Mustafa Hamsho vs. Tony Ayala

Another battle of the only-one-of-us-is-actually-worth-talking-about. I'd say Hamsho.

 

A 'mauling and elbowing' Mustapha Hamsho by a 'close' decision.

Much like the Hamsho vs Curtis Parker battles..

El Torito,,,,,,,,is in no way hurting the 'steel-chinned' Syrian.

 

Mustafa's physical strength and toughness does for him here what it did for him against Czyz. Tony, like Bobby, simply lacked the physical maturation to compete with a man like Hamsho at this stage, and wouldn't be able to fight effectively when getting forced back. He liked to pin a man on the ropes and dig away with his hook to the body. This would be a miserable experience for Tony, a lousy stylistic dilemma for him to deal with, getting shoved all over the ring and having his punches to the head and body off the back foot produce no discernible advantage. By round seven or eight, Mustafa would be completely swamping him.

 

Tua by late round KO...I mean, Jimmy Young makes him look foolish and, oh wait. :thinkIbeabuchi wins?

 

I tried to type Hamsho and iPhone automatically changed it to Gandhi. Therefore, I have determined all fighting is worthless and peace is the way forward.

 

Dammit Flea! Get it right, willya? This is who your iPhone was automatically changing it to!

http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=206892&cat=boxer

 

Another guy worthy of more airtime than Ayala ;-)

 

Bodyweight's about right, and this moonlighting would explain the missing teeth and shaved Jack Johnson head.:!: We know his conditioning regimen of endless walking would explain the stamina needed for all those bouts going the limit.

Rumour has it that Australians called him, "The Bloodthirsty Thresher of Death," in part due to his skeletal frame:skull, in part due to that menacing club he carried to the ring (which he disingenuously called a "walking stick,"ld but fooled nobody who watched him compete in Sydney). His true first name was "Evil" but he had to change it in order to get fights, and disguise how treacherously experienced he really was.

 

I have a soft spot for Hamsho, and think he's better and more accomplished than he's given credit for here. He defined "winning ugly," but unless your name was Marvin Hagler in the early to mid-80's, he was gonna beat you.

Ayala was a nice little prospect. At a lighter weight.

 

Being part Syrian myself, I too have a soft spot for Hamsho (along with Petey Sarron, who I'd like to see in Canastota), and Mustafa was and has remained a solid character as well, a prosperous merchant in Brooklyn after leaving boxing. (Longtime owner and operator of the M & H Deli on 14th Street in Brooklyn's Park Slope.)

Reflecting on what Hamsho did in his life outside boxing, and contrasting that with Ayala's meltdowns, it occurs to me that to even compete with Mustafa when Hamsho was at his best required considerable quality of character and composure. Tony's lack of those qualities didn't merely fail him in society, those shortcomings boiled over into the squared circle, standing up between rounds after Maldonado had decked him to scream "I'll kill you!," in retaliation, and nearly getting himself disqualified for continuing to attack Robbie Epps in a disgraceful display after the referee had halted that contest.

Wilford Scypion, a much stronger character than Ayala, similarly melted down and lost composure against both Mustafa and Hard Rock Green (much like an older and supposedly more mature El Torito did after Campos stopped him). It's a sharp contrast to Hamsho's brave and noble comportment in his gutsy first challenge of Hagler, and his emotional tribute to mentor Paddy Flood after his defeat of Benitez. If Hamsho-Ayala comes down to heart, composure and character, Tony doesn't have a single intangible going for him.

For anybody who's a gridiron fan, Tony Ayala, Jr. was boxing's answer to the NFL's Ryan Leaf, Art Schlichter and Quincy Carter. Might as well talk about how great they MIGHT have become capable of being as quarterbacks. With the issues these four individuals have, greatness or championship achievement simply never could have happened.

 

A great slugfest for sure. One of the best ones ever, in fact.

Inevitably, it comes down to Hamsho's tendency to cut, and Torito's superior power.

Hamsho gets the worst of this dogfight, for the reasons listed above.

 

Mustafa was only halted on cuts in the first match with Hagler out of 51 total career bouts. (In fact, off-hand I don't recall him being ever cut or swollen at all off-hand aside from that anomaly.)

Laxpdx, you're the expert on Tony. Did he EVER stop an opponent on cuts? Because I can't find any indication that he did this in any of his 27 stoppage wins.

Scypion (once voted the hardest punching MW in the division by KO Magazine after killing Willie Classen), powerful future HW Czyz, powerful LHW LaLonde at his peak, the powerful Minter (who like Scypion killed an opponent, in Alan's case, Angelo Jacopucci) and Curtis Parker 2X couldn't stop Hamsho with their power. How does a 154 pounder like the young El Torito pull it off where these blocks of granite failed? (And Hamsho was only stopped in his first challenge of Hagler because of those anomalous cuts.)

 

Cuts inflicted or not, Tony had the arsenal to blast opponents out really quick. That powerful left he landed on Steve Gregory for a 3rd round stoppage (the same guy who took Ayub Kalule the distance) was a perfect strike. However, Tony's real specialty was the withering body assault, with which he mercilessly broke opponents down.
As a rule of thumb, nothing is more damaging to a fighter than a brutal body bashing. Marciano's opponents can attest.

I didn't necessarily mean Hamsho would get KO'd, but I do think he would get the worst of it, either through facial cuts like the ones Hagler inflicted, or through severely bruised ribs, which Tony also gave Bobby Czyz in sparring sessions.

 

Mustapha would be too strong and relentless over the distance. Also, he was scared of no man in the ring and one of Tony's biggest weapons was the fear he instilled in his opponents. Wouldn't work in this case. Hamsho by decision.