[professordp]

Along with the Everett brothers, Hayman was part of the crop of young Philadelphia fighters during the 1970s who not only excited local boxing fans but were also seen as hot prospects nationally. He merited attention from The Ring in the form of a special feature, along with the Everetts, in its November 1973 issue.

A product of South Philly's mean streets, Alfonso followed the path taken by far too many tagged with the "can't miss" label, spending his last years in the ring as a journeyman/punching bag thrown in against a new generation of young talent.

Hayman is best rememberd by boxing fans for a fight he lost. Well past his prime in 1979, Hayman faced Thomas Hearns at the Philadelphia Spectrum. The Hitman was 17-0 with all of his wins coming by way of knockout. Alfonso broke the kayo streak by finishing on his feet and lasting the full ten rounds.

A little detail is in order here. First, Hearns came into the fight with sore hands and injured his powerful right in the sixth round. Second, Hayman was in a total survivial mode and did nothing in the way of mixing it up with Thomas.

Nevertheless, Alfonso took severe beating as described in the following account of the contest in the July 1979 issue of The Ring.

"What kept Hayman on his feet throughout the one-sided mismatch is a mystery. The shopworn Philadelphia journeyman absorbed a terrible beating and finished the fight looking like a man who had been run over by a tank. His left eye was swollen practically shut, his right eye was badly bruised, lumps and bumps dotted his battered features and blood seeped from between his puffy lips.

"...Hayman, 149, fought with unbelievable courage and has to be praised for showing the heart of a giant; however, one has to wonder why his corner allowed him to keep going in such an obviously lost cause."

Well you can't say that Hayman was lacking in the guts department. In assessing the Hitman's victory, the article concluded "...poor old Alfonso is far from the cream of the [welterweight] crop." Yet a few years earlier he was Pennsylvania's welter champ and generally viewed as a factor in his weight class.

Hayman was one of those guys who seemed to lose it virtually overnight. A colorful crowd pleaser, Alfonso had a nice jab, a crisp cross, and slick boxing skills. Starting his career in 1970, he had compiled a record 16-3-3, capping off 1974 with a tenth round kayo win over Johnny Gant.

After that Alfonso hit a brickwall. His loss to Gant in the rematch the following year set off a five fight losing streak. In his last twenty-one fights he fell to 5-15-1.

Much of this had to do with the quality of Alfonso's opponents. During the first half of his career, Hayman fought almost all of his bouts in Philaldephia against local fighters with limited abilities.

Starting in 1975 the level of his opposition was substantially increased. He faced Angel Espada, Pete Ranzany, and Rocky Mattioli in 1976 suffering knockouts in all three matches.

By 1978 as he was approaching thirty, Hayman was pretty much used up and was, as The Ring article above called him, a "shopworn journeyman."

In addition to the Hearns beating, Alfonso was clobbered by Maurice Hope and Clyde Gray. He ended his ring career with a three round TKO loss to Milton McCrory in 1980.

The black & white photo below was posted previously by Jofre.