Foreman Vs Lyle-Jan 24th, 1976 L.Vegas
George Foreman was trying to start a comeback after his shocking loss to Muhammad Ali. This was his first actual fight in over a year after fighting several exhibitions in 1975. Foreman was devastated by his loss to Ali and he wanted to get on a winning streak so Ali would have to give him another chance. George was 40-1 with 37 knockouts going into this fight. Ron Lyle had lost for the world title two fights ago to Ali and had just come off a war with Earnie Shavers which Ron ended up coming off the canvas to win by KO. Ron Lyle had a record of 32-3-1 with 22 knockouts and had fought good competition during his career. Let's see how this war would turn out.

Here's the fight as I saw it.-Green are the round scores as I scored it, red is important text like a cut, great punch or knockdown.

Round 1- Lyle comes out and misses a big right. Lyle is jabbing and moving back. Foreman is using the jab as well and takes a little shot to the body. Lyle lands a right to George's ear but Foreman comes back with two good jabs. Lyle stuns Foreman with a big right hand and Foreman gets real close and smothers Lyle's punches. Foreman is hurt pretty bad as the bell rings. Lyle's Round- 10-9

Round 2- Lyle misses with wild swings. Foreman lands two nice smacking jabs. Lyle follows with a jab and right cross of his own. Foreman using the jab to set up other punches, he delivers a big right hand, Lyle is hurt ,but counters with a right. Foreman's Round- 10-9  (19-19) even

Round 3- Lyle lands a little right to George's face. Ron is pressing forward now. Lyle comes and hits Foreman with a left hook and a right. Foreman comes back with a nice right hand and Lyle goes to the ropes. Foreman landing good body shots that make Lyle cover up. Foreman is pressing the action now. Lyle lands a right at the bell. Foreman's Round- 10-9  (29-28) Foreman

Round 4- Lyle comes out and lands a glancing right hand. He lands a real big right that stuns Foreman again. Lyle lands another left and right. FOREMAN IS DOWN, and rises right away and takes a standing 8 count. Lyle is putting on pressure trying to end it, but is being held by Foreman. They are trading and Foreman lands a crisp right and DOWN GOES LYLE. He is hurt bad and gets to his feet. Lyle is taking punishment against the ropes, Foreman is going for the kill. Lyle slugs off the ropes and Foreman is stunned, another left from Lyle and FOREMAN GOES DOWN FACE FIRST ON TO THE CANVAS!!! The bell rings as Foreman staggers to his feet. Lyle's Round- 10-9  (38-38) even

Round 5- Lyle comes out wining and looking to finish Foreman. Foreman is trying to push him away from him. Foreman lands two good shots of his own to slow Lyle down for a moment. Lyle lands a sneaky right and Foreman is hurt bad again. Lyle lands a big left and Foreman tries to stick the jab. They exchange right hands!!!! What an absolute war this is!!!  Uppercut from Lyle, Foreman is staggered bad. Foreman strikes back and lands a vicious 4 punch combination. Foreman has Lyle in the corner and he's wailing away with both hands, Lyle is almost defenseless. LYLE COLLAPSES TO THE FLOOR AND IS COUNTED OUT!!! Foreman is the winner by 5th round KO. What a war, I've never seen anything like it before. Foreman-KO 5

These two fighters went to war and George Foreman was the only one left standing. Ron Lyle never took a backward step and tried to trade with George and was almost successful, seemingly having Foreman out on his feet 2 or 3 times. Foreman proved he had the will to win in this fight and showed his huge power and determination in this all-time classic. Ron Lyle would still have some decent wins left in his career, but would never again be a title contender. His career ended in 1980 with a KO loss to Gerry Cooney, before fighting 4 fights against low level competition in 1995 and going 4-0 with 4 ko's. George Foreman would fight Joe Frazier in his next fight then win 3 more fights before losing slick boxer Jimmy Young. At this point Foreman retired for 10 years before coming back in 1986 and winning a world title again by beating Michael Moorer. This fight between Foreman and Lyle goes down as one of the best wars in the history of heavyweight boxing.