BoxRec

How good could he have been if he hadnt spent all that time in prison. I heard that he was ultra talented and on his way to a title shot when he got put in the slammer. Did anyone see him fight in his early day. I saw his comeback which was rather impressive considering his age and all that time off. What did you guys think of him (besides him being a shitty rapist)?

He hit the deck a few times even against the early opposition, but was very relentless and exciting. I guess he was about to take on Roberto Duran right before he went to prison. I think Duran would have destroyed him.

Here's some food for thought: In 2000, he was shot in the shoulder by a young woman after breaking into her home.

Now what sent him to prison the first time? Breaking into a womans home and raping her for days on end. The 2000 incident most likely would have ended the same way as the original one if the woman didn't have a gun.

If you watch the HBO documentary on Ayala before his first comeback fight, he knows what he did. He apologized for it. He knows he's a piece of shit and basically said it himself.

This is really the type of animal that you lock up and throw away the key. There is no rehabilitation for these type of people.

There was an article by a boxing reporter who attended the trial when Ayala was about to get out.Apparently the brutality to the first girl was inhumane.

npal wrote:He hit the deck a few times even against the early opposition, but was very relentless and exciting. I guess he was about to take on Roberto Duran right before he went to prison. I think Duran would have destroyed him.

Here's some food for thought: In 2000, he was shot in the shoulder by a young woman after breaking into her home.

Now what sent him to prison the first time? Breaking into a womans home and raping her for days on end. The 2000 incident most likely would have ended the same way as the original one if the woman didn't have a gun.

If you watch the HBO documentary on Ayala before his first comeback fight, he knows what he did. He apologized for it. He knows he's a piece of shit and basically said it himself.

This is really the type of animal that you lock up and throw away the key. There is no rehabilitation for these type of people.

Unfortunately, There are worse people than him.

He is a human being, he has never blamed anyone else, like Tyson did.

He was a great fighter.

Some peoples lives dont stay on track.

Are you serious?He was a great fighter?He had potential,that's it.He couldn't control himself but he could control Duran,Hearns,Leonard,Hagler?
Laughable!

He put together 22 fights and looked fookin scary doing it. He didnt just knock guys out, like Tyson later he use to really whack em out, sending em flying across the ring or splattering them on the floor. He was pretty nuts even back then, spitting on fallen opponents, continuing beatings after the ref stopped the fight (these things remind you of anybody?!)

Ayala was amazingly talented, short & squat but big power and tremendous skill & technique. He was scheduled to fight Davey Moore for the world title, a guy he used to flatten in sparring sessions even with the big gloves on.

A fight between Ayala and Duran is no foregone conclusion no matter how much we hate El Torito.

UNfortunately Ayala was completely messed up in the head and got himself in the slammer for 18 years. When he came out he said he was rehabilitated and gave very eloquent interviews even if some of his answers were sometimes quite weird and he def came over sa still somewhat tapped.

Even pushing 40 he was able to really bludgeon some journeymen but quit with an injury v Yory-Boy Campas when his character was really tested.

Not long after the loss we started hearing more and more spooky stories i.e. the heroin, the house breaking, young girls, porn etc.

Our women are safer with Tony behind bars.

overhand_right wrote:Our women are safer with Tony behind bars.

A scary individual in the ring, but even more so out of the ring.

To say Ayala could have beaten Duran is just deluded.... regarding boxing skills and knowledge Duran was light years ahead of Ayala, and as well as that Ayalas style was made for Duran..... I think Davey Moore would have beaten Ayala too... Moore was and is extreamly underrated, had he been managed better he could have been a great imo...

Moore only had 12 fights and was thumbed the first round.

Tony was a big boned man, naturally stronger than Duran, younger, hungrier, harder hitting, and able to sustain a faster pace. whereas Duran held the edge in experience but even so lost one on points to an unknown Kirkland Laing following the Benitez fight.

Is there a better reason for Tony losing to Duran?

Duran lost to guys like Robbie Sims and Kirkland Laing. He could also go into his shell ala Leonard II & III and Benitez. Ayala is a very live body in a fight with Duran. He was a much bigger stronger guy than Duran, and a lot more schooled than Barkley.

Davey Moore used to get iced by Ayala in sparring with big gloves on.

Im sure Ayala would of been a world champ, his boxing was pure class.

I'm thinking if Duran didn't get to him, someone like Hearns, Moore, or McCallum would have.Plus, maybe even Benitez.

Of course we will never know what might have been because of the legal problems but Ayala was a strong powerful fighter who relied on his lethal left hook. His hook to the head or body was very powerful. He always looked pudgy and out of shape and really was never tested so it is all hypothetical at this point. I was one of the believers that he was on his way to the title. When he went to jail he had just knocked out the number 3 contender Carlos Herrera on national TV and was set for a title fight with Davey Moore or would have had to fight Duran first. They were both anticipated fights at that time. But instead we got the great Duran reinacarnation against Davey Moore in a brutal MSG classic. Tony Ayala Jr. was a good prospect and would have been in some great fights had he been a fighter instead of a criminal. He was even considered a future opponent of Marvin Hagler down the road.