Tony, turning back the clock to days of yore when he devastated Pipino Cuevas in sparring at the tender age of 7 years , whipping in searing left hook after searing left hook until Mugabi is a crumpled bloodied mess on the canvas, totally unmoving, at 2.12 of the very first round. Tony then goes into his customary ritual of spitting on his fallen opponent.
Mugabi showed he could gut it out when in form (Hagler) Ayala never came close to showing that level of performance. If Mugabi was having a good day at the office; The Beast would feast on Ayala. Mugabi TKO6
A prime Mugabi would have crushed a prime Ayala. For one thing, Ayala wasn't strong enough for Mugabi. And Mugabi was more versatile, able to break down tough opponents. He wasn't a simple brute. Ayala would get sloppy and careless going for the big KO. Campas isn't as strong as a Mugabi, is closer to a natural light middleweight, and busted up and broke down Ayala even tho' Ayala up 'til then had been making an impressive comeback.
Fair would be the full extent of it. Fletcher was a real tv fighter, face first action packed brawler without the big power to win easily and used to bleed like a stuck pig. Whenever he stepped up to top 10 quality comp he was hammered, but had a couple of wins not far outside the fringe. Mugabi was the same, when he stepped right up he fell right down. A hard appraisal, but an honest one. He's forever rated for his valiant losing effort to Hagler, more so than on any quality wins. Having said this he had awesome power, like Shavers, but still never had the wins that even Earnie did. I think he is massively overrated based on his good Hagler showing and awesome power displays vs limited opposition. Didn't Jaquot injure his ankle slipping to the canvas in but the first round? You really rate this a "fair" win? Not many would even call it a fight. His reward for winning this title was a first round KO at the hands of Norris in his first attempted defense.
In Mugabi's defence, Jacquot hit the deck because of The Beast's punch. Slightly off topic; I went to see Bomber Bruno at the Albert Hall, but I myself was more excited about watching The Beast who was on the undercard against this unknown American fella... Bit suprised to see Mugabi get hammered in a round by this Gerald McClellan:huh
Ayala certainly wasn't over-rated, however I'd give the slight edge to "The Beast" head-to-head on their respective best nights. Mugabi TKO10 Ayala.
