I guess I may be one of the few on board here that find's Lyle to be a bit overrated. My 'logic' is as follows: 1) its always hard for me to give career kudos to a fighter in what he did in a LOSING effort. What were Ron's biggest's wins? An over the hill Bonavena? An over the hill Ellis? Shavers? If that left hook of Earnie's had landed mid-round, Lyle would have been knocked out! Shavers simply eventually gassed out (as usual) Foreman came in against him still semi-psyched from Zaire, overconfident, sloppy, & cocky. No way he was going to keep George on the floor tho. IMO, Young won two easy sparring sessions against him. Bugner SD? Ledeux SD? The Quarry fight was pretty one-sided upon further review. My $0.02 To be fair, he usually came to fight, but simply lacked the overall tools/grit to get over the top...
Joe takes out Ron in about 8 rounds, if he past the FOTC version, he'll take him in about ten rounds.
Anytime up to the 'Thrilla' 1975,Joe would beat Ron inside the distance. In 1976,however,I'd make Lyle the favourite. Frazier had nothing left after the third fight with Ali.
Good Post. For a guy that started boxing so late, Lyle achieved much. e was a real tough man and a good puncher, but was limited I think mainly due his lack of experience. Anyway Joe tears him a part, as Joe was a truly great heavyweight.
Actually, you'll find a number of people on here will agree with you (including myself), and for the reasons that you listed. In short, Lyle's reputation is derived mainly from his performance in fights that he lost (vs. Ali and Foreman) rather than any actual wins that he scored. Either way, Frazier's superior inside technique should be able to carry him to a mid round stoppage.
Lyle had power, but not anything on the level of a George Foreman. Frazier was in a higher class and I can see his fast handspeed and powerful hook along with his relentless workrate breaking down Ron. Its not out of the question that Joe might hit the deck once at some point, but in the end he takes and likely by stoppage.
