Muhammad Ali vs. Ron Lyle
Date | May 16, 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Venue | Las Vegas Convention Centre, Las Vegas, Nevada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title(s) on the line | WBA, WBC and The Ring undisputed heavyweight championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ali won via 11th round TKO (1:08) |
Muhammad Ali vs. Ron Lyle was a professional boxing match contested on May 16, 1975, for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Background
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.
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.
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 giving Ali a 11th round technical knockout.[1][2][3][4] Lyle protested briefly, then staggered to his corner in a daze.
Aftermath
Lyle's corner was not happy with the referee's decision to stop the bout.[5][6]
Undercard
Confirmed bouts:[7]
Broadcasting
Country | Broadcaster |
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United States | ABC |
References
- ^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ "When right made might". Sports Illustrated. 26 May 1975. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ Stephen Brunt (2002). Facing Ali. The Lyons Press. pp. 238–40.
- ^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. p. 303.
- ^ http://video.google.com/videoplaydocid=3996128832928221414# [permanent dead link]
- ^ "RON LYLE: "ALI JUST TRANSCENDED THE SPORT AND I DON'T EVER THINK WE COULD REPAY HIM"-- FIGHTHYPE.COM". www.fighthype.com. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by | Muhammad Ali's bouts 16 May 1975 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by vs. Jimmy Young | Ron Lyle's bouts 16 May 1975 | Succeeded by vs. Earnie Shavers |
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- Boxing at the 1960 Summer Olympics
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- The Rumble in the Jungle (Foreman vs. Ali)
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associates
- Chuck Bodak (trainer, cutman)
- Angelo Dundee (cornerman)
- Drew Bundini Brown (trainer, cornerman)
- Ferdie Pacheco (personal physician, cornerman)
- Joe E. Martin (first trainer)
- Archie Moore (trainer)
- George Dillman (instructor)
- Jabir Herbert Muhammad (manager)
- Luis Sarria (trainer, cutman, masseur)
- Joe Frazier (opponent, friend)
- Richard Durham (autobiography co-writer)
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