Ron was roughly the same size as Foreman and was a decent boxer with good power to boot. Joe was quite a bit smaller and had to try and reach George where Ron found it much easier to reach Foreman. Ron's style made it difficult for George as well. Ron was a decent counterpuncher with fairly quick hands. No Ali mind you but pretty good none theless. He didn't have to come right at George the way Frazier did in order to hurt a fighter. Size and style is what made Lyle a more dangerous foe for George than Frazier.
George was still basically brain dead from Zaire (and Ali never gave him a rematch) I still think Ali was the greatest HW...BUT... Prime Lyle vs. George circa June 74...Lyle is out like a light inside of 2...
Lyle was as big as Foreman with a long reach and great power. Also as another poster said, he was a great counter-puncher. One of my all time favorite fights.
Lyle was slightly smaller than Foreman, and had some serious skills.In addition, George was coming off the layoff from over a year from the Zaire disaster, and was never the same fighter he was.In all, the intangibles were right for Ron.
Ron Lyle looked physically stronger than George Foreman. Lyle even had Foreman retreating on numerous occasions!
long lay-off, being mentally far weaker all contributed to lyle's greater success (lyle could punch). foreman who was going through the motions but wasn't all there. foreman's peak ended in zaire as he could never get over that first defeat.
Epic slugfest. From what I remember Lyle hurt Foreman at the end of round 1 with a flush right hand. I believe Lyle had the power to hurt a lot of fighters and was probably the most powerful fighter Foreman had faced. Lyle also had Underrated technical skills as previous posters mentioned. Foreman also had a different trainer and a different gameplan anticipated fighting style right?
As someone else mentioned, it was the choice of shots. Foreman was vulnerable to straight right hands. Lyle hit him some hard straight rights.
Frazier was basically a one handed fighter and Frazier also fizzled out of his prime form by the time he met Foreman, he did not look great vs Stander or Daniels and was not the Frazier of FOTC....George got hit with right hands and Lyle nailed him with both hands...Lyle was not a puncher like even Quarry but he had 2 hands and Lyle knew George avoided the punchers
Foreman got lucky the bell rang when it did in that first round; he was in bad shape. But yeah, Lyle had physical traits that allowed him to deliver his power shots in a more direct, precise manner than did Frazier. Frazier had to crowd you; Lyle could stand back and throw bombs. And I think Lyle was closer to Foreman power wise than Lyle was to Frazier.
Ron Lyle gave him a tough fight due to styles, i laugh when people say foreman was past it during the lyle and young fights. If he was past it, then it just helps confirm that he's pretty overrated. Wlad and Lennox had primes that lasted for over a decade, while foreman was 'washed up' after 18 months, lol.
Foreman wasnt sparked by one punch like Lennox Lewis and his first loss came to Ali. Wlads first loss was when he was 21-0 and to a bum named Ross Purrity, theres a big difference between losing to Ali and Ross Purity Foreman, mentally was never the same again after the Ali loss, proof if you watch the video on Youtube, where Foreman 'fought' 5 guys in one night.