When A Gang Leader Confronted Muhammad Ali
Welcome back to Boxing After Dark! Tonight, we take you back to 1975. Muhammad Ali is fresh off his victory against George Foreman, and every heavyweight is eager for a shot at the Greatest. But for now, Frazier, Norton, and Shavers will have to wait their turn. Tonight, it's Ron Lyle's chance. A former gang member with heavy hands and no fear, Lyle stands ready. It's up to Ali to prove the doubters wrong once again.
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00:00That was the hardest I'd ever been hit in my life.
00:02Only certain guys can do that.
00:04Run loud with one guy who could hit you so hard it didn't hurt.
00:07You got into further trouble, didn't you, while you were in prison?
00:11Well, I got s*****, you know, of course.
00:13What do you mean you got s*****?
00:15Don't throw it away like that.
00:17The year is 1975.
00:19Muhammad Ali is in the midst of his second career following his exile from America,
00:24all the way back to 1966.
00:27After some intense bouts that were undeniable classics,
00:30such as his first two wars with Joe Frazier,
00:33and the iconic rumble in the jungle with George Foreman.
00:40But now comes a tough cookie with a rugged exterior and a fistful of dynamite.
00:45The quick-to-tire-but-quicker-to-bludgeon monster that is Ron Lyle.
00:50Good left hand, and down goes Williams!
00:52Intimidated the hell out of a lot of them.
00:55You just come in, growl, throw punches, and go home.
00:59A feared warrior who's turned pro at the late age of 28,
01:03with some already admirable victories against Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, and Jimmy Ellis.
01:10And in round eight, you shall leave.
01:13I'm telling you now before the world, you will leave in the eighth round.
01:19With a laughing storm that is Muhammad Ali
01:21be able to take Ronnie Lyle's heavy punishment,
01:24and send him twisting and turning his way to the canvas?
01:27Or will Lyle finally be able to quiet the man whose voice could never be deprived,
01:33and get Ali to eat his jibes along with his teeth?
01:39Muhammad Ali's fights in the mid-70s America have become national events akin to the Super Bowl,
01:45Inauguration Day, or the opening day of a Walmart in small suburban towns.
01:49You can look at me, I'm loaded with confidence.
01:51I can't be beat.
01:52I've had 180 amateur fights, 22 professional fights, and I'm as good as it gets.
01:57And as the world tunes in to every press conference he accompanies,
02:00or poem he has lined up to mock whichever opponent he's fighting,
02:04there's no rush quite like watching the greatest at the height of his fame.
02:08And he used to predict knocking people out.
02:10Think about this, people wasn't fighting to win,
02:12they just didn't want to get knocked out when Ali said he was going to knock them out.
02:16You must fall in five rounds, but if you talk about me, I'll cut it three.
02:27Muhammad doesn't quite have the foot speed and conditioning he had way back in the 60s,
02:31but in that time his chin has gone from good to great, as proven in his fight with George Foreman.
02:37I'm beating this guy for five or six rounds.
02:40I'm in Africa.
02:41It's hot.
02:42And I beat him up for the sixth round, the seventh round.
02:45Then when I thought I had him, I hit him in the side and he fell on my ear and he said,
02:49that all you got, George?
02:51Ali was excited, as involved with the public as ever,
02:54and exhilarated to put on yet another show for the world after the Ron Lyle fight announcement.
03:01The guy I'll fight, he's in trouble.
03:03He can't win, because I'm going to blow him out of here.
03:06This is something that I planned.
03:09Ron Lyle was a slow starter in professional boxing,
03:12having few pro fights and even fewer amateur, but for good reason.
03:16Dying twice on an operating table, getting s***ed and spending many years in prison
03:21after taking part in a rival gang member's meeting with the morgue in self-defense
03:26will typically alter your career path.
03:29I survived in the jungle.
03:30I'm still living.
03:31Guys around you getting s***ed every day for cigarettes.
03:34I've seen guys get blown out of their cells.
03:37I've seen guys get s***ed for no reason at all.
03:40Well, it was back in 61 when I first got involved in a gang fight, you know,
03:45and a guy was s***ing, and I was caught and convicted.
03:49Manslaughter?
03:50Yes.
03:52Lyle was a stone-cold, yet fully inspired fighter,
03:56and he had a lot to prove in the ring if he wanted to get a title shot.
03:59And as we can see, he was talented enough to eventually undertake a challenge
04:04against the greatest heavyweight of his era.
04:06While Muhammad Ali is often regarded as not only the greatest heavyweight of all time,
04:12but one of the greatest at fighting with words,
04:15many were excited to see what Ali had to say about the slow, shuffling,
04:19and humble Ron Lyle in the build-up to the fight.
04:22But you will see me tonight literally take this man.
04:25He may win two or three rounds for the first five,
04:28but after five rounds, this man will power.
04:31He'll just be completely exhausted.
04:34Obviously, the champion enters tonight's fray, shaken with a full loss of consciousness.
04:39Shaken?
04:41Fight night arrived on May 16, 1975,
04:44and while Lyle attempts to instill some terror
04:47that men like Sonny Liston and George Foreman had achieved in years past
04:51with an ice-cold stare,
04:52Ali's giddiness to get his hands flowing freely
04:55is more of an effective scare tactic than any mean look could ever hope to be.
05:00The two men await the bell's ring, and the fight finally begins.
05:04Now the bell for round one.
05:06The two men in the middle of the ring.
05:08I will not try to kill him, Lyle said in our pre-fight talk.
05:13Ali covering up.
05:15So far, Ali hasn't thrown any punch.
05:18Remember what Ali said.
05:20He might win three of the first five rounds,
05:23but he's got to go by the eighth.
05:25Only once was Ali heavier.
05:27Seems to be a little bit of blood out of Ali's nostril.
05:32Now Ali's corner is yelling, stick him, champ.
05:39Oh, a quick right by Ali.
05:42Ali with a right lead.
05:46The left foot in front of the right foot.
05:49Ali is talking to Lyle, taunting him.
05:52Taunting him.
05:55Oh, a good quick left and right by Ali.
05:58His best close of the night.
06:00Lyle trying to fight back, coming in with a right.
06:04No question, Lyle has no fear of this thing.
06:08After a better round from Ali in the second,
06:11Lyle comes out with a new sense of caution and focus
06:14as he works on Ali's slippery footwork and high guard
06:17by digging in hooks behind Muhammad's guard
06:20and keeping a consistent pace
06:22while trying not to tire his infamously inconsistent gas tank.
06:28This is the way to fight Ron Lyle.
06:30With movement to chronic smoke.
06:32Sticking as Ali just did with the left.
06:41This is Ali's best round by far tonight.
06:46Lyle's right only glance.
06:49Sixth round action.
06:50Quickly, Ali moving again.
06:52A little evidence of control.
06:53Round six has Ali acting on his battle plan.
06:56After five rounds of letting Lyle have his way in the ring,
06:59Muhammad shows some of his signature pizazz
07:02with flashy footwork and snappy jabs.
07:05Lyle struggles to keep up with the greatest's frenetic pace
07:08but survives the round.
07:11Lyle got in a good right to Ali's head then.
07:14I suppose in a purist boxing sense,
07:17it's an interesting fight.
07:19Ali is now covering up as Lyle goes after him.
07:27This is more of the Muhammad Ali-Ron Lyle
07:29World Heavyweight Championship fight.
07:31Now, of course, the first message from our local news.
07:39Now, this is eighth round action
07:42and this is the round Ali predicted
07:45he would do away with Lyle in.
07:47Now he's opening up.
07:48He's trying to.
07:50He's trying to get at Lyle.
07:52Tired of looking at the guy still coming at him.
07:55Ali is scoring much better though in this round.
08:01We're going to run this clock the whole round
08:04because of the prediction.
08:05Ali got to Lyle in.
08:10Lyle's full of sweat.
08:12He is not going to knock Ron Lyle out
08:17as predicted.
08:18Ali is winning this round too.
08:22And the crowd knows it.
08:23Their reaction.
08:30Ali went after Lyle.
08:31He heard him in the eighth round.
08:33Ali got a good left in there.
08:37We're approaching the end of the round.
08:39Following three rounds of Ali magic
08:41Lyle finally gets his head back in the game
08:44throughout the tenth
08:45while managing to busy Ali's nose
08:47early on in the fight.
08:49Ron has struggled to land anything substantial since
08:52but while his crippling power hasn't been
08:54very well paraded in this fight
08:56his heart has
08:57and he's managed to win this round.
09:00Live from Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
09:04Cut out of Boyce High School in Brooklyn
09:06He heard Lyle.
09:07Ali got to Lyle.
09:08Lyle is in trouble.
09:09He heard him with a left.
09:10Lyle went back against the ropes.
09:12Eleventh round action
09:14and Ali in command.
09:15He's staggering.
09:16This time Lyle is ready to go.
09:18Look at that.
09:19Muhammad Ali.
09:20He's got it.
09:21He's got it.
09:22He's got it.
09:23He's got it.
09:24He's got it.
09:25He's got it.
09:26He's got it.
09:27He's got it.
09:28He's got it.
09:29Muhammad Ali.
09:30This is Muhammad Ali.
09:32From nowhere.
09:33The left cuts to Lyle.
09:35Set him back against the ropes.
09:37Ali in total command.
09:38Being separated now.
09:40The fight is stopped by referee Bernard Hernandez.
09:44Muhammad Ali successfully defended his title yet again
09:48against a tough-willed and highly skilled opponent
09:51who could see through some of Ali's most incredible tricks.
09:54Still, he faltered to the oldest in the book
09:57the float like a butterfly and sting like a bee approaching
10:00and Muhammad's resume is once again strengthened
10:03and continues to shape up to be the greatest in history.
10:06We're back with the defeated challenger Ron Lyle.
10:09First of all, Ron, it was clear you didn't think the fight should be stopped.
10:13I knew something was going to happen because I was winning every round.
10:15He couldn't have won that if he'd have, you know,
10:17if he'd have won 15, he'd have been out of it clean, you know.
10:20Muhammad would make six more title defenses following this historic night
10:24with even more memorable hours than this.
10:26It's all over. Muhammad Ali has been defeated.
10:30Including his closing out of the iconic Fraser and Norton trilogies
10:34along with his great final defense against who he described
10:37as his hardest hitting opponent, Ernie Shavers.
10:40I don't know why I picked on him at this late in my career.
10:43I didn't really believe he was as good as he was.
10:46I predicted he was going to win round seven, but he was good.
10:49Muhammad Ali left a cement footprint in heavyweight boxing
10:53that no one has managed to match
10:55with most leaving just mud and dirt behind.
10:58Groveling instead of gleaming next to the hero.
11:01Few have come close to the greatest as a heavyweight since
11:04but none have left their mark quite like this all-American hero.
11:08From his beauty in the ring to his love outside of it
11:11and the impact he made on the great U.S. of A,
11:14there isn't quite one man like Muhammad Ali.
11:17As much as many bitter men have tried,
11:19his history will never be forgotten or tainted
11:23and his future still gleams
11:25despite his physical presence no longer being here.
11:28For his influence, messages and power to change the world
11:31in a time when we needed it.
11:33Tonight, we honor the greatest
11:35and wish him well wherever he resides in paradise.