OK, what am I missing about Ron Lyle?

If he was competitive with Foreman and Ali what makes you think he couldn't be competitive with this group? If he fought well against 1 and 2 what makes you think he can't put up a good showing against 3(Frazier) and 4(Norton). Marciano, Moore and Tyson are sub 6 footers.

 

To be fair to Lyle, he absolutely has a good chance of icing Norton. Particularly, post-'76.

 

There is? I suppose must be the 70's mystique and having faced legends like Ali and Foreman. Was he really ever better than a Nino Valdes or a Cleveland Williams? He was tough, rugged, decent technique, always showed up to fight and had good power as an ace in the hole, but not really special. Quarry and Young handled him easily. There were probably a good number of contenders in history that could do something similar.

 

Forum Tua is supposedly better than Tony Galento

 

Lyle scored 2 knockdowns on George Foreman in the same round and was winning the fight going into the 5th round. The score on boxing rec indicates the fight was scored using 5 point must so its hard to decipher who won what but I think the way I'm reading it that Lyle won round 1 and round 3 or that round 3 was a tie? Before Lyle, Frazier and Nortons were the only ones to outpoint or come close to outpointing Ali. At this rate Lyle was likely to lose a split decision. In any case Lyles performance in these fights casts him in an incredibly good light. And makes people think Lyle would have a chance against anyone.

Foreman v Lyle was a NABF title fight I'll agree it was not the seminal moment in boxing history. But at this time NABF title fights were big time because it was Alis belt he had in the 3 plus years he didn't have the real HW title. It was a fight for the 2nd biggest HW title even if it wasn't a world one. But the reason people love that fight is very simple there were 4 knockdowns in like a round and it was back and forth. People love the idea of a HW fight with both guys trading knockdowns but it seldom happens.

 

I could see him being competitive in those fights, except Tyson, but that's because of styles and attributes. Firpo was competitive with Dempsey, so Lyle could be, although I think he'd be stopped. Buddy Baer had Louis down, I think Lyle could do as well against Louis as Buddy Baer, but he meets the same fate as Baer.

 

You're missing the fact that a big, tough, fearless guy with a big punch can go very far in the heavyweight division. Heavyweights play by different rules.

 

Lyle was maybe overrated but not as overrated as Cleveland Williams, Lyle atleast went almost distance with Ali and went toe to toe against Foreman.

 

Well 18 fans on boxing rec had Lyle up 3 and had it 6-3-1 for Lyle. While having Lyle up 6 is a bit much having Lyle up by a bit seems to be a reasonable interpretation. The boxing rec fan scorers gave Jimmy Young and Norton(3rd fight) the nod over Ali but otherwise affirmed the results of all the Ali decisions.

I do think Lyle had the fight of his night that day and wouldn't have done as well another day. But hes the only guy to get George down twice. And while Ali and Jimmy Young got Foreman down at the end of dissapointing nights for George, Lyle was making Foreman feel his power from the start. 20 plus years later Foreman was surviving 12 rounds without being knocked down by Shannon Briggs. Lyle isn't Leotis Martin landing a shot in a fight Liston was otherwise dominating in it was a firefight he lost.