1982: Bobby Czyz versus Tony El Torito Ayala

Watch the Ayala defense closely. Pay attention to what he did with his left hand. Who else ever did that? He is wide open for right hands. As open as you can get. He just had not fought the caliber of fighters to exploit it.

At the end of the day, he was on par of say, Matt Hilton. Now that is an interesting match. And when was the last time Hilton was ever talked about? And without that Lou Duva hype---where is Ayala? Lets say trained by a Curtis Cokes. Big big difference than the main events hype machine.

 

A year older than Ayala.

 

Have to disagree that Tommy's chin is so bad at this point. He took a lot from Leonard before fatigue overwhelmed him, Duran nailed him with a right and Hearns didn't blink. Hagler had to hit him with everything for a sustained beating before he went.

Chin issues only really came to the fore after the Hagler fight when he was yoyoing in weight and had a lot of wear and tear. The fighters who put Ayala down were of a far lesser caliber than the ones Tommy was tangling with. If either of these two has chin issues at 154, it's Ayala. Tommy's chin was fine at this weight and point in his career.

Given Hearns' power and Ayala's defence, I see this as a two round blowout in Hearns' favour. Think the Duran fight without the brave attempt to get back up.

 

Tony obliterates Czyz, and blasts Duran, Moore, Benitez and Hearns with ease. Unless Hearns catches him with a powerful right hand, only Hagler beats El Torito