WHO WINS AND WHY.....my pick is lyle by tko of frazier in about 9rds....i think in 76 frazier was pretty shot and heavy at 224 lbs.......in 76 lyle got off the deck against shavers and came back to knock out shavers....gave foreman hell....my pick is a pretty much prime lyle vs a very shot frazier...
I have often wondered about these two - but in their respective primes. I have a feeling that a peak Lyle could have had a great chance of upsetting Frazier. Lyle was a big hulking guy with great physical strength. See how he pushed around Muhammad Ali in their fight. In contrast, Ali easily held on to Frazier in the clinches. Foreman manhandled Frazier but could just about manage to get the better of Lyle. Of course the version of Foreman that fought Frazier was slightly better than the version that fought Lyle. My point is that Frazier was a comparatively weak heavyweight but did have pretty good punching power. And strength would play a good part in this matchup as I feel that neither fighter had the power to knock out the other guy. Don't get me wrong. Both had pretty good punching power and would have hurt each other. Only thing is that there was little chance of one knocking out the other. There could be a TKO along the way but probably no dramatic KO. In such a situation it would be Joe Frazier's heart and intensity versus Ron Lyle's strength and tenacity. It could go either way.
In 76, Frazier didn't have much left. I think Lyle could've beaten him at that point. Prime for prime though, Frazier takes it comfortably by 10th round TKO.
