Could Marvin Hagler go 12 with Ron Lyle?

Dosen't everyone remember how hard Lyle could hit? Watch the film of his fight with Shavers, the very last punch. I'm surprised he didn't kill Earnie with that one, or at least retire him with permanent brain damage. It's great that there are weight divisions, as I said when responding to a post about Harold Johnson vs. Sonny Liston. This one would be even more of a mismatch. Lyle would badly hurt Hagler. No contest.

 

McCline deked Peter three times. Ron Lyle, with his limited skills notwithstanding, would have caught Sam Peter with a single right hand and DOWN GOES PETER,....I'm not overrating Lyle here, but really, the two fighters mentioned here, Hagler, a natural middleweight, and Peter, with a suspect chin, both would be badly hurt and ko'ed by Lyle. The man could punch, and it took a skilled heavyweight, with a heavyweight's chin, and in George Foreman's case, a heavyweight's punch to beat Ron Lyle. Jimmy Young and Jerry Quarry beat him with skills, and Foreman with his power. In the case of Ali, well in my opinion, the fight was stopped too soon, and Lyle was ahead on points. But a middleweight, even a great middleweight, no way he survives with Lyle, and in the case of Peter, like I said, Lyle would have caught him.

 

I forgot to add, that Lyle hit harder than Peter as well.

 

Concerning how well a small guy does when he moves up in weight, the outcomes vary from case to case.

Jimmy Ellis fought at middleweight early in his career, and he put on 40 lbs. to compete successfully at heavyweight. Ellis also went the distance with Lyle in 1974. However Ellis was 6'1" and he had the natural body frame of a big man.

On the other hand, all-time great lightheavyweight champion Bob Foster was knocked out everytime he stepped up to fight a ranked heavyweight. Even though Foster was 6'4", he couldn't quite put enough beef and strength onto his frame to hang in there with Ali, Frazier, Terrell, etc.

I think Hagler was at his natural weight -- his peak physical condition -- at 160 lbs. Maybe Marvin could have packed on 15 lbs. to compete successfully at 175 lbs. I think it would be stretching it though to imagine the 5'9" Hagler being strong, fluid and effective if he weighed 200 lbs.

 

Hagler obviously is superior in the P4P department. But Lyle was a scary dude in his prime. Were talking 60lbs. of solid muscle weight advantage here.

Lyle by very early knockout when he corners Hagler and catches him with some big shots.

 

ChrisPontius:

I think you set us up with this question.....with Toney, S. Peter and Qawi also being brought up.

The last thing I would like to see would be Hagler being bounced around like a basketball by Lyle... like Foreman did to Frazier.

 

A lot of good responses in this thread. I`ll add that Marvin was a rather small boned individual and wasn`t a very big middleweight in terms of overall bone structure, and as such I don`t see him carrying anything over 190lbs very well. He would be slow as molasses and easy to hit, and those are the last two attributes you want in the ring with a monster like Lyle who is looking to knock your head clean off and is coming right at you looking to do just that from the word "Go".

 

Maybe he has set us up :hey We'll wait and see ...IMO Hagler is on par with ANY middleweight who ever stepped up to fight a heavyweight. Skillwise and durability too... Off the top of my head; Fitzsimmons, Langford, Greb, Walker, Burley, even Jones and Toney all great fighters...Hagler is a great too...How would they have done against Ron Lyle however?
Not to sure about that...:think
With all due respect to the rest, I feel Mickey Walker fought the best heavyweights. (Schmeling, Sharkey)
but to be honest, I don't really see any of these great middles beating Ron Lyle.

 

I think a bulked-up Hagler would have a good chance at lasting the distance with Lyle.

 

Lyle would beat both Hagler and Toney. Neither could take Lyle's power.

 

What is the point of this thread?

Can Willie Pep fight Thomas Hearns? Can Sugar Ray Robinson fight Ezzard Charles?

You take the best man out of any weight class and have him against the best in several weight classes above, anything can happen. And your point is?

 

Yes, absolutely they are comparable in those areas, and you do make a good point in referring to Lyle's loss to Ali, in that that right hand Ali hit him with did shake him up and he didn't recoop from it very well. I think both guys have great power, but don't have the greatest of chins. Do check out, if you can find it though, the tape of Lyle finishing off Shavers. That last right hand to the side of Earnie's head was amazing. It was Max Baer-like in terms of power.

 

I think that fight is still on youtube.