Ron Lyle Was Knocked Out By George Foreman But Named One Heavyweight Who Hit Harder

Ron Lyle Was Knocked Out By George Foreman But Named One Heavyweight Who Hit Harder

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Despite never capturing a world championship, former George Foreman and Earnie Shavers foe Ron Lyle is regarded as one of the most respected heavyweights in boxing history.

The bulk of Lyle’s career spanned just shy of 10 years between 1971 and 1980, facing the likes of Jimmy Young, Muhammad Ali and Gerry Cooney during this time. After walking away from the sport in 1980, he returned 15 years later when he picked up four stoppage victories before retiring for good.

He faced ‘Big’ George and Shavers in back-to-back contests within the space of four months between the end of 1975 and beginning of 1976. Before his tragic passing in 2011, Lyle finally revealed who had the harder punch out of the pair.

Speaking to Retro Boxing, the Ohio-born Lyle claimed Shavers hit harder than Foreman, but did give ‘Big’ George his plaudits for being a ‘good’ puncher.

Foreman was a puncher; he was a good puncher, but the best puncher that I ever faced was Earnie Shavers. He had forty-something knockouts in the first round. Some guys don’t have that many fights. So, Shavers’ record pretty much dictated how the fight was going to go, if you stood in front of him, you know.”

Often recognised as one of the biggest punchers in the history of boxing with a knockout rate of over 75%, Shavers challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship on two occasions during his tenure.

He was outpointed by the great Ali in September 1977, only to fall short once again two years later when he was knocked out by Larry Holmes in the eleventh round of their contest. Shavers sadly passed away in September 2022 at the age of 78.