Boxing Greatest Ever Prospect. (Tony Ayala Jr)

[Southpaw16BF]

Tony Ayala Jr is belived to be the best prospect of all time, here is footage of him and a article written about him.


Here he is at 16 years of age winning the National Golden Gloves defeating Lamont Kirkland, who would win them the next year. Kirkland was a big punching LHW in the pro ranks.


Here is footage from him as a pro

[Southpaw16BF]

In the December 1982 edition of The Ring Magazine, Ayala made the front cover of the magazine, which is pretty rare for a prospect to make the front cover of the The Ring. Here it is



When you read the article you will find out a pretty unbelivable story, about how a 14 year old Tony Ayala Jr had a Sparring session with then WBA Welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas.

Cuevas was running out of sparring parthers as he was destroying them, and he was known for breaking bones bones in sparring. This didn't phase Ayala as him and Cuevas had a heated session, and Ayala would come out on top in the session.

Cuevas's manager said to him after shound't you be ashamed a 14 year old boy doing that to you,and Cuevas replied Increible, increible??which is incredible in English.?br />
You will find more about it in the article, the article is a must read.

[Verstyle]

I hear the ppl that go to his dad's gym now are really ****y. I was going to go train there at a time.

[Kc-hoodsta]

i always liked tony ayala jr

i remember he cried after yory boy campas retired him.

[Kc-hoodsta]

but i hear that his family are really conceited. ayala jr. had a bright future ahead of him but like many young minority fighters they let their fame get to their head and ruin everything.

[Steak]

isnt his cousin or something Paulie Ayala?

anyways, he was a nutcase, much worse than Tyson or Ibeabuchi. its sort of a good thing he never got the big fights, he would have cracked eventually. he had no respect for anyone, not even inside the ring. used to spit on opponents after the fight, was a dirty fighter, etc.

as a fighter, you could tell the guy was dangerous. whats surprising about him to me is that he doesnt fight like a young fighter. he fights like a slightly past prime, highly skilled veteran. I get the feeling he didnt train much, and based on his body style I think he could have made as low as 135lbs if decided to try and lose the weight.

[Yogi]

Tony Ayala Jr is belived to be the best prospect of all time

Just because one guy wrote an article stating his opinion that Ayala was that it doesn't make it the generally accepted opinion, because the truth is Ayala wasn't even the standout prospect of the early 80's according to the boxing writers and followers back then, who always lumped him together with Edwin Rosario for their then-prospects for the future.

Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, World Boxing, etc...It was quite common when talking about one and their future for the writers to say something along the lines of; "along with Rosario, Ayala is one of the two best prospects in boxing" or "Rosario is considered the hottest prospect in boxing alongside Ayala" and things of that nature.

Generally speaking, one wasn't considered a greater prospect than the other, as both were thought to have very bright and equally great futures in the sport, and when you aren't even the standout prospect of your own era (81-82) it'd be tough convincing anybody that you're somehow the standout prospect covering all eras of boxing history. It doesn't equate.

[Southpaw16BF]

isnt his cousin or something Paulie Ayala?

anyways, he was a nutcase, much worse than Tyson or Ibeabuchi. its sort of a good thing he never got the big fights, he would have cracked eventually. he had no respect for anyone, not even inside the ring. used to spit on opponents after the fight, was a dirty fighter, etc.

as a fighter, you could tell the guy was dangerous. whats surprising about him to me is that he doesnt fight like a young fighter. he fights like a slightly past prime, highly skilled veteran. I get the feeling he didnt train much, and based on his body style I think he could have made as low as 135lbs if decided to try and lose the weight.

Ayala was always a wild man, and yes much worse than Tyson. Thats another reason what made him so special was he didn't fight like a prospect he fought like a vetran and could do most styles including the cross over gurad. He wasn't green like most prospects are today. Which is very rare.

And yes you are right he didn't like to train much and admitted that he never really had much love for the sport, and said he use to have to come of drugs weeks before the fight which is pretty incredible.

But i don't know about making 135, don't just judge of his body shape because there may have been a little puppy fat on him. He had very broad shoulders and was a thick set and i think 154 was a good weight for him he was very strong. Bull like strength.

But he can't be blamed entirely for the way he was acting he had one of the roughest childhoods you could ever think of, and never had any role models who could show him the right way, but still it no excuse for the way he behaved.

Before he was jailed, he was set for showdowns with either Roberto Duran or then current WBA 154 Champion Davey Moore.

Lou Douva cried for days when Ayala was sentenced to 35 years in prision, as he said Ayala could of been one of the best of all time. He still gets a lump in his throat when talking about Ayala.

Angelo Dundee says Ayala was the best prospect he ever seen and could of been one of the greats.

When wasted talent is talked about Tony Ayala Jr will always come into my mind. What a talent.

[Southpaw16BF]

Just because one guy wrote an article stating his opinion that Ayala was that it doesn't make it the generally accepted opinion, because the truth is Ayala wasn't even the standout prospect of the early 80's according to the boxing writers and followers back then, who always lumped him together with Edwin Rosario for their then-prospects for the future.

Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, World Boxing, etc...It was quite common when talking about one and their future for the writers to say something along the lines of; "along with Rosario, Ayala is one of the two best prospects in boxing" or "Rosario is considered the hottest prospect in boxing alongside Ayala" and things of that nature.

Generally speaking, one wasn't considered a greater prospect than the other, as both were thought to have very bright and equally great futures in the sport, and when you aren't even the standout prospect of your own era (81-82) it'd be tough convincing anybody that you're somehow the standout prospect covering all eras of boxing history. It doesn't equate.

Maybe some people did think it was Edwin Rosario, but this article isn't alone in thinking Ayala was the best prospect of all time. The legendary Angelo Dundee also had the same opinion.

And i didn't see Edwin Rosario making the front of Ring Magazine's or Boxing Illustrated covers as a prospect.

Edwin Rosario was a very good fighter in his prime and punched very hard. But I think overall Ayala was the better fighter and if he would of been allowed to continue would of done more than Rosario.

And every year when Ring Magazine does awards, and one award is called Tony Ayala Jr Wasted Talent award. So in my mind he is the ''Best'' prospect of all time, but if you disagree thats fine every is allowed there own opinion.

And by many Tony Ayala Jr is considered the biggest waste of talent and the best prospect of all time.

[TheGreatA]

isnt his cousin or something Paulie Ayala?

anyways, he was a nutcase, much worse than Tyson or Ibeabuchi. its sort of a good thing he never got the big fights, he would have cracked eventually. he had no respect for anyone, not even inside the ring. used to spit on opponents after the fight, was a dirty fighter, etc.

as a fighter, you could tell the guy was dangerous. whats surprising about him to me is that he doesnt fight like a young fighter. he fights like a slightly past prime, highly skilled veteran. I get the feeling he didnt train much, and based on his body style I think he could have made as low as 135lbs if decided to try and lose the weight.

He could have probably made the welterweight limit but I don't know about 135 lbs.

It's ridiculous though that some people think he could've competed against Hagler (and the other members of Fab 4) but then again Hagler himself was very impressed by Ayala's boxing ability. He commentated on some of Ayala Jr's early pro fights and complimented him but in truth Ayala was nowhere near ready to take on a fighter like Hagler and probably never would've been, prison or not.

I certainly don't regard him as one of the greatest prospects ever. Rosario was atleast as impressive at the time, in my opinion even more so. He was actually knocking out good competition, the same can't be said for Ayala.