Maybe the best lightweight ever at one point. Lost one fight at 32 years of age,..after sitting out of boxing and doing drugs after the second Arguello win. Shame
I’d give the Aaron Pryor that fought and beat Arguello in 1983 a hell of a chance against any Jr welter or lightweight ever
Duran is literally a nightmare for Pryor. He would have countered the Hell outta The Hawk. Pryor was fantastic though. I still maintain he beats Chavez, but many Chavez fans take exception to that prediction.
Duran NEVER Fought Any Henry Armstrong/Aaron Pryor Level LEARNED Windmill Punchers... Duran HAS to Be Favored, But He's GONNA Get Hit and Have Moments of Uncertainty w/Pryor Just Like Everybody Else Did... agREED on Favoring Pryor Over Chavez Though... REED
I hate to play Devil's Advocate against Pryor cause I'm a HUGE fan, but Pryor was not on the level of Henry Armstrong. Armstrong fought in a low crouch, was a very hard target to hit flush, and threw compact shots. He was a lot more skilled and nuanced than Pryor. Pryor was too wide open a target to beat Duran. While it's not some slaughter, Duran would take control at a certain point and Pryor would get beaten up and stopped late. He's simply out of his league against a prime Duran.
Aaron turned down Duran for $750,000 in 81 - Huge Non Heavyweight Money then. He then fought for chump change for a year after that until Arguello.
Aaron Pryor was good, but he was nowhere near Duran as a lightweight. Heck, I believe he would not have gone the distance with prime Esteban DeJesus!
No, he wasn't at lightweight - only Pernell Whitaker up there with him, you can also put Benny Leonard there. Aaron was too big for Esteban and would eventually overpower and stop him, after being on the floor himself early as was his wont.
DeJesus was a very good counterpuncher and a textbook boxer, but he'd struggle with Pryor's awkward angles and whirlwind style. And as Karl said, Pryor was also just too big and strong for DeJesus.
Aaron Pryor was an ELITE Level Amateur During Arguably THE Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepest Olympic Pool is U.S. Boxing History Bruh...The '76 Team Pryor BARELY Missed is Generally Regarded as THE Best U.S. Class Ever... You Don't Coexist on THAT Level w/Out Skill and Nuance...Pryor Showed Skill and Nuance in the Mid/Latter Rounds of the 1st Arguello Bout...Even IF Armstrong Was Better in Those Regards it Wasn't By "a Lot"... Just Like Duran Would've Never "Kicked the Shit Outta Pryor", Which is What You Initially Stated... REED
Duran had one excellent fight at 147 vs. Palomino and one Immortal effort versus Leonard. Other than that, he did not look that well at welterweight, IMO. In 1981, the lean, mean Panamanian Fighting Machine regressed to a Flabby Out Of Shape Wreck full of Booze, Dope, Greasy Latin Food and spent most of his time with whores. Aaron knew he had made a career mistake turning that fight down as he would have been, eating going up and Duran had to starve and had blood drawn to make weight for the Leonard No mas fight and could not box any longer at that weight. Would have been a great opportunity for Aaron but we shall never know. BTW: I saw both fights at the 1976 Olympic Trials and Aaron beat Howard Davis both times and would have surely won a Gold Medal had he been given a fair deal from the judges.
It's not online, REED. My guess is that if anyone has it, it will be Kurt. I did find a neat piece of boxing history though, when Aaron was one of Leonard's sparring partners in 1977. At the 15:20 mark he sits down in the background with a brown leisure suit on - boy was that a long time ago - while Ray is being interviewed by Cosell after stopping Frankie Santore. Ray tried to introduce him to Howard off camera and Cosell told Pryor "You'll have to prove yourself if you want an interview with me, young man!" and he did of course.
Just a damn shame that Pryor let addiction rob him of his potential. Limitless stamina, strong, good power and with an underrated chin and underrated boxing skills. The guy had it all.
Well,..he did when he chose to use it. Often times, his windmill style, non stop power punching left him open and off balance,..hence his tendency to get hit and dropped. Good thing he had a great chin
