Roldan is too strong for the inexperienced and tempermental Ayala.Juan stops Tony in the fifth round, but if I was him, would not want to deal with Tony after the fight, could be fatal for him.
I have more faith in Ayala's technique and punching power, not sure about his mental toughness at that period or durability.
Ayala would need much more experience to beat a guy like Roldan who had a lot of experience and was one of the harder punchers in the 1980s at middleweight. The only reason he didn't win a belt is because he fought Hagler,Hearns and Nunn.
Roldan Hammered Frank Animal Fletcher without any qualms, i dont think he is going to be too worried about a fleshy Lt Middle.
this one could have happened. Had Tony been around longer, wouldve moved up about this time I see it like a Foreman-Cooney fight, both with about the same size & style, and both destroyers. I would hate to be the ref that came between them i sometime wonder about Roldan tho :huh he was taken out one punch by another of Tommorrow's Champions, Alex Ramos, in the amateurs he stuck his head up for a moment, the next he was lying flat hate so say it but I think Roldan wins unless Tony improves his defense
Roldan and Ayala swap punches for 7 rounds then Ayala realizes that Roldan isn't going away. Ayala quits on his stool or his Dad throws in the white towel. Ayala is immensely overrated.
thing about Roldan is that he lost to quick fighters. He was not very defensive because he was always punching. He was a rare windmill of a puncher and he punched hard. If a guy was not fast then they would not beat Roldan. He usually outpunched and mauled guys who were as fast as him. He destroyed Kinchen and Fletcher. Had he fought a guy like Hamsho or Barkley who knows how he would do. They were not as fast as Hearns,Nunn and Hagler.
IMO, a prime Roldan would probably wear out Mike. Also, he had Tommy on the verge of dreamland until he got sloppy and completely dropped both hands by his side
Tommy got smart. Roldan was getting tired a little and Hearns started to throw that left to the body and that made Roldan lower his left and Tommy landed his last right hand . Hearns was close to beating stopped. Those were the years Tommy's legs started to decline a little and he started to get hurt more. But Roldan was so wild.
Tommy's slip started to show with Medal & Dewit. He looked especially flat at lthvy. I think too much moving around hurt him in the same way it hurt Roy Jones As for Roldan, he was never the same again after the Hagler fight which I thought he did well in. One loss and some fighters are never the same.
yeah Hearns slipped after Hagler a little. and so did Hagler. Those kinds of fights are exciting but they take something out of fighters. Who knows why. A lot of it has to be mental.
But it wasnt Hagler who messed him up. Physically he was at his peak Hearns messed up cuz he kept moving around wt classes. He looked great until he moved down & messed with Medal who was as weak a challenger u could find Tommy looked drained & tired early. after that he never regained his form. it happens to fighters a lot. Same with Roy Jones
yeah I see your point. He did go up and down, but he did fight Andries and Hill pretty well, but he was not the same on his legs as he was before I agree. Tommy did not have the same quickness as before Hagler which I am not sure was because of Hagler or like you say moving up an down so much. He fought here at 154 in June and in March of 1987 he fought at light heavyweight and won that title. But yeah he lost something. He was more prone to brawl after Hagler because his speed was not there as much so he had to struggle to land the same punches. Medal was an ok fighter, obviously not in Hearns class, but they were trying to find an opponent for that triple hitter card and Medal came up. Who had been an IBF champion before and fought a good fight with Santos. It had been hot and I think Hearns almost had Medal out of there in round one and he decided to slow down and pick him apart and it was a boring fight but he won it by stoppage in I think 8 rounds right? I have to go look at the results.