Muhammad Ali vs. Ron Lyle

Boxing competition
Muhammad Ali vs Ron Lyle
DateMay 16, 1975
VenueLas Vegas Convention Centre
Title(s) on the lineWBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer United States Muhammad Ali United States Ron Lyle
Hometown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Pre-fight record 46-2 30-2-1
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 3+1⁄2 in (192 cm)
Weight 224+1⁄2 lb (102 kg) 219 lb (99 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight champion
Result
Ali won via 11th round TKO (1:08)

Muhammad Ali and Ron Lyle fought a boxing match on May 16, 1975. Ali won the bout through a technical knockout in the 11th round.[1][2][3][4]

This bout was aired live primetime in the United States via ABC with Howard Cosell doing the play-by-play and it took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Fight

Ali entered the bout at 224.5 pounds, the heaviest he had ever been at that point in his career. Lyle, at 219 pounds, was also at the heaviest weight of his career. Lyle had offered the opportunity to compete for the title despite his loss to the then little-known Jimmy Young two months earlier at Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ali had forecast that the bout would be a "treat for the people", but in many of the rounds he preferred to defend and absorb Lyle's sharp punches. The challenger had been exhorted by a chant of "Lyle, Lyle" from several Denver followers, and in the opening round he bloodied Ali's nose, although the bleeding abated.

Ali was jarred sporadically by Lyle's punches, usually the right hand. In the fifth, the champion chose to dance, taunting Lyle with jabs but often being pinned against the ropes. In the sixth, he displayed the "Ali Shuffle", to the delight of the crowd, and to the temporary confusion of the stiff-moving challenger.

As the ring girl from the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas strutted past Ali with a big card signaling the start of the eighth round, Ali stared, aware that this was the round in which he had predicted he would knock Lyle out. From his flatfooted stance, he tried for the knockout, but Lyle cornered and fought him off, particularly with a jarring right hand.

For the next two rounds, Ali rested, boxing defensively and retreating to the ropes while accepting Lyle's punches. But in the fateful 11th when he connected with the right hand. Ali suddenly pounced and finished Lyle (Ali was behind on 2 of the 3 scorecards heading into this round as Judge Bill Kipp had Lyle ahead 49–43 on a 5-point must system, while Art Lurie had Lyle ahead 46–45, and Bill Mangiaracina had it 46–46), making the scorecards of the three judges academic and making Lyle's TV home appearance an unartistic success. The end came with 1:08 of the round, after a straight right hand drove the 33-year old ex-convict across the ring and left him defenseless against the champion's onslaught. Referee Ferd Hernandez stopped the bout. Lyle protested briefly, then staggered to his corner in a daze.

References

  1. ^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  2. ^ "When right made might". Sports Illustrated. 26 May 1975. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  3. ^ Stephen Brunt (2002). Facing Ali. The Lyons Press. pp. 238–40.
  4. ^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. p. 303.
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Fights
Media
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and series
FamilyTeam and
associatesBooks
  • The Greatest: My Own Story (1975 autobiography)
  • The Fight (1975)
  • Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (1991 biography)
  • The Tao of Muhammad Ali (1997)
  • King of the World (1998 biography)
  • Facing Ali (2002)
  • Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years (2002 biography)
  • The Soul of a Butterfly (2004 autobiography)
  • Twelve Rounds to Glory (2007 biography)
  • Ali: A Life (2018 biography)
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