Muhammad Ali vs. Ron Lyle

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.

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 Ali stunned Lyle with a right hand early in the 11th round, and pounced on the challenger with a flurry of punches, driving the 33-year old challenger across the ring to make the judges scorecards academic (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). Lyle was defenseless against the champion's onslaught, and Ali signaled Referee Ferd Hernandez to stop the fight, but Hernandez waited another nine brutal seconds before awarding Ali a technical knockout at 1:08 in the 11th round.{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/classic/s/Ali_record.html |title=Muhammad Ali's ring record |work=ESPN |date=19 November 2003|access-date=5 October 2016}}{{cite news|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1975/05/26/617291/when-right-made-might |title=When right made might |work=Sports Illustrated |date=26 May 1975|access-date=5 October 2016}}{{cite book|title=Facing Ali|author=Stephen Brunt |publisher=The Lyons Press|pages = 238–40|year=2002}}{{cite book|title=Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times|author= Thomas Hauser|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page = 303|year=1991}} Lyle protested briefly, then staggered to his corner in a daze.

Lyle's corner was not happy with the referee's decision to stop the bout.http://video.google.com/videoplaydocid=3996128832928221414# {{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content6993.html|title=RON LYLE: "ALI JUST TRANSCENDED THE SPORT AND I DON'T EVER THINK WE COULD REPAY HIM"-- FIGHTHYPE.COM|website=www.fighthype.com|accessdate=December 10, 2018}}

Confirmed bouts:{{cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/en/event/227|title=BoxRec - event|publisher=}}

{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-bef | before=vs. Chuck Wepner}}

{{s-ttl | title=Muhammad Ali's bouts |years= 16 May 1975}}

{{s-aft | after=vs. Joe Bugner II}}

{{s-bef | before=vs. Jimmy Young}}

{{s-ttl | title=Ron Lyle's bouts |years=16 May 1975}}

{{s-aft | after=vs. Earnie Shavers}}

{{s-end}}

{{Muhammad Ali}}

{{Boxing on ABC}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Lyle}}

Category:1975 in boxing

Category:1975 in sports in Nevada

Category:May 1975 sports events in the United States

Category:Boxing matches in the Las Vegas Valley

Lyle

Category:World Boxing Association heavyweight championship matches

Category:World Boxing Council heavyweight championship matches

Category:Boxing on ABC

Category:Boxing on BBC

{{boxing-stub}}