DENVER (AP) — Former heavyweight contender Ron Lyle, who fought Muhammad Ali for the title in 1975 and later battled George Foreman, has died in Denver at age 70.
A Salvation Army official in Denver says Lyle died Saturday from complications from a sudden stomach ailment. Details weren’t immediately available.
Ron McKinney says Lyle retired last year from running the charity’s boxing program, called Red Shield Cox-Lyle Boxing, but had worked out at the gym every day.
Lyle lost to both Ali and Foreman in the mid-1970s bouts. He tried unsuccessfully to schedule another fight with Foreman during a brief comeback in the 1990s.
