George Foreman has sensationally overlooked Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier when revealing the hardest punching opponent he ever faced.
‘Big George’ had a storied professional career of his own, one that would stretch across four decades where he would reign as the world heavyweight champion on two occasions.
The Texas-native captured world honours for the first time back in January of 1973 when he stopped Frazier in the second round of their showdown at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
His reign would come to an end in the following year when he was beaten by Ali in ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’, suffering a shock eighth round stoppage to ‘The Greatest’ in Kinshasa.
Foreman took a ten year hiatus from the sport after he was beaten by Jimmy Young in 1977 although he would eventually make a return and would go on to become the oldest world heavyweight champion of all time in 1994, stopping Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their Las Vegas clash.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine, Foreman gave a surprising answer when revealing the hardest puncher that he ever faced.
“Ron Lyle hit me so hard that it didn’t even hurt. Joe Frazier caught me with the left hook but he couldn’t hit like Lyle and although Muhammad knocked me down I was exhausted and still got to my feet. Lyle was the hardest hitter.”
Known for his thunderous punching power, which saw him rack up 31 stoppage victories, Lyle challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship on one occasion, falling short to Ali in 1975.
Lyle would go on to share the ring with a number of legendary heavyweights before his career came to an end, including the likes of Foreman and Earnie Shavers, proving to be a tough opponent for whoever he crossed paths with along the way.
