Suppose Ayala had n't turned out to be a woman beating ****** scumbag ? How good could hwe have been ? He had the potential to have excelled in the 154 and 160 lb divisions. How would he have hung with the cream like Duran,Hagler,Hearns,Leonard and McCallum. My impression is that he would n't have beaten these guys,but could have been succesful against virtually anyone else. Thoughts ?
Kinda hard to seperate out that fact that he was in fact a total scumbag but I was heavily in to boxing in the early 80s and I think people today have rather a distorted view of Ayala. In fact he was just a prospect at the time and there no talk of him fighting, let alone beating the likes of Hearns. He flushed his career down the toilet way too early to make any realistic judgements about him except to say that blowing away journeymen doesn't make you a sure thing to beat all of the ATGs of the division! He was a good prospect but to assume he would have developed to the extent that he could actually beat Hearns et al is stretching the truth too far. We know that Duran, Hagler, Hearns, SRL were true modern greats who won fights against the very best there was - consistently. At 22-0 any one of them would have kicked the living **** out of him - in my humble opinion. :hat:hat:hat
That was no flash knockdown Mario Maldonado floored him with. The talented but inconsistent Maldonado wanted a rematch in the worst way, claiming he was "out of shape," and would finish the job if given a second chance. Having already been in the ring with Ayala, he certainly had no fear of him, and Mario had some ability. He had just derailed Roger Leonard (avenging his debut, a second round stoppage), would go on to beat Drayton twice, and took Sutherland to a split decision (when Murray was in mid career). Given the opportunity, Mario may well have avenged all three knockout defeats on his record. (Clint Jackson was the third.) Maldonado had fair power, but nothing like what Duran, Hearns, Hagler, McCallum and SRL brought to the table. Based on the Maldonado knockdown, I'm not convinced Tony had the chin to hang with championship caliber bangers.
If he had been castrated at th age of 12, he might have stayed focused,then again he would most certainly not have had all that aggresion in him,pity he couldn't keep it just for his male opponents. The guy betrayed his family , his wife , who supported him ,and, ultimately himself ,he is a bag of **** and I am sick of seeing his f*****g name on here.
x2. It's not even like Tyson, who actually proved himself. Here is a guy that was a fairly touted prospect, fair enough. Looks crude on film, never amounted to anything, and commited some seriously wrong offences. This wasn't taking advantage, but breaking into someones house and raping them at knifepoint. ****.
Maldonado was being interviewed by Sal Marciano and Al Bernstein on ESPN, and they burst out laughing when Mario brought this up. He just smiled smugly and reiterated that he was "out of shape," preventing him from following up effectively. As for Tony, when did he ever look like he was in any kind of shape? Like another Tony, Galento, Ayala was a fat boy with a big hook. (Bernstein also laughed when Roger Stafford said, "I want Pipino Cuevas!" Al seemed to think Stafford needed to be institutionalized.) Ayala-Maldonado II might have been very entertaining though. Mario didn't shy away from rematches, and Tony certainly would have taken him seriously in a return go. Maldonado obviously reversed his debut outcome against Dodger Leonard in dramatic fashion.
And Tony Ayala KO'd Roger Leonard in sparring, and it wasn't a second time. Kudos to Mario for having the balls to take Tony on again, but the result would've been the same. Maybe Mario lasts a little longer, but Tony's power and aggression would've been too much for him to overcome. Same for Duran, Benitez and Hearns if they ever took him on.
Yes, and I never said I believe Maldonado could have prevailed. Based on other matches of his that I viewed, I think Mario caught lightning in a bottle when he floored Tony, and I never saw him hurt an opponent like that again. However, it certainly was not a flash knockdown, but of a type which leads me to question how well his chin could hold up at the championship level. Davey Moore was a smart and tough kid with heart who could punch, and proved himself a viable champion at 154 before Duran came along. Guiden, Kalule and Weir were respectable title defense stoppages, and he certainly didn't choke against Mihara (in Tokyo) or Benitez. It's no given that Ayala would have taken his title, despite the widespread hype. Moore only lost to championship caliber competition while stopping three titlists himself. Tony knows that he has only himself to blame for the fact we never got to find out if he measured up. Cuevas never touched Hearns, but he started fast against Duran to no avail, and his power was far more proven against world class competition. I look at Duran-Cuevas and Duran-Palomino, and don't see how Ayala has any more success taking Roberto inside and testing his body. I could see Tony having success against Benitez, but have a hard time envisioning him reaching Hearns before Tommy drops the hammer. I never felt he was as elusive as Duran was in Montreal.
Duodenum, have you seen the Ayala/Campas fight? Its a sleep classic, really good slugfest with some subtle infighting skill shown from both guys. I loved seeing a tough, unappreciated fight anyone guy like Yory break him down and take his 0. If I'm remembering correctly Campas made him cry.
just checked out his wikipedia entry, it's hilarious. basically it says -decent prospect -dundee thought he could be champ -assault -heroin -**** -assault -jail -ass kicked -assault+**** -jail for heroin and porn what a legend