Mustafa Hamsho vs. Tony Ayala

Thank you for the reply.

Certainly Hamsho's body was chiseled of granite, and with respect to a dedicated body attack, Curtis Parker (the closest thing that era had to Frazier at 160) and Czyz (who was known to take out opponents with his body attack in the three round amateur ranks) failed to break Mustafa down with theirs.

But in order for Tony to apply that withering body assault, he still has to either somehow be able to advance on Hamsho (which even the physically powerful Minter failed to achieve), or at least sidestep to dig his hook in, which would require a level of lateral quickness El Torito is not commonly thought of as producing.

Eddie Mustafa Muhammad was capable of executing a withering body attack from the outside (something Michael Spinks also did with a long deflating right cross to Marvin Johnson's gut just prior to the finishing hookercut), however, Tony HAS to be able to apply his hook in close, entering the trenches with the definitive southpaw brawler of that size in era. Yes, the hook to the body is a superb weapon to deploy on a southpaw, but he has to execute it against a southpaw bigger, tougher, and more of a challenge than Herrera. From the outside, Ayala has to contend with Mustafa's long lead left, a shot he had success with landing on Minter at range.

 

Minter didn't really try to advance on hamsho to be fair, after the Hagler fight he was wound up way too tight about getting involved anymore(and thus, cut)which hastened his demise as a fighter.

 

Hamsho wins comfortably though.Ayala showed nothing worth giving him the benefit of the doubt over.the wins over mediocre faded Gregory and serviceable herrera showed he was on his way to being a possible solid top ten jr middle, not that he could have defeated very capable middleweight contenders who had defeated numerous superior fighters to those two.

 

He tended to blow hot and cold in this respect also. The difference between his first brawl with Antuofermo and the way he threw Vito around in their rematch was night and day, as if he was taking steroids for the return. He should have tried replicating the Antuofermo II template to see what would happen with Hamsho. Instead, he sustained his only time limit defeat. (Minter should have known better than to expect a repeat of the decision in Antuofermo I for his return to the same Caesar's Palace venue. Risk of cuts or not, he had to go for broke. Incidentally, ringside judge Chuck Minker had him winning Antuofermo I 144-141, then losing to Hamsho 93-97.)

 

Mustapha Hamsho

From November 1975 thru November 1984

A 9-year run,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,goes 38-2-1 (23 KO's)

Only '2 losses,,,,,,,,,to you guessed it,,,,,,,,Marvin Hagler

Was without a doubt, the "2nd Best Middleweight" in the World during that period.

 

Hamsho wears Ayala out and wins by tko in the ninth over a battered and exhausted "El Torito."

 

Mustapha Hamsho,,,,,,,,,,,,

Used every 'legal dirty trick in the book',,,,,,,,,,,,,,,:nono

Mustapha was a 'hard-puncher', but not a 'Knock-out puncher'. Never took anybody out with 'one-punch'.

His best punch,,,,,,,,,,his 'head-first' butts.

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would you describe him more as heavy handed :think

 

You didn't address the question to me, so forgive my intrusion, but I would say not. He was a steel hard, well conditioned (Paddy Flood had him do 12 miles of roadwork in training), attrition oriented brawler, but he simply did not floor or stop world class opponents. In an exchange here a couple of years ago, Red Cobra commented that, "As it was, his punches were like wet cotton balls." (To which I replied, "Well, Mustafa certainly didn't fight as if those wet cotton balls were in his trunks!")

Benitez fell down around four times against him, but none of them were credited as knockdowns. Scypion was exhausted when he flew out of the ring. Czyz nailed Hamsho with his best punch of the fight, in response to which Mustafa immediately countered with his own best punch of the fight, a tremendous exchange. Bobby's the first guy I'd ask about Hamsho's punching power.

Really, he got by on toughness, conditioning and immense physical strength to serve his aggression. He didn't have Antuofermo's quickness or defensive skills, but he was far more resistant to bleeding and facial damage than Vito. Being a southpaw wasn't that great an advantage at a time when the likes of Minter and Hagler were around (Czyz also switched to lefty against Hamsho, saying afterward that he was a better defensive fighter from that posture), but it probably did help some.

 

:thumbsupthanks for the info as always duo

 

Mustapha Hamsho,,,,,,,,,,

His statement after defeating Wilfred Benitez,,,,,,,,,,,,

'Really, and I'm being serious,,,,,,,,,,my sister has hit me harder.'

'Wilfred has no business being in the Middleweight Division, this Division is for men, not kids.'

 

Hamsho of 1982 and at 160 pounds would've beaten Ayala to a pulp.... Ayala never fought an animal capable as Hamsho was in 1982......

MR.BILL