Toft adeptly shows this to be the legacy Ron Lyle left behind, one that
stands shoulder-to-shoulder with a boxing legacy that is nothing short
of remarkable.--Rafael Garcia, The Fight City
[Ron Lyle's] life was a remarkable one and the story of it worth
re-telling, which makes the book's new edition thoroughly welcome. Off
The Ropes is absolutely recommended reading.--Gary Lucken, Boxing
Monthly
Nobody ever hit me that hard. No question. I'll remember that punch on
my deathbed. A great puncher, a great guy.--Earnie Shavers
In a life as tough as his battles in the ring, Ron Lyle had already
served hard time for second-degree murder before he started his amateur
boxing career at the age of twenty-nine. After he turned pro, fans knew
him as the man who had Muhammad Ali beat on the scorecards for ten
rounds in a fight for the heavyweight title; as the man who fought
George Foreman in a legendary brawl with four knockdowns that nearly saw
Foreman knocked cold; and as the man who was arrested for murder a
second time.
Off the Ropes: The Ron Lyle Story is not your typical boxing
biography, exploring not only the greatest era of heavyweights in boxing
history, but also telling an equally compelling personal tale. Ron Lyle
grew up in the Denver projects, one of nineteen children in a
tight-knit, religious family. At twenty, he was convicted for a disputed
gang killing and served seven and a half years at the Colorado State
Penitentiary at Cañon City, where at one point he was nearly shanked to
death, and where he learned to box before he was paroled in 1969.
After a meteoric amateur career, he turned pro in 1971, and over the
next six years established an outstanding professional record, which, in
addition to the near misses against Ali and Foreman, included a brutal
knockout win over one of the era's most feared fighters, big-punching
Earnie Shavers.
Then, in 1978, Lyle was indicted for murder a second time and, even
though he was acquitted, his career was effectively over. The years that
followed were filled with struggle, a captivating love story, and
eventual redemption. Today, a youth center in Denver that he ran still
bears his name.
Off the Ropes: The Ron Lyle Story is the poignant, uplifting biography
of a singular man.
