I see a 75-76 ron lyle giving joe louis a dangerous fight

And what’s wrong with losing decisions to Quarry and Young. I bet it wasn’t easy. I’m just saying Lyle would pose a threat.

 

I respectfully disagree. There is a lot to losing to Quarry and Young. Jerry was far from his prime years, the 1969 war with 5 state champion Joe Frazier in June 1969, and Jimmy Young could not break an egg. Louis could have beaten both, Lyle, please ! So Lyle beat Oscar Bonavena and Jimmy Ellis, all that Bonavena cared about was the nearest brothel when he and Lyle fought in 1974, his prime years too like Ellis were long gone. I do not think that Lyle could have decked or beat a pre Zaire George Foreman, anybody could kick someone who is down mentally.

 

Tony Galento smashes Lyle with moxie and pluck alone.

Joe Louis? C'mon. He was invincible.

 

Give Lyle some credit as a late starter. He wouldn’t be a complete walkover. Some resistance would be put in there. And he’s got the punch to trouble Louis.

 

Respect your opinion but Lyle could not beat Louis in my opinion. Anybody could knock down a guy who is mentally fragile from a big loss in such a big fight. Sure Lyle got a late start but he got big wins off of fighters who were near the end or who no longer cared. Just like when Gerry Cooney fought him as a stepping stone. Same difference.

 

I've never thought much of Lyle but he would brutally KO Galento.

 

Impossible. Tony was arguably the hardest hitting heavyweight who ever stepped into the ring.

 

Joe was a counterpuncher who depended on making his opponent miss. Why are posters saying he's going to pressure Ron right out of the ring?

 

I said perhaps. Foreman rated Lyle as the hardest hitter he faced. Some of Louis' opponents rated other people as being harder punchers than Louis. Just a thought.

 

Why is that so unlikely? Common opponents of Foreman and Lyle rated them about even.

 

I am very willing to entertain the idea that Lyle punched harder than Louis, but surely we must credit Louis as being the finer finisher.

 

Absolutely. The combination of finishing ability, hand speed, technique, and timing make Louis far more dangerous than Lyle and that's precisely why I favored him to win. Even if Lyle managed to land a bomb, he probably wouldn't be able to finish him off as Louis has good recuperative powers and Lyle wasn't a very great finisher. Louis wins 8/10.

 

It’s possible that Ron Lyle might have hung in there for a while with Joe Louis. He ultimately gets stopped but may give a good account of himself. He rose off the canvas to beat Earnie Shavers and gave George Foreman fits so yeah he wasn’t unaccustomed to battling world class punchers

 

I just don't see it in the results

 

I often wonder, out of all the guys who never got into boxing, could there be someone out there who just naturally hits as hard as a George Foreman or Earnie Shavers? Like some guy who works at Costco or the Post Office.