December 2000
CBZ Masthead

Bruno on Boxing

by Joe Bruno-Former Vice President of the Boxing Writers Association

December 14, 2000

News Item: Tony 'El Disgratiata' Ayala Jr. arrested again for breaking into a young woman's home in the middle of the night. But this time, the woman fought back, shooting 'El Disgratiata' in the shoulder.

And the first thing that comes to mind, Ayala's lucky the young woman didn't shoot the sexual deviate in the balls.

Cus D'Amato once said, 'A person isn't born with stripes, then suddenly dies with polka dots instead.'

Ladies and gentleman, I give you Tony Ayala.

Nicknamed 'El Torito' by fawning fans and his offensive father Tony Sr., Tony Jr. was first arrested for sexual assault when he was only fifteen years old. He attacked a young girl in the ladies room of a drive-in theater in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. Ayala raped the poor girl, then roughed her up and left her beaten and bloodied on the bathroom floor. But because avaricious boxing individuals felt Ayala's  ferociousness in ladies bathrooms might translate into big bucks for all those involved in his boxing career, 'El Disgratiata,' got off with a wink of the eye and a slight slap on the wrist. Probation with no prison time included.

Fast forward to New years Day 1982. This time Ayala, hopped up on booze and assorted drugs, broke into a woman' s home in Passaic County, New Jersey. Ayala blindfolded her, tied her hands, and held a knife to her throat. And then, he raped that poor girl too.

But this time Ayala was caught, tried and convicted, and sentenced to 35 years behind bars, living with bigger and badder brutes than himself, some of whom are also inclined to force themselves sexually on weaker human beings. ( I must note here there is no evidence Ayala raped again while in prison. Nor is there any evidence that this scumbag was beaten up and raped himself. But one can only hope, can't one?)

Due to the poster child of enablers, Brian Raditz, Ayala's psychologist in prison and presently his manager (Talk about conflict on interest and appearance of impropriety), Ayala somehow did only 16 years in the pen. In April of 1999, Ayala was released from prison, supposedly all cured and contrite for past sexual transgressions against the fairer sex.

Yeah and if you believe that, I got a Florida voting machine for sale at a discount price.

The Passaic County prosecutor Marilyn Zdobinski wanted Ayaya to serve his entire 35-year sentence.

"He's an incorrigible animal," Zdobinski told The Bergen Record of New Jersey. "There was something about him that you knew the violence was never going to end."

Andrew Consovoy, a former member of the New Jersey State Parole Board, told The Bergin Record when Ayala was released in April of 1999, "I could see a scenario where, if he ran across a female who wanted to be nice to him ... if I were her, I'd be very afraid," Consovoy said. "Is it likely to happen again? I'd have to say yes."

Raditz was such a great influence on Ayala, both men were recently seen frequenting booze-ladled strip joints in the San Antonio area. I guess Raditz feels the required treatment for a repeated rapist known for getting the hots while wacked out on booze, is to hang out in joints where liquor flows like Niagara Falls, and naked women gyrate their bodies in such a manner to make even the Pope pop a boner.

The promoter who signed Ayala to a four-fight, $1 million contract when Ayala out of prison, was so aggravated by Ayala's nocturnal habits, he refused to resign Ayala to another contract last month.

Early this week, Ayala got itchy again and began wandering the streets of his home town of San Antonio the middle of the night.

Was he looking for an all-night Seven-Eleven?

I think not, unless that Seven-Eleven was located in the house where two young woman slept with two young children.

One of these women, 18-year old Nancy Gomez, was sleeping on a couch in the living room when the 'Night Crawler' entered. Luckily, Gomez was a light sleeper and she heard the intruder enter the house. There are conflicting reports as to weather Ayala entered through the unlocked back door, or through a window. Suffice it to say, Ayala was not in possession of a key.

Gomez ran into the bedroom and woke up Sandra Gutierrez, who with her boyfriend had taken Gomez into their home until Gomez finishes high school in May. Gomez frequently worked out in a gym owned by Ayala's father and that's probably where the younger Ayala got his hots for the teenager.

Gutierrez, 28, grabbed a .45-caliber handgun from the closet and searched through the two-bedroom house until she found a man standing against the wall in the laundry room.

"I told him, 'Don't you (expletive) move or I'll shoot you,"' she said. "Then I saw who it was."

Gutierrez said she had seen Ayala once before, when he had dropped Gomez off one day at their home. At the time, Gutierrez' boyfriend, John Hogan, warned Gomez to stay away from Ayala. Hogan, a nurse who works the graveyard shift, was not home at the time of the break-in. Gutierrez' 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son were asleep on bunk beds.

Gutierrez said she screamed at Gomez to call the police. Then, before she left the laundry room to get dressed, she handed the gun to Gomez, saying "You stay right there. If he moves, shoot him."

Gutierrez told the Associated Press, "I was worried for her, for me and for my daughter."

And rightfully so.

Gomez said she asked Ayala what he was doing in the house. "He said, 'Baby, I'm here to talk to you."

Yeah Right.

"He put his hand in front to get the gun away from me," Gomez said, "And I shot him."

The bullet entered and exited Ayala' s right shoulder. A more seasoned female might have aimed for Ayala' s cold heart, or for sexually-related sites below the belt. But 'El Disgratiata' caught et another break.

What cracks me up is seasoned writers, who should know better, actually believed Ayala and Raditz' pap when they said Ayala was a new man, who had exorcised his past demons.

Guys, Ayala was in prison the past 16 years, breaking bread with the lowest of the lows. Not getting holy guidance in a freaking monetary. What did you expect? St. Anthony to emerge?

And don' t give me that bull that Ayala is innocent until proven guilty. The man raped twice, and one of those was on a breaking and entering in the middle of the night.

Ayala most likely wanted to do it again, only this time, before 'El Disgratiata' had a chance to get his filthy paws on Gomez, she did what all woman faced with the same horror wished they could do. She fired a gun point blank, the hot lead searing through a lustful lecher's filthy flesh.

As of this writing, the usual apologists are wringing their hands, lamenting the problems of a total waste of life named Tony Ayala Jr.

Me, I'm going to raise a tall toast to the young lady who had a gun. My only regret is that Ayala is still around to rape again. Hopefully, the surroundings in which Ayala spends the rest of his miserable life, limits his prey to criminals behind bars. Not women sleeping safely in their homes in the middle of the night.

Barring the inexcusable actions of a breast-beating liberal judge, who regards the criminal's right over those of their victims, the 'Night Crawler' phase of Tony Ayala Jr.'s life in the outside world has come to an end.

People in prison threatened sexually tend to fight back. A shiv in the belly could punctuate the ending of Tony Ayala Jr.'s last fight.

Double-flush the toilet when it's over.