Prime Liston vs Prime Lyle. Lyle stopped big hitting Shavers and made Foreman fight for his life. What could he do against a 1960 Sonny Liston? Liston This content is protected vs Lyle This content is protected
Liston always gave Cleve some respect: "Cleveland could hit as hard as I could, he just couldn't take it as well". Lyle would last until the 6th or 7th round.
Liston smashes Lyle to Smithereens. And it’s got nothing to do with how Sonny dealt with Williams and everything to do with how Sonny dealt with Machen, Patterson and Harris. He was a better level of fighter. Ron was just a good fighter. A fair contender. Not an all time great like Sonny was. The version of Ali that Lyle fought was Ali running at about half speed, and he whipped Ron as soon as he felt like it. Which was kind of how Ali also handled Jerry Quarry who beat Lyle. It’s no disgrace to say Machen beats Ron Lyle (who also beat Quarry). So it’s really not a test for Sonny is it? Lyle is better than Cleveland Williams but not by much. And that’s a guy Sonny wiped the floor with twice. I do see Ron standing up to Sonny a bit like he did with George Foreman but unless Sonny is taking sucker punches like George without hitting Ron first I don’t see it. If Sonny is switched on and ready, like he always was, he will be landing first because Ron was an upright guy who was most dangerous swapping punches. He won’t be invited to trade with Sonny. Instead Liston will line him up, pull the trigger and hunt him down. Ron will most likely already be hurt by the time he hopes to fire back. And it won’t be pretty. I think things would end badly for Ron. He would get stuck in for as long as it lasts but he won’t have the success that he had with Foreman.