Bonecrusher Smith was a journeyman, Sly he surprised the hell out of Tim Witherspoon when the latter was fat and lazy thats his whole career he is one the Rahman/McCall level and EXACTLY the type of opponent Lennox would overlook
The reasons Young did at all well against Ali are as follows: 1) Ali completely took him for granted and was bloated and slow and did not fight like "Ali" 2) Young CHEATED by sticking his fucking head outside the ropes EVERY TIME Ali put together some combos and got aggressive Holmes dominates with the jab, Young has nothing for him, absolutely nothing... he can't jab with him, he can't attack him
x2 Young is paper, Holmes is scissors. They could fight a thousand times and Young wouldn't win one single time.
agree wholeheartedly Young did well against aggressive guys who kept trying to kill him he has nothing for Larry, just as he would have nothing for a dancing-jabbing Ali
Not to beat a dead horse, but saying an opponent of Ali's cheated, is like saying luis santana's opponents always fouled.
Theres no way Lyle has, "zero chance," with Tyson. Ive already said I dont like the Tyson style for Lyle, and speed would be a big issue, but Lyle had a monster punch., never feared anyone, IMO was a gutsier fighter than Tyson in a fire-fight.
Lyle was a good fighter and strong, but speed was an obstacle for him... I can't see him being able to deal with Tyson's outrageous handspeed... I think he gets beat up... if he was quicker, then yes, some of his attributes (his height, strength, jab, power) would trouble Tyson but in this matchup speed kills... Lyle would not be able to pull the trigger fast enough himself, and owuld nto be able to defense Tyson's punches adequately
ZERO chance. None. Power wasn't Mike's problem, never was. It was a guy that can just keep hitting him back over and over and over. Lyle couldn't do that to Tyson simply because he woul dhave been unable to have handled the incoming and he wasn't going to get away from Tyson. Tyson 100 times out of 100
Maybe (if his reputation was that of an easy to beat journeyman). That's the best argument yet. I just remember since before he fought Frank Bruno, that "BONE CRUSHER" smith was known as a guy that could CRACK if nothing else.
I agree that's likely how the fight would go. However, when you can turn a fight with a big punch, anything is at least possible, & Lyle had that capacity.
Power is everyone's problem if they're hit hard enough. I certainly consider his chances better than, say, Byrd with Foreman, or Young with Holmes.