Ron Lyle

You are right - he was one of the best fighters to never capture a world title.

I believe Sam Langford is the greatest fighter never to win a world title that was recognised throughout america and by all magazines. Second is Charley Burley who sugar ray robinson avoided.

other guys that deserve a mention include packey mcfarland, peter jackson, billy graham, earnie shavers and eddie booker. these fighters were very good but did not capture a world title.

 

Lyle was a good, tough heavyweight. He would of had a chance against Frazier and Tyson because of styles and his power. He would always be a threat in the ring to Foreman. He would have crushed Norton. Ali, Holyfield, and Holmes would always be too much for him. Ditto Wald and Vitali, Louis, Dempsey, Marciano, etc. Let's keep in mind the Jerry Quarry defeated him quite handily. Overall, Ron was a dangerous puncher who had above average skills. He did have a late start, so arguably he could have been better.

 

Extremely tough dude with good boxing skills and top tier strength and power.
Would be a contender at the least in the 80s and 90s. Could upset Holy, Lewis, Wlad
would batter an old Foreman. He probably loses to Bowe, Tyson. Biggs, Thomas,
Page, Tucker, Tubbs, Douglas, Morrison, Ruddock etc would be 50/50. Lyle might
get outboxed by the technicians but would check their chins. Morrer gets eaten up imo.
I think he would do better in the 90s, might only lose Tyson and Bowe maybe Lewis.
He would basically win and lose against the best in the division, maybe get a title
shot and possibly win. If anyone were to look past him or underestimate him, they
would pay severely.

 

Late starter due to being in prison i think..big guy..who'd he beat ?? More known for high profile defeats v foreman and God.

 

I think Ron was as strong a contender as you can get without being genuine championship material. Like Trevor Berbick, Frank Bruno, Arturo goody, Eddie machen but no better.

 

Ron would have done well in any era. Big, tough, skills, had it all. Had some good wins, Mathis, Middleton, Peralta, Garcia, Bonavena, Ellis, Shavers, and more. I think he was beating Ali if I remember correctly, but got hurt and ref stopped it. So, if that's the case, I believe he's on a pretty elite level. Seemed like a good guy too

 

Agreed. Though one man who shared the same era as him ( Jerry Quarry ) probably rates higher in that category for me.

I would say "yes" to all the above questions. He certainly gave galant efforts against Ali and Young who were great boxers, therefore I can't see why Holmes would have an easy night with him. Winning the WBA title at some point in the 80's would have been very attainable as well. He'd certainly have a great chance against any or all of the men who held that belt during that period.

No great fighter who existed in that period survived the dawn of the 90's without losing to somebody. There were a whole myriad of men who I think he'd beat and ultimately some who I believe he'd lose to. I think he could have beaten Morrison, Ruddock, Moorer, maybe decisioned an old Foreman depending on how he approached the fight. Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis would have to be heavily favored in my book, but a competitive effort and even an upset is certainly possible.

 

Ron Lyle was a class of fighter who added value to the Heavyweight Title. The fact that he was a major contender during the historical peak of the Heavyweight division leads me to hold him in a higher stead than if he had won a title during a weaker period. I think he would have fared well in the 90s, holding a version of the title, being capable of winning on any given night. Though I think Larry Holmes would have had a little too much for him.

 

Harry Wills, Joe Jeanette, Sam MacVea, Jimmy Bivins, Lloyd Marshall, Jimmy Young, Eddie Machen, and Zora Folley

 

Lots of good posting on this one, I liked this the best. I had Ron ahead of Ali also though I'm not sure the officials had it that way. One right to the jaw changed that and it made me question Ron's chin coming from Ali. The Quarry who outboxed and had Ron covering up at times was a somewhere past his best Jerry also as a note. Still his wins over a highly thought of Middleton were important boxing news at the time, and his comeback ko of Shavers was a highlight reel. The ko by Big George looked to about be the opposite when Ron's gas tank ran out. A top 5 contender in any era.

 

Cases can be made for many fighters who, if born into a different era, could have held titles. Pick anybody near to a title in their own era and place them instead in the weakest era for their division and a case can be made that their fortunes would have been different - including their belt collection.

Ron Lyle probably fits the above criteria.

 

Lyle did not start even as an amateur till very late in the game ... he also suffered a near fatal gutting while in prison that certainly did him no good physically. He was a big, naturally brutally strong guy and a viscous puncher .. he was somewhat limited as he was of average hand and foot speed ..

 

Lyle improved after the loss to Quarry. Quarry was as good as ever in this fight, one of his best nights (if not his very best night) to be honest. I think Lyle would have beat Quarry in a rematch.

 

A similar case to the one being made in this thread for Lyle can be made for Jerry Quarry IMO.