Foreman vs Lyle is probably my favourite, but also probably one of the most akward fights ever.....

George is still completely fine. Sounds no different than a normal man of his age. Lyle has since passed away, but I don't think he ever had issues either. So, seems nothing permanent was really done to either of them.

It's awkward and sloppy but the greatest heavyweight rubber match.

 

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Not sure it was a rubber match, Barff, Isn't that the deciding third fight?

Agree with the post about Lyle's massive rights that George kind of jumped away from with his hands down by his thighs. George had always fancied being a super skilled boxer but he looks so wrong doing this.

But, maybe the most awkward thing was George's trunks. They were under his guard after the end of round two and, had they fallen down any more, would have been a tripping hazard. Very aesthetically displeasing.

But a great fight.

 

lol yes I remember, I think it was the beginning of the first round, Lyle threw an almost amateurish punch, which Foreman easily slipped, and Lyle ended up hitting his head on the turnbuckle.

If Fury or Wilder did that, we'd never hear the end of it.

 

“Vietnam flashbacks” LOL

Astonishing fight, & very worthy of its Ring Magazine Fight of the Year award. It was awkward in several places as highlighted (the Lyle super swing to start the round was indeed bizarre), but what a contest.

For all the purported - & genuine - interest in Foreman’s weakened mental state after losing in Zaire, it took some real resolve to make his first fight in nearly 18 months against such a formidable foe, & even more to endure as he did. Never that hurt before, & never again, but he came through it.

 

I've always enjoyed the Cleveland Williams and Liston fights much more. Both men exhibited much better boxing skills, a better defense, and better punch variety.

 

All fair points but those weren’t especially competitive & lacked the seesawing mystery of this one. God couldn’t have predicted who would win at the end of round four in Foreman-Lyle.

 

That was the idea. He wanted to put himself back on the map, by beating the **** out of the most dangerous ****er around which seemed to be Lyle after that KO of Shavers.

It's clear Foreman's a shell of himself here though, and is even more painfully obvious in his following bout against Dino Denis. Clearly not the same fighter.

 

Williams won the first round in the first fight, staggered Liston and broke his nose. Liston had to overcome some serious adversity to come back.

 

Agreed. A prime which should’ve been much longer. I’ll be posting a thread shortly that touches on this.

 

Most fun fight of all time.

Those are two tough mf's...and what a fight it was.

 

Oh I don’t mean to downplay what happened, just to say it wasn’t as close as this (extremely close) fight. Liston did, just not on the level Foreman had to.

 

Fair point. I've always thought both Liston and Williams were far more skilled than Lyle and (at least this version of) Foreman. Williams doesn't get enough credit for that bout imo. One of my favorite moments was in the first round when he slipped a Liston jab, quickly got inside, and unloaded with a combo to Liston's body and head (Which Liston defended beautifully).

 

Is this on YT? I’ll have to watch these fights again it’s been too long.

 

Sonny Liston vs Cleveland Williams I (youtube.com)