Art of Boxing Series: Paulie Ayala

Published

5 years ago

April 15, 2020

Few could battle in the pocket like Paulie Ayala the Texan from “Cow Town” U.S.A. His pit bull mentality and ability to apply pressure to the best prizefighters in his weight class launched him to recognition as the Fighter of the Year in 1999.

Ayala also participated in the Fight of the Year in 1999.

Though Ayala only fought 12 years professionally he engaged in many pivotal and exciting battles against the best bantamweights and featherweights in the world. Despite only 12 knockouts in 38 prize fights, his ability to catch and hit kept the bigger sluggers off balance.

“I went in there and took their wills,” said Ayala.

The rugged fighting Texan was literally brought up with boxing gloves as an infant but was a reluctant fighter as he grew older. Early on he understood the discipline needed to succeed in a sport that has no pity.

“I started doing exhibitions when I was about four years old. My dad’s cousin Paul Reyes had a boxing club called UAW. On that club he had Bruce Curry, Donald Curry, he had a bunch of good fighters,” said Ayala about the Union of Auto Workers Gym in Fort Worth, Texas. “My brother would box and I was too young so they had me do exhibitions there. That’s basically how I got started into boxing.”

Because of the Curry brothers, Bruce and Donald, the gym gained early notoriety as a place for champions, especially when the American boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 forced them to become professionals earlier than anticipated.

“Paul (Reyes) started training Donald Curry,” said Ayala.

The UAW Gym was loaded with talent and it was Ayala’s introduction to prizefighting. And later in the 1980s another gym popped up and that was loaded too.

“In the mid-80s David Gorman had a big stable of fighters. There were four world champions, Robin Blake was ranked, Donald Curry was ranked and was world champion. Stevie Cruz was champion when he beat Barry McGuigan. Troy Dorsey beat Manuel Medina and he was champion. Gene Hatcher beat Ubaldo Sacco (WBA super lightweight world title in December 1984) during that time. And I was in the gym with the amateur team and I got to train with all of them guys. I got to see a lot of stuff. It was pretty stacked,” said Ayala who was a young amateur during that time.

As he grew older he often sparred with the pros especially when they were getting ready for big fights. Looking back at his amateur period Ayala realized that his style was not suited for the quick pace of amateur boxing.

“I was so slow, I started slow. It was hard to adapt in the amateurs because it was so fast. So now when I look back I realize I didn’t have a lot of lateral movement. I didn’t have a lot of head movement. But I was good at catching punches and countering. And I threw a lot of punches,” said Ayala of his amateur career. “That’s how I was able to beat a lot of guys who were really slick boxers and had good movement. I was always able to wear them down in those three rounds. That’s how I knew if I had more than three rounds I could definitely do better as a pro.”

Still, Ayala found success as an amateur despite flaunting a slower pro style of defense and attack.

“I fought Sharmba Mitchell in the Junior Olympics. I fought David Santos he was out of Florida. I fought Frank Toledo in the Junior Olympics. I fought Eddie Cook. I fought some pretty top guys,” remembers Ayala. “When it came to nationals it was either Texas or California. To me, a lot of the pressure fighters come out of Texas. Not too many that move well on their feet. Not as much as the east coast.”

As an amateur in the talent-laden area of Fort Worth, the Texas southpaw found himself often sparring rock-hard professionals. And was indecisive on whether to pursue success as an amateur or become a professional.

“When I graduated from high school, I was kind of burnt out a little bit but I was also enjoying my senior year in high school. I was uncertain of looking at the boxing aspect of going pro. I said ‘I don’t know if I want to go pro, am I ready for that?’ remembers Ayala. “When I was 16, I was already sparring Troy Dorsey and Steve Cruz when they were getting ready for fights. I was coming on a weekend to spar with them on a Saturday. I learned a lot real fast. And I learned how serious the game is for the pros. I didn’t know if I was that committed. I was young and I behaved like a young guy.”

Despite the indecisiveness Ayala was successful as an amateur.

“I kind of was just playing around with boxing in 88 and 89. After 89 I made it to the nationals in Golden Gloves and I really never trained 100 percent but I was able to compete at a pretty good level. So whenever I came back and I lost to the champions, I was not really impressed with the guys that beat me,” said Ayala realizing that he lost because of subpar preparation. “It’s not like they beat me. They didn’t really beat me, they won. So I just stepped away from boxing and decided to go to community college because I was not 100 percent serious.”

For a year and a half Ayala stayed away from boxing.

“Life Goes by Pretty Fast”

But in 1991, a former foe he had faced became a world champion and that opened Ayala’s eyes to the opportunities he might be missing.

“In 1991 I saw Eddie Cook win the world title and he was one of the last guys I fought. And I was like, that’s awesome, I’m happy for him,” said Ayala. “I was coming to the realization that life goes by pretty fast and I just didn’t want to look back and not give it a shot and be uncertain on whether I was able to be a champion.”

Ayala returned to the competitive amateur boxing world and decided to compete for a spot on the US Olympic team headed for Barcelona in 1992.

“So around July of 91 I decided to try and qualify for the 92 Olympics. In six months I made it to the US championship and I lost to a guy in the finals named John Fletcher of the Navy. But what that did was qualify me to be on the US Team. So, they sent me to Russia. And it qualified me for the Olympic trials and I fought the Golden Gloves national champion and I stopped him. Then I fought Fletcher and I beat him. Then I fought Sergio Reyes in the finals and I lost to him,” said Ayala of his Olympic dream.

Reyes would make the Olympic team that included Oscar De La Hoya who would be the only American to win a gold medal.

Ayala decided to become a professional.

“So instead of going to the box offs I turned pro. By then I was already committed so I turned pro,” said Ayala. “My pops would help me most of the time. For the most part it was just different trainers I would go to. I pretty much just had the straightforward style that was more suited for pros.”

Ayala looked around for a gym and was unaware that he was still living near a hot bed for talented fighters.

“When I turned pro I had no idea that there was still a boxing stable of pros at that time. After Gorman’s gym had close up, I didn’t realize there was some guys in Fort Worth that had a pretty good stable of fighters. Donald Curry was their front guy to recruit,” said Ayala. “They had guys like Emmett Linton, Freddie Norwood, Carl Daniels, Ike Ikeabuchi, so all these guys were here in Fort Worth. So, I signed with them and I was a sparring partner for Freddie Norwood for a long time. They put me into the lion’s den. I learned how to defend myself first before I went back to offense. Because this guy was good.”

Ayala quickly realized that his boxing style needed fine-tuning especially in the pro fight world. While boxing pro world champions like Norwood and others he realized he needed to move his head more and adopt more lateral movement. Sparring was not just sparring in Fort Worth.

“When I turned pro I started working on how to move my head more. I learned how to slip punches more, even though I never got hit a lot as an amateur,” said Ayala.

The smaller gloves made a difference.

Ayala was ready to become a professional and sparring world champions on a daily basis sharpened his skills quickly.

“It helped my defense a lot sparring with these guys,” said Ayala. “Every day was a battle for survival.”

But soon he would be ready for anyone.

To be continued…….

Next in Part 2: Japan, Johnny Tapia and World Titles

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David A. Avila

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

2 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

4 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-319-Rematches-in-Las-Vegas-Cancun-and-More

Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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