Seale. Black Power. But the Lyles’ involvement in the struggle followed their own tradition, paralleling that of the Reverend Martin Luther King. Nellie led the way, reminding family and neighbors that God wants us to show love and respect for people of all colors.
The assassination of Dr. King in 1968 had somehow stoked the fire that raged within Ron to live his own dream. Still in prison but convinced he would soon be paroled, he vowed to represent not only his family but his race with honor. When asked what he remembered as the high point of his professional life, he answered without hesitation, “The highest point of my life boxing was when I was an amateur. I was representing the United States Boxing Team on the amateur tour in Yugoslavia—Belgrade. They played the national anthem, and I was standing proud in the ring. I was representing my race and my country and all the convicts left alone in prison.” He added, “That's when I knew I belonged there.”
Dr. King also influenced Ron in his vow to stay clean. The “juvenile delinquent,” the young man convicted of murder, has never, for the rest of his life, taken a drink, “not even a beer,” has never done drugs, has never smoked a cigarette. When asked how he managed to avoid all those temptations, he answers, “I needed my body to carry me where I wanted to go.” Then he adds with a smile, “And, besides, my mother didn't want me to.”
The afternoon after Ron was paroled from prison, he appeared at the Denver Elks Gymnasium and made it official; he told Bill Daniels he wanted a spot as heavyweight on the Denver Rocks boxing team. Donnie Nelson, the Rocks’ light heavyweight, was training that day with his father Albert and brother Dennis in attendance. Dennis remembers his father predicting that not only would Ron bring greatness on himself, but that in the process, he would elevate the Rocks to prominence in the U.S. boxing world.
Featherweight Abby Espinoza was at the Elks that first day, too. Eight years younger, Abby considered himself in good shape, but he had never seen anyone as “chiseled” as Ron Lyle. “My dad, Joe Espinoza, was a good friend of our coach, Joe Garcia,” Abby says. “We all watched Ronnie work out every day, and I told my Dad he would be the next champion of the world. I believed that.”
It only took a week for Ron to replace Barnell Stidham, the team's heavyweight, who had refused to fight him in Cañon City. As the Nelsons and the Espinozas watched Ron unequivocally knock out Stidham in an early round, Donnie remembers, “My dad asked me how I would like to fight Ronnie and I told him ‘not at all.’”
Less than a month after being paroled from prison, on December 19, Ron made his amateur debut in Denver against Fred Houpe of the Chicago Clippers with a knockout in the third round. That match was only the third league fight for the Rocks, who had met the Clippers in Chicago two weeks before when Houpe had knocked out Stidham. Ron was elated. His boxing career had begun with a big shot, and the Rocks were on the map, a force to be reckoned with.
A month later, he was in Louisville, Kentucky, his first trip out of Colorado since his freight-hopping days. He lost a split decision to Tommy Garrett, and his coaches—Joe Garcia and Art Irlando—put him through even harder paces when he returned to Denver. By now he was running through the streets at five every morning, followed by sit-ups and push-ups before he reported to his welding job. In the afternoon, he punched bags, practiced footwork, and sparred with whatever boxers his coaches could get; and more often than not, those sparring matches were with Donnie Nelson.
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