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Ronald David Lyle (February 12, 1941 – November 26, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Known for his punching power, crowd-pleasing fighting style, and his courage and determination in the ring, Lyle defeated Buster Mathis, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Vicente Rondón, Earnie Shavers, Joe Bugner, Gregorio Peralta and Scott LeDoux, but is best known for his fight against George Foreman in 1976, which was voted Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine.
Lyle associated with in his Whittier neighborhood. He dropped out of Manual High School at age 17 after the school basketball coach told him he would not be on the team.
While in prison, Lyle, then age 26 and known as Ronnie, enlisted the African-American Support group Black Cultural Development Society (BCDS) and coached the prison's football team, The Wildcats, leading them to a championship among the inter-prison teams. He also played baseball and basketball on the prison's teams, the Cañon City Rockbusters.
He first attended a prison boxing event on July 4, 1962, as a spectator, where he decided he could compete as well. His prison boxing debut came in 1964. Lyle credited Lt. Cliff Mattax, the prison's athletic director for developing his interest in boxing. When Mattax first approached Lyle and tried to befriend him, he wasn't welcomed, "Man, you're a prison guard and I'm a convict. I came here by myself and I'll leave the same way." After recovering from the stab wound, he changed his mind. "It was the turning point of my life. Mattax was white, and he wore a badge, but he really cared. He believed in me and my ability. Right then I decided to be a success," Lyle said later. Mattax in turn said, "I don't like to take any credit for what happened, but Ron turned into a real gentleman."
He watched boxing on TV and said, "I can do better than that," and soon the prison was bringing in boxers for him to fight. "They had in prison. I sat around watching them for a while and finally said to myself, 'I can do that,'" Lyle said. In his first match for the prison boxing team, Lyle was said to be defeated by Texas Johnson. He never lost a prison boxing match again. According to Colorado State's Warden Wayne K. Patterson, Lyle was a "natural born athlete."
"I asked around about the Rocks. They told me they already had a heavyweight (Richard Archuletta and Dan Hermosillo). I figured I could whip him so I stuck around." They were trained by the well-known boxing veteran Bobby Lewis. Less than a month later, Lyle made his amateur debut with the team, avenged an earlier Rocks' heavyweight loss and became the team's heavyweight at 215 pounds. Lyle's first amateur victory was a third-round knockout over Fred Houpe (who would later be Leon Spinks's final opponent). He was the 1970 National AAU Heavyweight Champion (outpointed previously unbeaten Mike Montgomery of Philadelphia), the 1970 North American Amateur Heavyweight Champion, and the 1970 International Boxing League Heavyweight Champion. After capturing the NAA title, Lyle became a member of the United States National Boxing Team, as he was still on parole he was given permission to leave the US, and dispatched on a boxing journey across Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, and Romania and meeting top local heavyweights in the process. He lost by decision to Romanian Ion Alexe, but pounded heavyweight Kamo Saroyan (89–9) against the ropes (referee interrupted and saved Saroyan from further pounding) in a match broadcast by ABC television's Wide World of Sports, preparing for which he quit his regular job and dispatched of Duane Bobick, which took the latter's corner five minutes to bring him back into consciousness. No American before Lyle knocked out a Soviet heavyweight. Fighting Bobick to make it to the national team, Lyle was behind on judges' scorecards, and when he fought Saroyan, he again was behind on points, which nonetheless didn't stop him from knocking out both. On January 25, 1971, Lyle fought his last fight as an amateur, knocking out the Pacific Northwest Golden Gloves heavyweight champion Jim Wahlberg. Meanwhile, two world's top-ranked heavyweights, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, were preparing themselves for the Fight of the Century. In February, Lyle visited both rival camps. First he went to Miami Beach, Florida, where the Ali's training camp was based, to spar several rounds with Ali. Then he went to Catskill, New York, to the Frazier's camp, but Yancey Durham, Frazier's manager, did not approve Lyle as a sparring partner, instead he went against one of Frazier's previously selected sparring partners, a professional boxer from Chicago (Frazier reportedly has invited Lyle for a two-round exhibition at Kiamesha Lake, New York, on January 19, but Lyle was busy qualifying to fight the Soviet.)
Denver Golden Gloves, 1970:
Colorado State Golden Gloves, February 1970:
Regional Golden Gloves, Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah, February 1970:
National Championships, Trenton, New Jersey, April–May 1970:
IBL Denver–Milwaukee match-up (Denver Rocks vs. Milwaukee Bombers), 1970:
North American Championships, Vancouver, Canada, June 1970:
IBL Championships (Denver Rocks vs. Kentucky Pacers), Auditorium Arena, Denver, Colorado, June 1970:
Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves, [[Derks Field]], Salt Lake City, Utah, July 1970:
His amateur career outside of prison lasted only 14 months, during which he compiled a record of 25–4Or 29–4, according to some accounts. See (no stoppages,) with 17 knockouts at national and international contests. (plus unaccounted record of 23–1, 15 KOs, and also without a stoppage, while serving seven-and-a-half-years prison term, bringing his overall amateur record to around 47–5.) During his amateur days he was never knocked down or cut. Lyle was an obvious choice for the 1971 Pan American Games and the 1972 Olympics, but as he stepped into the pro ranks, Duane Bobick, whom he knocked out twice, was set to represent the United States.
On February 24, 1971, Lyle, age 30, signed a professional boxing contract with Bill Daniels. "Daniels told me ‘You fight this Russian in January and we'll turn you pro.’ This was the door that had to be opened, whuppin' the Russian. So I quit my job and trained for six months. I wasn't going to get beat because I wasn't in shape," Lyle recalled. Daniels, in turn, said of Lyle that, "The reason Ron has adjusted is that he's got a talent, something he knows he's good at and can dedicate himself to."
After he turned pro, Lyle visited his fellow inmates in prison the day before or after each and every professional fight.
The fight between Lyle and Foreman is considered one of the most exciting and brutal in heavyweight history. Lyle took the offensive against the former champion and won the opening round. At one point, he hit Foreman with a thunderous right hand followed by a staggering body punch. After nearly being knocked out in Round Two, Lyle was able to recover due to a timing error resulting in the round being only two minutes instead of the scheduled three. Later in the fight, Lyle amazed the crowd by flooring Foreman twice in the fourth round while being knocked down once himself. (Lyle, Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Young are the only boxers to have ever knocked down Foreman during a professional boxing match.) Foreman later said that Lyle was the toughest man and the hardest hitter he ever fought. Foreman recovered and scored a knockout in the fifth round. He later said he won due to Lyle's exhaustion.
Lyle scored impressive victories over rated José Luis García, and big names Oscar Bonavena and Earnie Shavers during his career. He also won a split decision over Joe Bugner, boring in with a thudding body attack in a fine contest.
According to George Foreman, Ron Lyle was one of the three hardest punchers he had faced in his career along with Gerry Cooney and Cleveland Williams.
Ron Lyle briefly returned to the boxing ring, but he retired again after a first-round knockout loss to then-rising star and undefeated power-hitting Gerry Cooney, who has stated he broke some of Lyle's ribs during the match. Lyle was 39 years old.
In 1995, after George Foreman made his comeback into the ring to capture the world heavyweight title again, Lyle, at the age of 54, also decided on a brief comeback. After scoring four quick knockouts over second-rate opponents, Lyle tried to get a rematch with Foreman. The match was never made, however, and Lyle retired from boxing.
In 1992, Lyle trained a young promising talent from Las Vegas, Arash Hashemi, and under his mentorship Hashemi won two Golden Gloves championships.
Lyle was working as a security guard in Las Vegas in 2002.
Ron Lyle appeared in the film Facing Ali, a 2009 documentary, where he discusses his life and career. About his fight against Ali, when referee Fredy Nunez stopped the fight, he said "I couldn't believe it, you know. I'm ahead on all scorecards. ... Am I bitter? Forget about it. I never took it personal. If there don't be no Ali, you think you'd be sitting here talking to Ron Lyle? About what?"
During this documentary he claimed that during his stint in prison, where he received one meal a day consisting of a bowl of spinach, he performed up to 1,000 push-ups in an hour each day.
Lyle died at age 70 on November 26, 2011, from complications from a sudden stomach ailment.
| 51 | Win | Dave Slaughter | TKO | 2 (10) | Aug 18, 1995 | |||
| 50 | Win | 42–7–1 | Ed Strickland | KO | 2 | Jun 9, 1995 | ||
| 49 | Win | 41–7–1 | Tim Pollard | TKO | 2 | May 12, 1995 | ||
| 48 | Win | 40–7–1 | Bruce Johnson | KO | 4 (10) | Apr 7, 1995 | ||
| 47 | Loss | 39–7–1 | Gerry Cooney | KO | 1 (10), | Oct 24, 1980 | ||
| 46 | Win | 39–6–1 | George O'Mara | KO | 10 (10), | Aug 23, 1980 | ||
| 45 | Win | 38–6–1 | Al Neumann | TKO | 10 (10) | Jun 19, 1980 | ||
| 44 | Loss | 37–6–1 | Lynn Ball | TKO | 2 (10), | Dec 12, 1979 | ||
| 43 | Win | 37–5–1 | Scott LeDoux | SD | 10 | May 12, 1979 | ||
| 42 | Win | 36–5–1 | Fili Moala | TKO | 8 (10), | Apr 6, 1979 | ||
| 41 | Win | 35–5–1 | Horace Robinson | 8 (10), | Jun 3, 1978 | |||
| 40 | Win | 34–5–1 | Stan Ward | 10 | Sep 14, 1977 | |||
| 39 | Win | 33–5–1 | Joe Bugner | SD | 12 | Mar 20, 1977 | ||
| 38 | Loss | 32–5–1 | Jimmy Young | UD | 12 | Nov 6, 1976 | ||
| 37 | Win | 32–4–1 | Kevin Isaac | TKO | 7 (10), | Sep 11, 1976 | ||
| 36 | Loss | 31–4–1 | George Foreman | KO | 5 (12), | Jan 24, 1976 | ||
| 35 | Win | 31–3–1 | Earnie Shavers | TKO | 6 (12), | Sep 13, 1975 | ||
| 34 | Loss | 30–3–1 | Muhammad Ali | TKO | 11 (15), | May 16, 1975 | ||
| 33 | Loss | 30–2–1 | Jimmy Young | UD | 10 | Feb 11, 1975 | ||
| 32 | Win | 30–1–1 | Al Jones | TKO | 5 (10), | Dec 13, 1974 | ||
| 31 | Win | 29–1–1 | Boone Kirkman | TKO | 8 (10), | Sep 17, 1974 | ||
| 30 | Win | 28–1–1 | Jimmy Ellis | UD | 12 | Jul 16, 1974 | ||
| 29 | Win | 27–1–1 | Oscar Bonavena | UD | 12 | Mar 19, 1974 | ||
| 28 | Draw | 26–1–1 | Gregorio Peralta | 10 | Nov 17, 1973 | |||
| 27 | Win | 26–1 | Larry Middleton | UD | 10 | Oct 31, 1973 | ||
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | Jürgen Blin | TKO | 2 (10), | Oct 4, 1973 | ||
| 25 | Win | 24–1 | José Luis García | KO | 3 (10), | Aug 15, 1973 | ||
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Lou Bailey | UD | 10 | Jul 3, 1973 | ||
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | Wendell Newton | 10 | Jun 11, 1973 | |||
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Gregorio Peralta | UD | 10 | May 12, 1973 | ||
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Bob Stallings | UD | 10 | Apr 14, 1973 | ||
| 20 | Loss | 19–1 | Jerry Quarry | UD | 12 | Feb 9, 1973 | ||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Larry Middleton | KO | 3 (10), | Dec 9, 1972 | ||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Luis Faustino Pires | KO | 3 (10), | Oct 28, 1972 | ||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Buster Mathis | KO | 2 (10), | Sep 29, 1972 | ||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Vicente Rondón | TKO | 2 (10), | Jul 11, 1972 | ||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Mike Boswell | TKO | 7 (10) | May 25, 1972 | ||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Mel Turnbow | TKO | 4 (10), | May 10, 1972 | ||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | George Johnson | KO | 3 (10), | Mar 25, 1972 | ||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Chuck Leslie | TKO | 2 (10), | Jan 22, 1972 | ||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Bill Drover | KO | 2 (10), | Dec 18, 1971 | ||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Jack O'Halloran | KO | 4 (10), | Nov 26, 1971 | ||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Joe E Lewis | KO | 3 (10) | Nov 10, 1971 | ||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Manuel Ramos | UD | 10 | Oct 9, 1971 | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Eddie Land | TKO | 7 (10) | Sep 1, 1971 | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Frank Niblett | KO | 9 (10) | Aug 11, 1971 | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Leroy Caldwell | 5 | Jul 24, 1971 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Edmund Stewart | TKO | 2 (6) | Jul 16, 1971 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Gary Bates | KO | 3 (4), | Jun 19, 1971 | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Art Miller | 5 (6) | May 22, 1971 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | A J Staples | 2 (6) | Apr 23, 1971 |
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