Unlike Jackson, Benn has a good chin and has tremendous power. as well as boxing ability. This combination would be too much for Ayala. Ayala would get in his licks, but not enough too wear down Benn. The brutal pace would in effect wear down Ayala, And Benn would finish the job about the eighth or ninth round. Benn TKO 9.
At what weight? At 160 and over I'd take Benn. Ayala was a very good 154 prospect but Benn was a proven champion at 160 and 168.
Benn knockouts out Ayala in 5 who did Tony beat who even compares to Nigel yet Benn took McClellan shots who was a much, much harder puncher and won.
Wishful thinking of fighters fulfilling their "potential" grounded in nothing but a fans mind gets disgusting after a while. Benn proved himself, a dozen times over. Ayala proved jack diddly ****, and he never, EVER showed he could do anything at the world level. Boy, I sure wouldn't know who to put my money on.
Benn showed a bit of dog in the Collins fights, but pre Collins he showed more heart in his little finger than Ayala showed in his career. Benn as mentioned by most above was also not without ability. It does not matter if it was face first power punching 80s Benn; or almost cutie mid 90s Benn, the Dark Destroyer wins....
I think both would hit the canvas, but in the end.... Tony hits the canvas for about 5 minutes. Benn KO 4.
It is a good fight. A great fight. The thing which makes me pick Benn is that we know more about him at the higher level than Ayala. Tony had potential, but really do not know how good he was. I think he would have been sort of like Matthew Hilton. Great for a year or two and then losing his title to a no name guy like Bam Bam Hines like Hilton did. In a fight with Benn I pick Benn just on Benn fighting more top notch guys, but Benn's chin was not great.
Watch a few vids of Ayala, he is very raw and leaves himself wide open. Hard puncher, but skill wins the day.