Would Ron Lyle have been a piece of cake for pre Ali Foreman?

No.

 

No.

 

No, I really don't think Foreman lost anything after Zaire other than his aura of invincibility. And Lyle don't scare easily to begin with.

 

I think he could well have had less trouble. He was implementing a new style based on his loss to Ali and it was not overly doing it for him. He'd also lost something mentally (loss to Ali) whilst his opponents had gained something. I think there's a chance the more aggressive pre Ali version would not have allowed Lyle such a chance to get off.

For me it's an open debate.

 

I think lyle rellied on advantages foreman had over him, I don' think Lyle would be a piece of cake for anyone, but i don' see him ever beating foreman

I think foreman did lose his confidence after the ali fight and probably would have performed slightly better against Lyle, I could see it ending in round two in an exciting aggressive slugfest reminiscent of the liston williams fights

 

I agree....no.

 

Lyle would have fit in well with the Houston 5th Ward bad dudes that George was around
in his late teens, before heading off to the Job Corps. Foreman knew what type of fight
Lyle would bring to the table.

 

Yes. Foreman would've ate him in 2 rounds.

 

I tend to agree that George would have had a far easier time with Lyle (prior Zaire). Though his style had changed a bit under Clancy (pacing, boxing more) I saw George more 'out of sorts' and leaving himself open often for counters; interesting that he seemed easier to hit (post Zaire) then he was when he was the all out aggressor (Pre Ali). Quarry said he buckled Lyle's knees with a left hook in the first and had him in deep trouble later in the fight and Jerry wasn't in Forman's league with regards to punching power. Although Ron could have landed a haymaker early and, perhaps, dropped him George would have risen, continued his jabbing, pushing, and throwing big shots which would have Lyle out within three rounds, perhaps sooner.
My $0.02

 

No. Lyle feared no boxer. Like a prime Tyson majority of Foreman
opponents were mentally beat before the bell rang.
Lyle did some serious time in jail.

 

No, Ron Lyle was a big puncher in his own right, which would have presented a problem for George Foreman at any time.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Pre Ali foreman is a myth. Unlike with tyson where his changes in the way he fought post rooney can be clealry pointed out.
Foreman had beaten norton(who got stopped early by every banger)
And frazier who was unproven against big bangers and was a stylistic dream for foreman.
After ali he showed that he could still take frazier and that he still struggled with a boxer who was adept at surviving like young. He simply showed more flaws after frazier and norton because he was facing a larger variety of opponents with different styles that revealed his weaknesses.
Norton and frazier just happened to be both taylor made and the first relevant giys he fought....and of course no one is going to have the “audacity“ to take away some of alis credit for the win by pointing out that fpreman may havebeen flawed from the beginningand that neither norton nor frazier were proven against a foreman type.

So its easy to say foreman wasnt the same, but his power and size advantage(his main assets) didnt dissappear.