I think Ayala wins this one. Mayorga was a little overrated. He had a great personality, but his skill level was not great and Ayala could hit him and stop him in about 8 rounds.
Mayorga was a good measuring stick. He was overrated. A good fighter beat him usually. He had a good style for Vernon. I think this is a case where if Ayala was for real he beats Mayorga easily enough.
These Ayala threads get so tiresome.....The only case one can make for Ayala is based upon who he may have potentially developed into had he not wasted his own life while destroying others. Ayala had the hype and percieved potential to be what many thought would be a dominant fighter in his own era and theie was not ceiling as many excpected greatness....However at the time of his prime years being lost, he had not proved that in the ring or was just short of developing into whatever he would become. Mayorga was an entertaining but limited brawler w/ a decent chin. If I read Ayala based solely upon potential yeah, he could win this fight and have an outside shot at a stoppage.....but I am not convinced that he was a sure thing, and his last few wins don't inspire me to be overwhelmed... I would lean towards mayorga winning a decision, but ayala would be a tough contender along the way. To much supposition for me to pick ayala over any of the top tier fighters of any era.
nice post. Ayala is a guy people have to do a lot of guess work on when it comes to fighting better guys. He didn't fight the better guys for us to know anything. I agree.