What If Tony Ayala Never Went Inside..?

[mickey malone]

I always wondered how well Ayala would have done if he wasn't a serial offender out of the ring.. Would he have been in the mix with the big 4 of Hagler, Hearns, Duran & Leonard.. Or would he have met fellow light middles, Benitez, McCallum, Jackson & Mugabe..

How good was Ayala?

If he was good enough to compete with the above, then I think we've missed out on some classics..
After 18 years inside, he was still able to KO mediocre opposition & you could see flashes of what could have been..

Your thoughts, and/or any interesting stories please..

[talip bin osman]

if ayala never went inside then us fans would have been gifted with a likely match between him & duran...

one mean warrior against another...

[mickey malone]

if ayala never went inside then us fans would have been gifted with a likely match between him & duran...

one mean warrior against another...

A virtual certainty.. That would have been something else.. A 50/50 fight at 154.. 50/50 is how I'd have seen it at the time..

[GJC]

I always wondered how well Ayala would have done if he wasn't a serial offender out of the ring.. Would he have been in the mix with the big 4 of Hagler, Hearns, Duran & Leonard.. Or would he have met fellow light middles, Benitez, McCallum, Jackson & Mugabe..

How good was Ayala?

If he was good enough to compete with the above, then I think we've missed out on some classics..
After 18 years inside, he was still able to KO mediocre opposition & you could see flashes of what could have been..

Your thoughts, and/or any interesting stories please..

Wasn't he scheduled to meet Moore instead of Duran before his "trouble"
I saw him on a few undercards and he did look the part if a little raw.
Him against Duran would have been interesting for sure, re the other fighters its got to be one of the great what ifs I guess.
From what I understand about this guy though it does sound like the best place for him was inside so not a huge loss in the scheme of things.

[Silencers]

Ayala was a natural in the ring, he looked like he was at home in there. He carried his left hand a little low though and I'm sure a higher level of opposition would've taken advantage of that but he was a ferocious fighter and knew how to get his opponents out of there when he got them hurt.

I think he would've lost to the fabulous four, Duran, Hearns, Leonard and Hagler but he would've made them fight every second of every round, and who knows? With more development he might have been able to beat Duran because Duran was a bit erratic at that point of his career, Ayala might have been able to catch Duran on one of his off nights.

Benitez would've been a bad stylisitic matchup for Ayala but Ayala might have fought Benitez when Benitez started to slide around '83 so Ayala probably would've won that one.

I think McCallum would've beaten him but Jackson and Mugabe would've been even fights, Ayala's chin was largely untested during his youth even though he did get knocked down once, he took some big shots from Yory Boy Campas and didn't go down, Campas isn't as big a puncher but it shed some light on Ayala's chin.

Tony Ayala Jr. was a big 'what if' in the world of boxing. The guy had phenomenal talent.

[mickey malone]

Wasn't he scheduled to meet Moore instead of Duran before his "trouble"
I saw him on a few undercards and he did look the part if a little raw.
Him against Duran would have been interesting for sure, re the other fighters its got to be one of the great what ifs I guess.
From what I understand about this guy though it does sound like the best place for him was inside so not a huge loss in the scheme of things.

Yes, he was due to face Moore.. But Davey went on to fight Duran instead.. I think Ayala would have done a similar job on Moore to be honest..
He was a scum bag though.. He was a man with no morales or concience.. Ayala treated everyone the same, like dogs, & that was irrespective of whether he liked you or not.. Prison is the best place for him, & it's yet another sad story of what could have been.. I understand he's currently back doing more time & is obviously a genuine bad ass who won't learn & can't be helped..

[mickey malone]

Ayala was a natural in the ring, he looked like he was at home in there. He carried his left hand a little low though and I'm sure a higher level of opposition would've taken advantage of that but he was a ferocious fighter and knew how to get his opponents out of there when he got them hurt.

I think he would've lost to the fabulous four, Duran, Hearns, Leonard and Hagler but he would've made them fight every second of every round, and who knows? With more development he might have been able to beat Duran because Duran was a bit erratic at that point of his career, Ayala might have been able to catch Duran on one of his off nights.

Benitez would've been a bad stylisitic matchup for Ayala but Ayala might have fought Benitez when Benitez started to slide around '83 so Ayala probably would've won that one.

I think McCallum would've beaten him but Jackson and Mugabe would've been even fights, Ayala's chin was largely untested during his youth even though he did get knocked down once, he took some big shots from Yory Boy Campas and didn't go down, Campas isn't as big a puncher but it shed some light on Ayala's chin.

Tony Ayala Jr. was a big 'what if' in the world of boxing. The guy had phenomenal talent.

Your post is spot on as to how I see it... Benitez slid rapidly after losing to Hearns, & would have probably lost to Ayala around that time..