tony ayala jr

Tony Ayala Jr. would have been one of boxing's greatest fighters ever IMO. From the age of 8 onward, he NEVER lost a fight. He battered and bloodied a WW champion Cuevas at a mere 14 years of age, and did likewise to Davey Moore and Bobby Czyz, among others. Tony Ayala had an exceptional combination of immense raw talent, freakish power and an intense rage, which unfortunately contributed to his inability to stay out of trouble outside the ring. He had also been boozing and hyping on heroin since before age 12.

I believe Tony would've destroyed just about any Jr. MW who got into the ring with him. I do think had what it took to beat Hagler. I'm unsure about peak Hagler, however post-Hearns, Tony could definitely best that version. With all that power, rage and extraordinary talent rolled into one, Tony Ayala Jr. was virtually unstoppable.

 

Does anyone have footage / link to footage of Ayala Jr? Youtube has none, he sounds like a fighter worth watching.

 

I wish!

 

Were none of his pre-prison fights recorded?

Even some to see a faded version of himself, during his comeback would be better then nothing.

 

Here's a link to a DVD site.

http://silversurfer91.homestead.com/compilationtapes.html

Of course I recommend the pre-prison DVD's, post-prison he wasn't even a shell of the tiger he once was.

 

Definitely had all the tools to become a world champion, and he probably would have won a belt. He was set to face Davey Moore for Moore's jr Middleweight title when he ended up getting in trouble and locked up. He probably would of beat guys like Moore, but guys like Hagler and Hearns would have taken him apart. Ayala was in many ways like a young Mike Tyson, in that he fought with alot of rage and ferocity, hit hard, and had alot of guys intimidated before the bell even rang. No way he would intimidate or overpower guys like Hagler,Hearns,Mike McCallum, or even an inshape Duran.

 

I was really hoping the Duran/Ayala fight would happen.

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The only one of those guys I see him possibly losing to would be Hagler-more specifically, pre-Hearns Hagler.

Hearns might pull out an upset on a given night, however I think Tony is more likely to win, given his unrelenting body attack, so typical of what Hagler and Barkley employed against him.

 

These are great fighters you're talking about. Ayala was a powerful, relentless puncher but he was also very crude. He telegraphed a lot of his wide shots and was wide open for counters. Hagler would destroy him within 5 rounds. Hearns would jab him to death and take him out with a big right hand at the time of his choosing. McCallum would systematically pick him apart and rip him to his not ripped midsection and stop him in the later rounds. What would Duran do to him? Just watch Duran versus Moore to get an idea. You're talking about a 21 year old, unproven fighter. Sparring with Cuevas, or fighting Robbie Epps or Tony Chiavarini or whoever the hell else he fought in no way prepared him to face, let alone beat these great fighters.These guys earned their legacies in the ring. Ayala is more of an urban legend.

 

"Hearns might pull out an upset on a given night"

Dude, get serious. You can go on about Ayala all you want, but when you start disrespecting legends, somebody's going to call you on it.

 

A few things. Hagler headhunted vs Hearns more than anything, and body punching had little to do with anything. Secondly, Barkley barely landed a punch to the body in their fight that mattered most, the first. Truth be told he did bugger all in attack before the big one.

 

I don't buy any of the hype about him.

He may have turned out to be a good fighter but the garbage laxpdx goes on with about him is quite annoying.

He'd beat Hagler or Hearns would he? Based on what? Wins over Epps or Curtis Ramsey? Get ****ing real.

All he was was a promising fighter who as stated by natonic (great post by the way) was pudgy,winged his punches and had a sloppy defense.He got dropped and badly hurt by Mario Maldanado who couldn't punch which shows a vulnerability that would've got exposed as his quality of opposition rose.

I personally believe his career would've been probably similar to John Mugabi.He'd have been a beast against lower echelon fighters but he would've fallen way short against the elite.

Fighters of the ilk of Hearns,Hagler,McCallum,Duran,Jackson or even Norris would've all beaten him handily had he been around to fight them imo.

 

You would consider Tommy Hearns beating Tony Ayala an upset? Ayala never fought that level of opponent before he went away. He would never walk through guys like that. That is the thing we unfortunately will never find out. How would he have done when he went in there with guys who were not intimidated by him, guys that had world championship experience, who would eventually become Hall of Famers. How would he react when he hit guys with his best shots and it didn't bother them, and they had an answer for everything he threw their way. That is when a fighter needs a strong mental makeup and had to dig deep. Not certain if Ayala had that in him, based on some of the things he did in life.