Foreman vs. Lyle" Fight of the Year AND a Skilled Affair.

Don’t know if you’ve seen his videos but “Wylies boxing” is nice, superior content honestly. Actually a boxing trainer too from memory.

 

I like The Modern Martial Artist, but he definitely has a tendency to overanalyze. Take the recent Marciano video. Sure, Marciano has more finesse to him than you'd suspect at first, but he isn't some genius like MMA suggests.

 

The way some described him here, I thought he'd be Willie Pep!

 

He's had a reputation for a long time as a guy who's harder to hit than he looks. Weirdly awkward, and with a more diverse arsenal than someone like Frazier. Probably still not a bad way to describe him.

 

Rounds 1-3 definitely had some good skills on display.

Once the war started, the skills went out of the window.

Also, I believe that Foremans timing and reactions were off due to ring rust, and since his defense was very much reaction based (mostly picking off and parrying punches, some slipping but very little blocking) Lyle had way more success landing his bombs. Honestly I can not find a fight where Young George was quite as easy to hit as he was against Lyle.

 

Foreman was never quite the same since he returned. As you stated, his defense and reflexes were off, and worst of all he tried to fight a style, that did not suit him.

 

I wouldnt generalize Like that.

For example, I think Frazier II is one of his best performances in which he shows Great patience and discipline as well as crisp combination punching. Here you can see a more boxing oriented Foreman but with the usual neverending agression.

I also think his beatdowns of LeDoux and Denis rate as some of his more impressive wins.

 

He already did

 

I haven't watched this fight in years but i remember was it round 2 ? that the round was only 2 minutes long. And if i remember rightly Foreman had Lyle in huge trouble, i'm wondering if Foreman would of finished the fight there and then, had it not been for 2 minute round.

 

I do think he showed more patience, and discipline, but swung from one end of the pendulum to the other. He used to not be patient enough pre-Zaire, but when he came back he was almost too patient.

Against Young, he was failing to take advantage of opportunities that pre-Zaire Foreman wouldn't have let slide. His manager made the claim that Foreman could've ended the bout earlier but wanted to prove his endurance had improved since Zaire. Excuses aside, that would actually make a lot of sense, and is somewhat similar to the Toronto 5 fiasco (Foreman attempting to prove he was still a bad ass), and Foreman making his return bout against Lyle of all people (trying to put himself back on the map, by beating the most dangerous mother****er around who seemed to be Lyle after that brutal slugfest with Shavers).

In all three instances, he seemed to be attempting to vanquish the ghost of Ali, which he was never truly able to do until he beat Moorer (he even wore the same trunks he did in Zaire 20 years prior for good measure)

 

"Who has the biggest gas tank?"

 

https://www.thefightcity.com/category/lee-wylie/

 

One thing, Ronnie Lyle’s powerful, straight counter right hand was his most significant weapon and George proved an absolute sucker for same.

There are some technical features to both fighter’s games upon considerate analysis but nothing to write home about. What struck me most was how slow both guys appeared at times. Faster, on point executions might well have seen the fight end more crisply 1-2 rounds earlier - though Foreman’s efforts were negated by the shortened round.

As a comparison, I see far more speed, skill and accuracy in the Liston vs Williams fights.

 

Excellent post. Regarding the last sentence, I know @PhillyPhan69, said the exact same thing. I've always felt Liston and Williams were more skilled and better boxers than Foreman and Lyle, respectively.

 

Displays of skill or not, it's the platonic ideal of a fight.