight harder for himself. Bowe is a ? because of his chin+lack pf punchers on resume. LL depends, he could turn the fight into a Ruddock blowout, or box smartly and win comfortably (or walk into a big right hand) Moorer would get KTFO. Tua, Morrison, Mercer, Briggs are all 50/50 brawls. Old Foreman.....im not sure! May have won a belt, but not for long. not with Tyson, Bowe, Holyfield, Lewis coming after him
agree with the vast majority of your post but to this day i still don't get why lyle has a reputation as a puncher. he was a skilled boxer puncher but his power is pretty average on the whole
Lyle was a relevant contender who stayed in the top 10 rankings from 71-78(often top 5) during his prime. He picked up several decent-good wins over fellow contenders Shavers, Bonavena, Ellis, Bugner, and LeDoux. Lyle was only upset by top 3-5 contender Jerry Quarry. Mercer was a relevant contender from 90-93 (top 5 once) during his prime. Mercer has only beat one fellow contender in Tommy Morrison, a fight in which he was clearly being outboxed before the stoppage. Mercer was upset by old Larry Holmes and later washed up journeyman Jesse Ferguson, both costing him title bids. Both are primarly famous for giving vulnerable greats tough fights but at the end of the day Lyle actually has the substance to back his claims up. Nor was Lyle being used a trial horse in his claims to fame but a real contender hungry for the title, unlike Mercer...a rusty Evander's first opponent after a lengthy retirement and a stepping stone for the still developing "comeback road" Steward trained Lennox Lewis.
Umm no Lyle had a helluva lot of power in both hand's, but especially his right. George Foreman and several others named him the hardest puncher they ever faced. Want proof go watch Forman/ Lyle and tell me Ron doesn't pack a wallop
I don't think its a given.. He might have taken a title aways from Seldon, McCall or Bruno while holding those belts, but I don't know if I see him beating one of the better champs of the 90's like Lewis, Holyfield, Bowe or Tyson. Lyle was extremely tough but also lost to Quarry, Young, an aged Ali and I believe drew with Peralta or somebody.. He wasn't consistant enough to draw any conclusions.
