Ronald " Ron " Lyle (February 12, 1941 - November 26, 2011) was a professional American boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995 He defied once for the undisputed world heavyweight title, lost to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Lyle was known for his punching power, comfy fighting style, and courage and determination in the ring. He holds the famous victory over Buster Mathis, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Earnie Shaver, Joe Bugner, and Scott LeDoux, but is famous for slugfest against George Foreman in 1976, which won the Fight of the Year award by The Ring magazines.
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Lyle is one of 19 children born to William and Nellie Lyle from Dayton, Ohio. In 1954, they moved to Denver, Colorado because his father got a job as a sandblaster at Buckley Air Force Base. He grew up on the northeast side of the city, a predominantly African American region, in a public housing project.
While in Denver, Lyle is known to be associated with violent gangs. At 19, after dropping out of High School, Lyle was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old gang rival Douglas Byrd. Lyle thought he was attacked with a lead pipe and not the one who pulled the trigger.
He was sentenced to 15-25 years in Colorado State Prison. While in prison, Lyle almost died on the operating table after being stabbed by an inmate. He was released after serving 7 1/2 years.
Lyle praised Lieutenant Cliff Mattax, the athletic director at the prison, by making him interested in boxing. In his first match for the prison boxing team, Lyle was defeated by Texas Johnson. He never lost a prank match again.
Maps Ron Lyle
Amateur career
After the prison, Lyle joins the Denver Elks Gym and starts boxing for Bill Daniels. Lyle's first amateur victory is a third-round knockout over Fred Houpe (who will be Leon Spinks's last opponent). His amateur career lasted only 14 months, and he set a 25-4 record with 17 knockouts. He is the National Heavyweight Champion of the 1970 AAU, the Seventh Amateur North American Heat of 1970, and the Heavyweight Champion of the International Boxing League of 1970. Lyle is a member of the United States Boxing Team. He lost to Russian Ivan Alexi but eliminated Armenian heavyweight Kamo Saroyan in a match that was broadcast by ABC World's Wide World of Sports.
Professional career
Lyle was too late to start professional boxing. He became a professional under Bill Daniels, with coach Bobby Lewis. His first fight was at the age of 30 in Denver, Colorado, against A.J Staples, who he won by a knockout in the second round. Lyle went on to post a 19-0 record with 17 knockouts, and became the fifth heavyweight boxer. He scored an impressive KO against famous player Vicente Rondon, light heavyweight champion; giant Buster Mathis; and was won with a unanimous decision over former WBA Heavyweight Champion, Jimmy Ellis. The unbeaten Lyle streak ends on a one-sided decision for veteran Jerry Quarry: the latter gives one of his best performances of his career using the boxer/punch style to create the first opening, getting the initiative using his greater experience. Lyle then lost to Jimmy Young in 1975. In a later re-match, Young again edged Lyle and went on to outpoint George Foreman in 1977.
Lyle vs. Ali
On May 16, 1975 he was given the opportunity to face heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, during the defense of Ali's second title in his second reign as champion. Lyle is a more aggressive fighter in the early rounds, with Ali saving his energy and covering up at the center of the ring that allows Lyle to score. Lyle also showed restraint and did not respond to Ali's attempts at rope-a-dope tactics. Despite the danger of falling too far behind the points, Ali seemed to control the battle rate, and took the moment to score. The battle was close to the 11th round, with Lyle winning on all three jury scorers. Ali then hit Lyle with a strong right hand and followed with a few punches, scoring a goal. The referee stopped the fight, saw that Lyle could not defend himself and Ali punched his head at will. Lyle's corner is not happy with the referee's decision.
Lyle vs. Foreman
Lyle is probably best known for his fighting fights in 1976 with the Hall of Famer George Foreman. Foreman made a comeback after suffering his first loss to Ali at Rumble in the Jungle.
The fight is seen today as one of the most exciting and brutal in heavyweight history. Lyle attacked the former champion and won the opening round. At one point he hit Foreman with a shocking blow. After almost eliminated in Round Two, Lyle amazed the crowd with the Foreman floor twice in the fourth round. In addition to Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Young, Lyle is the only boxer who ever knocked out George Foreman during a professional boxing match. Foreman then writes in his autobiography that Lyle is the most difficult man he has ever faced. The former champion recovered and scored a knockout in the fifth round.
Lyle scored a memorable victory over Jose Luis Garcia, and big names Oscar Bonavena and Earnie Shavers during his career. He also won a split decision over Joe Bugner, boring with a thumping body attack in a nice contest.
According to George Foreman, Ron Lyle is one of the three hardest hitters he has ever encountered in his career with Gerry Cooney and Cleveland Williams.
Later career
The year 1979 marked the decline of Lyle's abilities. Drawing with peripheral competitors Stan Ward and Scott LeDoux was followed by a stunning, unheard-of-loss punch from Lynn Ball. Ball went on to match other names but never achieved similar success. The Ring quotes Lyle saying afterwards "Nobody did that to me."
He will return to the ring, but not for long. Ron retired after a first-round knockout defeat for the rising star and Gerry Cooney's unwavering power. By then, Lyle was 39 and his best years had vanished.
Back
In 1995, at the age of 54, Lyle decided to go back for a while. After scoring four quick knockouts over a second-class opponent, Lyle tries to get a rematch with George Foreman. However, the match was never made, and Lyle retired from boxing.
Retirement
While Lyle worked as a security guard in Las Vegas, he was accused of another murder. He shot a man in his apartment who spent time with him in Colorado State Prison. Lyle pleaded defensively and was found innocent. A biography entitled Off the Ropes: the Ron Lyle Story was written by Candace Toft and released by Scratching Shed Publishing in May 2010.
Lyle runs the Denver Red Shield boxing gym in Denver, Colorado. He is a former light-welterweight trainer Victor OrtÃÆ'z, who struggled out of Denver for some of his amateur careers.
In 1992 Lyle trained a promising young talent from Las Vegas, Arash Hashemi, and under his guidance Hashemi won two Golden Gloves championships.
Death
Lyle died at the age of 70, on Saturday 26 November 2011 from sudden stomach disease complications. "We'll miss Ron, he's a friend," said Earnie Shavers. "He's the strongest guy I've ever met, in-and-out, when he gives advice, it's solid, he'll never know how much I love him I'll miss him now because he's gone I'll never have a close friend like him again ", says Lisa Dawn Sheridan.
Lyle in popular media and culture
Ron Lyle appeared in the film Facing Ali , a 2009 documentary, where he discusses his life and his career. About his struggle against Ali, when referee Fredy Nunez stopped the fight, he said, "I can not believe you know, I lead all the scorers. [...] Am I bitter? Forget it I never take it personally. there's Ali, you think you'll sit here talking to Ron Lyle? About what? "
During this documentary he revealed that, during his stint in jail, where he received one meal a day consisting of a bowl of spinach, he spent time doing up to 1,000 push-ups in an hour each day.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
- Professional boxing record for Ron Lyle from BoxRec
- Ron Lyle on IMDb
- Ron Lyle in the Search of the Mausoleum
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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