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Art of Boxing Series: Paulie Ayala
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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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.
The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.
Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.
The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.
An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.
Moses Itauma
Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.
His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.
Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.
Bohachuk-Davis
In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.
Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.
Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.
Fisher-Allen
In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.
Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.
In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.
He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Other Bouts of Note
In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.
A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.
In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.
McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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