Canelo has fought the better opponents. Tony Ayala was an un-fullfilled project...with the real Cuevas & Duran fights that never happened. Canelo by decision.
We never saw the best of Ayala and he never fought for a world title. Canelo has more exp and has shown a sturdy chin , decent power and boxing ability. Ayala too raw. Canelo by mid round ko.
Ayala never had the experience against top level guys to know how impressive he could be, and Canelo has the experience. I think Canelo wears him out and stops him in about 7 or 8.
It is very difficult to do hypotheticals across eras other than just an opinion of who would win. Even more difficult to gauge how Ayala might hypothetically have developed or if he even would have reached his heavily hyped potential (many do not) and without the benefit of hindsight to better evaluate Canelo. My guess is Canelo...but I should grade it incomplete for lack of sufficient evidence
