Tony Ayala, school me

[Mohak]

I keep spotting his name in a lot of wasted potential threads but I don't know anything about him. Someone school me on him.

[Jack Dempsey]

Tony Ayala, born 13 February 1963, is a former junior middleweight boxer. He began his professional career in 1980, and by 1982 he had compiled a record of 22 wins and no losses, with 19 knockouts. His tough and aggressive fighting style with world class power especially in his left hook earned him the nickname "El Torito," the "Baby Bull."

On one occasion, he spit on his opponent after knocking him to the ground. He also admitted to using heroin before a fight on three occasions (his brother Mike also made allegations of using drugs before his world title fight against Danny Lopez).

In the summer of 1981, teenager Ayala was featured in a cover story of Sports Illustrated as a rising star in boxing. Veteran boxing writer Michael Katz claimed he was the best young fighter he had ever seen, Muhammad Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee said he thought Ayala could have been one of boxing's greatest fighters.

On September 14, 1981, he fought on the undercard of the legendary fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns. After defeating Carlos Herrera at the end of 1982, he was scheduled to fight champion Davey Moore.


[edit] Rape conviction
The fight was not to be. On January 1, 1983, Ayala burglarized the home of his neighbor, a young schoolteacher, and brutally sexually assaulted her. Although he was only 19 years old, Ayala had already been convicted twice of assaults against women. He had been given probation for these offenses. Under a repeat offender's law, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The prosecutor at trial argued the young boxer should serve the full term because he was a danger to the community.


[edit] Release 16 years later
Ayala was paroled from prison in 1999 and resumed his boxing career, winning six fights and losing two, the first to Yori Boy Campas.

However, his troubles with the law continued. In 2000, he was shot in the shoulder by a young woman after breaking into her home. He received probation and a brief jail term for this offense. In 2003, Ayala was charged with having sex with a thirteen year old girl, but the charges were dismissed when the girl said she lied about it. Finally, in 2004 Ayala was sentenced to ten years in prison for repeated probation violations

[Mohak]

Thanks :good

Bloody hell! Ayala was a prick!

[Thread Stealer]

His fight with Campas with a good one.

Especially seeing that waste of human life catch a beating and quit.

He should quit with his life and take a plunge off the Brooklyn Bridge.

[dmille]

There is a rumor that a 14-year old Ayala was brought in to spar with then WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas. Cuevas' people stopped the session after only one round with Cuevas having been wobbled and his mouth bloodied. Anyone know how true this is/isn't?

[Thread Stealer]

There is a rumor that a 14-year old Ayala was brought in to spar with then WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas. Cuevas' people stopped the session after only one round with Cuevas having been wobbled and his mouth bloodied. Anyone know how true this is/isn't?

There's been stories that Cuevas was in awe of how good a teenage Ayala was in sparring.

[Thread Stealer]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

An excerpt about the sparring session:

In 1992, Knockout Magazine, which was published three times per year by G.C. London Publishing Associates, released a gem of a publication about knockout artists. Included in the edition were profiles of Bob Foster, Earnie Shavers, Alfonso Zamora, Pipino Cuevas, George Foreman, and Tony Ayala Jr. Superb boxing scribe Phil Berger did a great piece on Ayala entitled “The Odyssey of Tony Ayala Jr.: The Rage of the Fighter, The Destruction of The Man.” Berger perfectly captured the essence and action of El Torito’s infamous sparring session with Cuevas.

Berger clearly pointed out that Tony Sr. was reluctant to allow his teenage son in with a brutal punching champion like Cuevas, but Tony Jr. contended that Cuevas wouldn't be able to hurt him, and insisted on the sparring match. Berger describes Tony Sr.’s version of the action after his son talked him into arranging the match.

“Well, word got out. The gym was packed that day with spectators. And for the first two rounds, it was nip and tuck, man against boy. At the end of the second round, I asked him, ‘Torito, is he hurting you?’ He says no to me, ‘he may be a world champion, but he ain’t sh** to me.’ And he went out and kicked his butt the next round.”

Naturally, a father might embellish on his son’s accomplishments, but Berger was careful and astute to mention that Tony Sr. wasn’t the only person in the gym who saw it that way.

“San Antonio fight promoter, Tony Padilla, who has had his differences with the Ayalas, was there the afternoon Cuevas and young Tony went at it. He remembers Lupe Sanchez, Pipino’s manager, saying to Cuevas afterward, ‘Aren’t you ashamed --- a 14-year-old boy doing that to you?’ And Pipino, Padilla said, was muttering ‘Increible, increible’ – which is incredible in English.”

[Duodenum]

One thing about Ayala, was that you wouldn't want to lay on the ropes against him. He'd just bury his head in his opponent's chest, and leisurely whack a crunching left hook to the body from time to time. After several of those, Ayala's opponents wouldn't be able to do anything else but continue to remain trapped there.

In one of Ayala's early matches, he got decked by Mario Maldonado in the first round. After the bell rang to end that round, Ayala reportedly kept jumping off of his stool to yell across the ring at Maldonado, "I'll kill you! Ya hear me? I'll kill you!" He took Maldonado out in three.

Chubby kid, had an utterly nondescript physique with absolutely no discernible muscle tone. During the referee's mid ring instructions, he wouldn't look at his opponent. The first inkling his victim received that let him know what he'd gotten himself into would be when he started feeing those hooks Ayala threw downstairs. Once the discovery was made that Ayala could hit with that kind of power, it was usually already too late for his opponent to do anything about it.

Unfortunately, Tony Ayala Sr. was his son's trainer. It doesn't appear that he was raised by a father however. Too bad. Tony could have used a decent father figure in his life, as could have the other Ayala boys.

[Sam Dixon]

Rape conviction
The fight was not to be. On January 1, 1983, Ayala burglarized the home of his neighbor, a young schoolteacher, and brutally sexually assaulted her. Although he was only 19 years old, Ayala had already been convicted twice of assaults against women. He had been given probation for these offenses. Under a repeat offender's law, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The prosecutor at trial argued the young boxer should serve the full term because he was a danger to the community.

One of those previous incidents of Ayala's was an actual rape conviction when it was reported that, when he was around 15 or 16 and in a drunken rage, he physically assaulted a girl/woman in a public washroom before proceeding to rape her. He originally got a ten year sentence for those particular crime (rape & aggravated assualt), but the victim wished the judge to go easy on him (maybe due to his age), so it was only a ten year probabation period that Ayala ended up getting and only for the aggravated assault charge.

[Thread Stealer]

One of those previous incidents of Ayala's was an actual rape conviction when it was reported that, when he was around 15 or 16 and in a drunken rage, he physically assaulted a girl/woman in a public washroom before proceeding to rape her. He originally got a ten year sentence for those particular crime (rape & aggravated assualt), but the victim wished the judge to go easy on him (maybe due to his age), so it was only a ten year probabation period that Ayala ended up getting and only for the aggravated assault charge.

Was that at the drive-in? I heard about that.

Disgusting. He should've been locked up a long time earlier.

[Sam Dixon]

Was that at the drive-in?

That could have very well been the case, EB, although I don't recall the exact setting being mentioned in the article (from an issue of The Ring during the early 80's when at the height of his then-potential, which I still have somewhere around here) about him that I was remembering when I put my last post through.

It was in a party type setting (or at least a place where the kids could hang out and drink), though, and with it having taken place in a public washroom, a drive-in would certainly fit the bill if I was to hazard a guess.

[Sam Dixon]

Last edited by Big Ears and a year and a half ago at that?

LOL.

[Raggamuffin]

His fight with Campas with a good one.

Especially seeing that waste of human life catch a beating and quit.

He should quit with his life and take a plunge off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Damn, every time i see that clip off Morrison-Mercer it's unbelieveble.
The ref had his head in his ass for lettin'it go on for that long

[Thread Stealer]

Damn, every time i see that clip off Morrison-Mercer it's unbelieveble.
The ref had his head in his ass for lettin'it go on for that long

Tony Perez was slow to get in there, but I think Arthur Mercante Jr. during Whitaker-Hurtado was worse.

Mercer's combo were faster, Whitaker was totally loading up on his left hand, giving Mercante plenty of time to step in, but he just stood there.

Still, the slowest stoppage ever of a defenseless fighter has to be Ike Williams-Beau Jack.

[Raggamuffin]

Tony Perez was slow to get in there, but I think Arthur Mercante Jr. during Whitaker-Hurtado was worse.

Mercer's combo were faster, Whitaker was totally loading up on his left hand, giving Mercante plenty of time to step in, but he just stood there.

Still, the slowest stoppage ever of a defenseless fighter has to be Ike Williams-Beau Jack.

Good call !!:thumbsup

[Titan1]

Wilfred Benitez would have shut Tony out, unfortunately, had they fought.

[redrooster]

Wilred wasn't the one to humble Tony. Neither was Duran. Tony would have done the same job on Wilfred that Hilton did, only earlier.

[Titan1]

I just don't see Tony suceeding if he fought a good, strong boxer. A McCallum/Hearns type.