#9 Ron Lyle vs #7 Earnie Shavers 'September 13, 1975'

Denver Sports Arena

Saturday Night - September 13, 1975

Tale of the Tape

Ron Lyle (Denver, Colorado)
Record......30-3-1 {20 KO's}
Ranking.....#9
Age..........34 years, 7 months
Height.......6' 2 1/2"
Reach.......76"
Weight......216 lbs.

Earnie Shavers (******, Ohio)
Record......49-4-1 {48 KO's}
Ranking.....#7
Age..........30 years, 1 month
Height.......6' 1"
Reach.......79"
Weight......206 lb.

The Skinny

Ron Lyle, who has lost '2-straight' bouts to (Jimmy Young and Muhammad Ali) can ill
afford a 'third straight' loss. Lyle, if he wins, has a potential bouts with Ken Norton
and George Foreman lined up.

Quietly, the Denver-based Heavyweight has wished for a bout with former Heavyweight
Contender - Jerry Quarry, who handed him his first loss as a professional back in
February 1973.

Earnie Shavers will be involved in his 'biggest' professional bout since the shocking loss
to Jerry Quarry in December 1973. A 'win' by Earnie, and he will be able to 'Cherry Pick'
his next opponents, while waiting for a 1976 Heavyweight Championship bout.

 

Ron Lyle, who had never been floored in his career, got caught in Round 2.

Late in Round 2,

As both Ron and Earnie were exchanging punches, Ron landed a left hook.
but stepped back to slow, and got caught by a wide left hook to the jaw.

Ron fell back into the ropes, and took a knee.

Lyle was 'stunned' as he was on the lower rope, and at first he looked to
be out of it. But he got up at '3', and took the Mandatory 8-Count.

When Ron Lyle came out for Round 3, he had an 'angry' look on his face.

 

Yes, it was to make Ron Lyle feel better.

Round 2, was more boxing, a complete turn-around from the Round 1 'slug-fest'.

Ron circled and boxed, while keeping Earnie at center-ring.

Then at the 2:45 Mark (15-seconds left in the round), Ronnie started
to move backwards as Earnie made his move.

Then Earnie pressed a bit, as Ron moved back towards a neutral-corner. Where both
fighters attempted left hooks, and Earnie's got there first.

As Earnie crashed a left hook bomb on Ron's chin, then Lyle crashed into the ropes and went
down to his right knee, while sagging back into the ropes at the 2:50 Mark.

Ronnie was out, as is upper-body sagged into the ropes, while he was on his right knee.

At the 6-Count Ronnie struggled up, and received the Mandatory 8-Count by the
Referee, while leaning on the ropes. As the Referee turned to wave the action to continue
- the bell rang ending Round 2.

 

Doug.ie

Sorry, I should have added Round 1.

Maybe one of the best 'Slugfest Rounds' for two bruising Heavyweights.

Earnie was the one pressing for the first half of the round, as Lyle was
the one circling and jabbing from the outside.

As Earnie tried to press, Ron circled primarily to his left while shooting
out left jabs. Occassionally. Ron would stop and do a side-to-side move,
before circling again.

At the 0:57 Mark, Lyle stopped along the ropes, and Earnie slammed him
with a monster right-hand.

Earnie again landed a right-hand bomb at the 1:21 Mark.

Again, Earnie slammed Ron with some 'scary bombs' driving him backwards at the
1:27 Mark, and followed up with a good right-hand at the 1:40 Mark.

But, Ronnie came back with a good right-hand, and then fired off a nice '6-punch'
combination at the 1:47 Mark, stopping Earnie in his tracks.

Ron then bulled Shavers to the ropes, as Earnie free'd himself away from Ron,
Lyle slammed a good right-hand to Shavers mid-section at the 1:58 Mark.

As Lyle moved in with Earnie up against the ropes, Shavers fired off a good 3-punch
combination at the 2:07 Mark.

Then, Lyle countered with his own 4-Punch combination at the 2:14 Mark, while
keeping Earnie in the neutral corner.

With Earnie momentarily trapped, Lyle slammed a hard left hook to Earnie's head, and
followed up with a 3-punch barrage at the 2:17 Mark.

Earnie was momentarily 'stunned'. The fans in the Sports Arena rose their feet, thinking
that Earnie was in big trouble.

But Ron did not press, and rested for a 15-second pause while leaning on Earnie.

Earnie was eventually able to get off the ropes and move Ron out to center-ring at the
2:55 Mark, where he landed a decent 3-punch combination, before Ron spun him to the
other side of the ring and to the ropes, as the bell rang ending a 'wild' Round 1.

Round 1 'Even'

 

Enjoy,

After an exciting Round 1, which resembled a 'slugfest',

Round 2, took another path.

Ronnie boxed and moved, as Earnie followed. For the 0:55 of the Round
the fight remains at center-ring, as both boxers jab, and appear to
respect each others power.

At the 0:57 Mark, Earnie does muscle forward, and forces Ronnie to
the ropes, whre he tries a few punches.

But at the 1:15 Mark, the boys are back at center-ring, boxing.

At the 2:35 Mark, Earnie wings a big sweeping left hook that just
grazes the top of Ronnie's head, that forces Ronnie to move back
to the ropes.

Lyle fires a quick 1-2 as Earnie moves in. But, Earnie counters with
a good left hook to the body, and fires a quick left-right as Ronnie is
still with his back on the ropes.

Then, at the 2:47 Mark, both fighters attempt big left hooks, and Earnie's
gets there first, crashing on Lyle's jaw.

Lyle who was moving forward, falls back and sags into the ropes, and his
right knee is down on the canvas.

Lyle looks knocked out, as his upper-body sags into the ropes. Ronnie
tries to get up '3-times', but each time he sags back into the ropes.

Ronnie struggles at '6', as the Referee moves in to pick up the count.

Ronni is leanin with back up against the ring-post, and his arms draped
over the top rope-strand.

The Referee reaches '8', and looks to wave Earnie in. But as he turns,
Earnie has charged from the opposite neutral-corner and is coming fast.

The Referee stops Earnie, just as the bell sounds ending Round 2.

Round 2. {10-8} for Earnie Shavers

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vyyXIO6ziCw[/url]

 

Guiliah,

Muy excellente'

 

A Great Round 3,

Ron opens up the round by muscling Earnie to ropes, but at the 0:15 Earnie
fires back though his back is on the ropes.

Earnie then spins Ron into the ropes, at the 0:21 Mark, and unleashes a
31-punch barrage.

Earnie is the forceful fighter, and controls the action, while moving Ron
over to the side ropes at the 1:05 Mark.

While his back is on the ropes, Lyle starts to counter with hard punches
at the 1:50 Mark.

A great trade of punches.

Referee - Joe Ullmer did a 'great job' of letting the action flow.

Round 3 {10-9} for Earnie Shavers

 

I thought the claim was that the bell rang about 6-seconds too early ending Round 2.

If you wtach the end of Round 2, while Referee Joe Ullmer is finishing
the 8-Count on the still stunned Ron Lyle, one of Earnie's cornermen
is waving at Earnie (who was in the neutral corner) to start moving in fast.