Young Tony Ayala vs Lupe Aquino

I saw Tony Ayala come this-close to getting knocked-out in the
1st Round by Mario Maldonado.
He was really a small guy.
Was well-protected on his way up.
Lupe Aquino a tough 'hombre'.
Latin Lupe by an 8th Round Knock-out.

Then walks over and punches Lou Duva in the mouth, while Lou is complaining in the
middle of the ring that Lupe cheated, and Tony should have an immediate re-match,
and the fight should be ruled a no-contest, as this will ruin all his big plans for Tony Jr.
And if NBC wants another Ayala fight, they will end this now , because Tony is
supposed to win the Junior Middleweight Championship, and I'm Lou Duva.

 

A classic match here. Neither Ayala or Aquino ever achieved greatness in the ring, but at least Aquino won the WBC 154 lb. title and held it for a few months in 1987...

A hard war to solve... But I'll go with Ayala since Aquino was merely good, but nothing special... Ayala KO's Aquino late......

MR.BILL

 

duranimal,

Yes, I met Tony Ayala Jr. In an elevator at Resorts International Casino in Atlantic City, NJ.
He came into the elevator with Lou Duva. What suprised me is that, Tony 'El Torito'
was really small, 5' 7", and didn't look some wild animal.
He looked like a frightened kid, as backed up against the corner in the elevator.

 

*I knew Ayala... hahah, he's not freightened, i'll tell u that. He's a small guy..always pudgy in the midsection ... didn't look like a fighter at all... but thrw a punch at him and it's your ass...
*As a pro,Ayala was just starting to grow up... he was only going to get stronger... the sky was the limit for Ayala... o way,no how Aquino even had a chance...
*Ayala almost got Ko'ed by Miranda? If i remember correctly, Ayala told the ref he was going to kill Miranda when he got up... Ayala preceded to Give Miranda a beating, then spit on him...
8Ayala once fought a guy..Robbie Epps... a freind of the family(at one time)... Epps bad mouthed Ayala and family... Epps had a good record..was a good fighter... Ayala beat him like he stole something... 1st round Ko... and Ayala said he would .

 

Another Carlos Herrera for Tony. Lupe is flattened.

 

Robbie Epps, a slick-boxer who couldn't break an egg.
Did get caught cold, and the fight was stopped.
Absolutely a good Knock-out win.

The Ayala-Maldonado fight was on the undercard of the Ray Leonard-Larry Bonds fight.
Up in the Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York.
Ayala was much talked about as the next Junior Middleweight Star.
Reports of him beating up Pipino Cuevas in a sparring session.
And that he would Knock-Out; Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Ray Leonard and
Marvin Hagler.
Mario Maldonado embarrassed him on National TV, and nearly knocked him out.
Mario was one-punch away from a First Round KO.
Now Maldonadao was no world-beater, or big-punch Knock-out artist.
A year later, Ayala was struggling with a 10-Round decision win against over-blown Junior Welterweight
Curtis Ramsey.
After that fight, Mustafa Hamsho said he would fight Ayala anytime, anyplace and anywhere, even in his own
living room with his family members as judges.

 

Prospective dream matchupe involivng Ayala are hard to guage because we never saw him fully develop. He only fought for 2.5 years as a pro before f&#king up and going to prison. Then, the post prison Ayala was in his late '30s and it was obviously impossible to compare that version of Ayala with what he would have been in his prime. So it is really impossible to say if he would have beaten, Hearns, Leonard, Hagler, etc. because he was still improving when he went to jail. But, could he beat Acquino? Based, on tapes I've seen of 1981-1082 Ayala, and my memory of watching Aquino, yes. Ayala was very agreessive and strong, with fast hands and could power. His defense was so-so and his chin was good, but not great. He did recover fast when hurt, however. Acquino was agressive and strong, but with limited punching power, but a very good chin. So, basically this would be a war, with neither fighter really getting hurt. I see Ayalo's faster hands being the difference. Ayala wins a 10 round decision.

 

boza81,

Great analogy,
If he could, it would have been better for El Torito to shoot for a
Welterweight title at 147 lbs. first.
Donald Curry, Milton McCrory and the likes.

 

Ayala always had that pudgy look around his girth at 154, but whined early on that 147 was too lean for him... Who knows? And, later on during his comeback, them 160+ pounds looked porky as hell on him...

I'd still like to get a copy of his KO loss to Bosante on ESPN....

MR.BILL

 

Aquino did have a lot of power in both hands and put together nice combinations.

Good dangerous offensive fighter, but an unpolished sloppy talent otherwise.He's another who was let down by his lack of dedication.

 

You know,
Tony Ayala versus Curtis Parker at 156 lbs. would have been a great war.

 

or Ayala v. James "Hard Rock" Green. Green had a little better defense than Parker so may have been more competitve v. Ayala.

 

Parker seemed to fall apart and go off the radar after getting waxed by Mugabi...

MR.BILL