Paulie Ayala (born April 22, 1970) is a
MexicanThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
-
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
former boxer wand two time world champion. Ayala is a born-again
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, and he professed so by thanking God for his success after virtually every fight. Ayala was promoted by
Bob ArumRobert "Bob" Arum is professional boxing promoter. He also worked for the US Attorneys Office for the southern district of New York, in the Tax division....
. He was born in
Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the seventeenth-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city within the state of Texas. Located in and a cultural gateway into the American West, the city covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, and Denton counties, serving as the county seat for Tarrant...
.
Ayala began his professional fighting career with a six round decision win over Jaime Olvera on November 27, 1992. He had seven fights in 1993, including one against veteran Jesse Magana.
Paulie Ayala (born April 22, 1970) is a
MexicanThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
-
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
former boxer wand two time world champion. Ayala is a born-again
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, and he professed so by thanking God for his success after virtually every fight. Ayala was promoted by
Bob ArumRobert "Bob" Arum is professional boxing promoter. He also worked for the US Attorneys Office for the southern district of New York, in the Tax division....
. He was born in
Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the seventeenth-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city within the state of Texas. Located in and a cultural gateway into the American West, the city covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, and Denton counties, serving as the county seat for Tarrant...
.
Ayala began his professional fighting career with a six round decision win over Jaime Olvera on November 27, 1992. He had seven fights in 1993, including one against veteran Jesse Magana. He won all seven, four by
knockoutA knockout is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
. Magana himself was knocked out in the fourth round by Ayala.
In 1994, he won all four of his bouts, including one over veteran Lee Cargle. Cargle was beaten by Ayala with a knockout in round three.
1995 was a productive year for the young fighter. He won all five of his fights, including his first championship bout: He beat Mike Espinoza by knockout in three at Ft. Worth to claim the regional,
North American Boxing Federation (NABF) Bantamweight title. He also defended that title twice before the end of the year, beating
Mario DiazMario Rafael Díaz Torres is a former Major League Baseball infielder. He played from -....
and Sergio Millan, both by decision in 12 rounds.
In 1996, he only had two fights, both of them successful defenses of his regional belt: He knocked out Roland Gomez in seven rounds, and defeated Ivan Alvarez by decision in twelve.
He began 1997 by defeating
Famosito Gomez by decision in twelve, once again retaining his belt. He won three more bouts that year, including a five round knockout over Roberto Lopez to retain the regional belt.
At the beginning of 1998, Ayala was already very close to a world championship bout. After winning two more bouts, he received his first chance at becoming world champion, when he travelled to
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to challenge the
WBCThe World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
world Bantamweight champion
Joichiro TatsuyoshiJoichiro Tatsuyoshi is a former World Boxing Council world bantamweight champion from Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan...
on August 23. In a confusing outcome, Ayala lost that fight by a knockout in round seven, after the fight was stopped due to profuse bleeding by the challenger. While some said that the cut was produced by a punch, others said that it was actually produced by a headbutt (in which case they would have had to check the scorecards and declare the leading fighter winner by technical decision), but that the referee decided that the cut had been produced by a punch only because Tatsuyoshi was the local fighter. In any case, Ayala left his status as an undefeated fighter in Japan the night he fought Tatsuyoshi.
After another win against Salazar, he began 1999 by beating David Vazquez by decision in ten. Then, he got his second chance at becoming a world champion, this time against
WBAThe World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title, at the professional level. It is also the most major title out of the four. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
world Bantamweight champion
Johnny TapiaJohn Lee Tapia , well-known as Johnny Tapia, is a five-time world boxing champion. He is nicknamed "Mi Vida Loca".-Amateur career:...
, at
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
, on June 26. He gave Tapia his first career loss and became world champion by beating Tapia with a twelve round decision in what turned out to be both Ayala's
HBO BoxingHBO World Championship Boxing is a sports television series, premiering in January 1973 that has shown a number of significant boxing events in the last three decades....
debut and The Ring's fight of the year for 1999. He retained the title versus Saohin Sorthanicol before the end of that year.
Ayala began the new
millenniumA millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years...
basically right were he had left off the last one: He and Tapia met in a rematch, also telecast on HBO Boxing, July 10 of 2000. The WBA refused to recognize the bout as a world title bout, but it was fought for the IBA World title, which is regarded as a minor title association by most boxing fans. Ayala defended his title by a twelve round decision against the former world champion
Johnny BredahlJohnny Bredahl , aka Johny Wahid Johansen, is a professional boxer in the bantamweight division. Bredahl is the former WBA world bantamweight champion...
, on March 4, before again facing and beating Tapia, this time by a twelve round decision.
On March 30, 2001, Ayala recovered from a fourth round knockdown to retain his title with a 12 round decision against Hugo Dianzo in an
ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
telecast bout. His next two bouts were
HBOHBO is a premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner, offers two 24/7 pay television services to over 38 million U.S...
telecasts, both against
Clarence Bones Adams, a former world champion. The fights were recognized by the also not-highly regarded
IBOThe International Boxing Organization is a for-profit organization that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships.- Origins :...
. Ayala won both fights, held on August 4 2001 and on February 23 2002, by decision in twelve rounds.
Continuing his rise in weight, Ayala on November 16 2002 met
Erik MoralesÉrik Isaac Morales Elvira is a retired Mexican professional boxer. He is a former seven-time world champion at WBC and WBO Super Bantamweight , WBC Featherweight , WBC Super Featherweight, WBC International Super Featherweight , and the IBF Junior Lightweight divisions...
for the vacant
WBCThe World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
Featherweight title, this time coming on the losing end after 12 rounds by decision.
Ayala returned to the ring on November 15, 2003, as a Super Bantamweight. He beat Edel Ruiz by a ten round unanimous decision in Dallas.
On June 19, 2004, Ayala once again ventured into the Featherweight division, losing to fellow former world champion
Marco Antonio BarreraMarco Antonio Barrera Tapia is a Mexicanprofessional boxer. He is a seven time world champion in three different weight classes; he is a former world champion at WBO Super Bantamweight , IBO / WBC Featherweight , WBC Super Featherweight and IBF Junior Lightweight divisions...
by a knockout in ten in Los Angeles.
In September of that year, he surprised many of his boxing fans by announcing his retirement from the sport.
Ayala had a record of 35 wins, three losses and 12 knockouts as a boxer. He has stated, on his official website, that he remains committed to the Lord and to being a good example to his children and other kids.
Ayala was honored by IHW Entertainment in Fort Worth at his University of Hard Knox school. Ayala was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for his countless ours of working with children, charities and bringing great athlectic achievement back to the city of Fort Worth. Fellow wrestling stars Kenneth "Slick" Johnson & Chico Toress were also on hand. IHW Star David Fuller interrupoted the proceedings & challenged Ayala to a wrestling match for a show later in March 2009. Ayala turned it down stating he was retired, Fuller then shoved Ayala and Ayala was held back from striking the wrestling villain.