Lennox would have approached Ron with due caution and won a dull chess match. Lyle had a habit of sometimes slugging with sluggers and boxing with boxers. Ron absolutely had the ability to bomb Lewis out, a realization the bigger man would have been very mindful of.
Methinks Lewis is overrated on this web site. Rahman put Lewis to sleep. Remember? Lyle gave Foreman hell.
Lewis was a monster against big guys. Observe his fights with Ruddock, Golota, Grant for proof of this, when Lennox felt threatened he went after the guy. Lyle's chin is not solid enough to withstand a Lennox right hand either, Ali does not have serious power but nonetheless put him on ***** street with one right hand. Of course you can say the same for Lennox but the only time he ever went down was when he got complacent against inferior opposition, he sure as hell wouldn't be complacent against Lyle. I happen to think that Lyle is the most over rated fighter of the 70's. Big fighter for the time, solid skills, not slow but not the scary puncher that people make him out to be. Foreman was a shell with ZERO self confidence against Lyle, Lyle SHOULD of hurt him. Quarry, Young beat him multiple times but somehow neither seem to get the same credit in head to head matchups, although Young gets his credit from quite a few on this board. Ron against SHW's is in trouble when he can't rely on being the giant in there.
Lennox does not stop a '73 Lyle, but wins on points. If Lennox gets lazy, he(Lennox) gets knocked out.
As far as top ten, I suppose Shavers was top ten in '75. The point is, Lewis can make a mistake and Lyle can punch. Could happen, but as I stated, I see Lewis winning on points.
Only Shavers, and with Shavers stamina and chin that's hardly a monumental achievement. It's worth noting too that Earnie dropped him hard in the first and Lyle would of lost in the first round had the bell not rang. Of course Shavers power is second to none but his delivery system is average at best, and if he could connect so early on Lyle, the chances of Lennox doing it too are pretty good.
I always like Ron Lyle, but Lewis would have destroyed him like he did Razor Ruddock. One or two rounds max.
I'd be inclined to think Lyle is the one who is overrated. Much of his reputation comes from his performance in fights he lost.