ron lyle vs rocky marciano....

The point was if your power was a 9 out of 10 weighing 185, then you're power was a 9 out of 10. If a little guy is knocking out HW's and a big guy doesn't, does that mean the big guy hits harder because of his size?

 

keep in mind something. The Foreman who Ko'd Lyle in 5 rounds, was coming off an earth shattering loss and a 16 month layoff.. Giving this version of Foreman a decent run for his money for 5 rounds in a LOSING effort, doesn't mean much of anything when comparing the loser to another all time great who was on a role.

 

Bob Fitz might get a shout here. He was a middleweight knocking out iron chin men like Tom Sharkey.
That and he killed 3 people in the ring.

 

Lyle never kod a top ten guy.

 

Lyle's a little over rated. He had decent power but nothing like what some people will have you believe. He did well because he was large for the era, was tough, and had a solid set of skills as well as his power. Foreman fought terrible against him, his former confidence was gone and he tried to reinvent himself and box more. Foreman really had nothing except ATG power in that fight and that was enough to KO Lyle anyway.

Lyle would come up short if you pit him against any top 25 HW imo. A good fighter, but one who benefits from fighting in the golden era of the 70s.

 

Probably not. Hence my point. The only possible opponent whom he Ko'd that may have been ranked was Earnie Shavers, though I don't know if Shavers had a ranking at the time of their match.

 

Dempsey, Baer, Louis, Liston, Johanson Frazier, Foreman, Tyson, Smith, Bowe, Lewis, Moorer, Bruno, Briggs, Rahman, McCall, Vitali, Vlad, Sanders, Brewster

There are a couple others but they would seem even more ridiculous to you.

 

There is no physical rule that a fighter with greater reach will hit harder than one with lesser reach if all other variables are equal.

If anything the reverse is true.

 

I suppose you're right. But Foreman did say he was in excellent condition which is the only reason why he won the fight.

 

Dangerous match up for Marciano. Lyle was an under rated fighter, who had the misfortune of being born into a a talented era of heavyweights.

It should be noted that Lyle was out boxing Ali until Ali landed a huge right cross, which lead to a TKO stoppage that many felt was a tad early. Lyle also had Foreman down, and nearly out.

If Lyle had a little more speed and a little more durability, I think he could have been an all time great heavyweight.

Rocky would have to be at his best to win. That would mean the Marciano who fought Walcott, or Louis, and not the Marciano who fought Cockell, Moore, and Pastor.

This is close to s 50/50 match.

 

No but you will because you have greater leverage. Imagine your arms shrinking have the normal size and then trying to punch equally as hard. You just won't be able to do it.

 

But Rocky did, He knock Layne's teeth out, smash Salovd's face into mess, put Vingo into a coma, and chip bone fragments in LaSarza's arms. Marciano can punch.

I dont see how Smith or Moore are over Marciano on your list, plus other people.

 

He also knocked Walcott out cold.

 

Lewis
Foreman
Liston
Dempsey
Baer
Louis
Tyson .
Are arguably on a par the others are not imo.

 

I think Lyle benefited MORE from fighting in the Frazier/Ali/Foreman era because him losing to them didn't hurt his stock as much. He gave Ali a good fight, yes, but Ali overlooked him a little bit, was past his best, and still knocked him out. Foreman's fight with Lyle was probably his worst of his first career and he still took Lyle out with nothing other than ATG power.

Look through Lyle's career. He was beaten by Jimmy Young twice in two lopsided decisions, and also was beaten convincingly by Quarry although early in his career. His biggest win is against Shavers, and he was getting the worst of it before Shavers gassed and Lyle took him out. He also had a draw with Peralta, although I don't know if it was a fair decision as I haven't seen it.

I like Lyle's fights and DO think that he was a good fighter and could give some great fighters interesting nights. But when you take a look over his career, it wasn't that of someone who wasn't the best simply because he was born in the wrong era. Stick Lyle in ANY era and while he should be mixing it up with the best, wouldn't be a dominant champ. He lost to more fighters than just Ali and Foreman.