What if... Ron Lyle hadn't gone to prison?

Lyle’s prison experience helped shape him into the man he would eventually become, so he’d be an entirely different person without the prison experience. Most guys that go to prison as long as he did will pour their life into something they can excell at.

Qawi, Hopkins, and Masour are a few other guys that came out of prison with a ton of motivation to succeed in boxing.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lyle in the early 90’s, since he used to work with the Youth Authority kids to help steer the kids from crime, so they wouldn’t be incarcerated as adults. From my understanding he stayed involved with similar programs up to his death.

 

Quarry goodness, he would have beaten Lyle worse, he had that style to beat the slugger his whole career, no one coming to Jerry , that did not have his speed , was gonna get the hell counterpunched out of him, okay HOLMES TOO, All those fighter's would be great matchups thou, would have just about liked to see them all, to me Ron Lyle was a great fighter overall, no doubt about it, and yes would have had to have had an even better career , starting early, yet when he went to prison,was when he started

 

Ron Lyle
counting WBA & Ring Magazine
Lyle was 9-5-1 vs top ten opponents who were ranked at the time
this is an amazing record, that champions in any division rarely have

Won
Rondon (Light Heavyweight).......#2...........WBA
Middleton (twice)......................#4....#9...WBA
Peralta....................................#10..........WBA-Draw 10
Bonavena.................................#6..........Ring
Ellis.........................................#8..........WBA
Shavers...................................#7..........Ring
Bugner....................................#10.........Ring
Ward.......................................#9..........Ring
LeDoux...................................#10.........WBA

Lost
Young (twice)
Ali
Foreman
Cooney
(note: Quarry was unranked vs Lyle)

 

He may not have even gotten into boxing if not for prison. Same for Sonny Liston.

 

He was in prison for most or all of his 20's

 

Here's something to also consider .. in prison was stabbed in the chest so badly he was pronounced legally dead .. of course he healed but you are never again 100% after something like that, ever .. he fought his entire career somewhat compromised ..

 

I think Lyle could've potentially had a championship career if he hadn't gone to prison and he'd pursued boxing. IMO his best years were his first four, ages 30-33, 1971-1974, forgiving the Quarry loss. His management kept him fighting regularly, they brought him along nicely and put him in against a variety of near contenders, former contenders, and then current contenders.

But I think in 1975, age 34, he lost a step. He was down to fighting only two or three times a year. Sure, he'd been impressive against Ali, Shavers, and Foreman, but he also hit the deck in two of those (albeit against AGT punchers) and was stopped by Ali. After the Foreman fight he lost a step, after the Bugner fight lost another, and eventually got to the point where he was being knocked out early.

If he'd been able to turn pro in, say, 1963 at age 22, it would've been interesting. Maybe he would've won the WBA tournament (though he'd still have to face Quarry). Who knows...

 

Foreman said that Lyle hit him the hardest. That means harder than Frazier, Cooney, Moorer, and Ali.

This quote from Shavers is on wiki:

"Nobody ever hit me that hard. No question about it. I'll remember that punch on my deathbed. Ron Lyle was a great puncher. Tremendous puncher, great guy, good-hearted guy. We became very good friends over the years."

 

For some reason people ignore these quotes and try to downplay Lyle's power despite the obvious on screen effect his punches have on those 2 opponents in their explosive slug fests. Leroy Caldwell also praised Lyle's power and he fought just about everybody including shavers and foreman. Joe Bugner gave Lyle a shout out.

Lyle was more of a boxer puncher and wasn't eager to go for the knock out the way most sluggers were. He also wasn't the best finisher when he had a guy hurt and didn't always know how to set up a KO, which is a skill set.

 

Possibly a earlier start in pro boxing he might have had a more devil may care attitude and let the fists fly, turning pro 2 months shy of his 30th birthday might have been a factor, who knows.?

Both Lyle and Shavers spoke highly of his punch prowess