Post by Rob on Apr 25, 2021 19:45:02 GMT
How good was Pryor actually, I lived in Cincinnati all during his career, I trained at both of his gyms in town and along with 2 other guys that trained there, we eventually became gofers for Aaron and his people, that meant we would go out and pickup food orders and other things, of course when we were not training, in return we were allowed to train for free anytime 24/7 in the gym, we could order food and drinks when we picked it up and eat with the group.
We became good friends with many of his entourage and got to see and talk to Aaron on occasion, he always had so many around him it was near impossible most times to get close enough for a chat.
But how good was he? I've boxed, trained and been into boxing and it's history for many years now, I am now 60, and here are my thoughts from personal experience with Aaron and his group and I saw all but 1 Pro fight and many in person as over a dozen of his fights we got to travel as part of the entourage and be Gofers on the road with them. I saw around 70% of his amateur fights.
Many talk about how he beat Tommy Hearns in the Amateurs, I saw it in person, Hearns at that time I believe was 16 maybe 17 at most or just turned 17, he was a skinny young HS kid, with some very nice boxing ability, but he was a far cray from the HITMAN he would become as a pro, he still had years to go to get there, on the other hand at that time, Aaron Pryor was a fully mature fighter and at his Amateur peak ready for the Pros at any moment, so to judge or gather anything from this fight to compare them fighting in the pros is useless and totally crazy to do so, Hearns possessed very little if any Power at that time, he was a pure boxer only and Aaron was stronger and just the more mature fighter at the time.
In the Pros I believe Hearns would have beaten Pryor the way he did Roberto Duran, by eventual KAYO in the early rounds, Hearns fought at a higher weight at WW in the Pros when he began, Pryor started at LW then soon moved to JWW but could never have fought at WW, so in the Pros they would have had to fight at a catchweight.
What about Duran vs. Pryor, it nearly happened, as Duran was moving up to WW from LW before the Leonard fight, he wanted to get the JWW title and fight Pryor, his camp sent them an offer of $500,000 good money for the time, Pryor's camp never responded tot he offer, it had a time limit since Duran was moving on up to WW, so it ended without any reply or negotiating, I'm not even sure 100% if Pryor himself ever knew of the offer at least until it was too late.
Why did they never respond, from talking to many in his camp at the Gym, I have an opinion I formed, his entourage were a greedy bunch, they knew or at least believed they knew what Aaron could do and not do and whom he could beat and not beat, they thought he could never beat Duran, they wanted him to remain Champ as long as Possible not only for the money, but it was a big glory/prestige thing to travel anywhere with a Boxing Champ of any division.
So they wanted to keep that with as little risk as possible and they all were still getting nice paydays to keep them going, and they loved the partying lifestyle, sometimes we partied till late into the night at the Gym, it was a good time, eat, drink all you wanted to, I was not into the drugs, but they were there also as were the girls, no one there wanted any of that to end, nor did they want to risk it in a loss.
Pryor vs. Leonard, again another big name that fought at WW and above and above Pryor's weight, but another catchweight fight was possible, Aaron followed Leonard around for awhile showing up at press conferences and things challenging him, so finally Leonard sent and offer of $500,000 it was turned down, then he upped it to $750,000 again turned down with no counter offers, Leonard then moved himself to eventually fight Duran at WW.
So Pryor vs. Duran what if, I believe Duran is most likely the greatest LW in History, one of the best Pound for Pound ever, he went the distance with Hagler, at MW and knocked out some solid JMW Champs, he was one of the greatest power punchers ever and greatest defensive fighters with an IRON CHIN, he and Pryor have an awesome 1st few rounds until Duran gets the feel of him and then Knocks him Cold, Pryor can't beat him on any day.
Why? 1. Pryor had ZERO Defense, it was all offense. 2. He was one of the dumbest guys and fighters in history, so Ring Generalship was a big fat ZERO, Durans was a 10. 3. Pryor could hit hard with both hands, but did not actually possess 1 Punch KO Power in either, all his KO's in his career came with a Combination of punches, and mostly against BUMS. He hit hard yes, but no 1 Punch KO POWER> 4. He could not take a big Punch, he never fought anyone with good to great Power, Arguello Maybe but he was a JLW at his best with superb power, that's 3 divisions under Pryor, at LW Arguello clearly lost a lot of speed and power, he could still KO most any boxer at the right moment, but not as he did at JLW, and moving up to JWW he most likely lost a little more. Yet with that 1 punch where he bent Pryor's head straight back and it appears to touch his back, he should have gone down, but the drugs and mixed drug drink Lewis supplied Pryor kept him going. Arguello was cheated for sure, as that Punch Ko's or at the very least Knocks down anyone. 5. Pryor had poor balance, most of his punches were thrown off balance, early on when they were friends, Leonard came to the gym to work with Aaron on his deficiencies. 6. Poor Corner people, they gave him crappy advance in fights as they were not that smart themselves, I know I trained with them often. 7. Panama Lewis did know boxing well, but he knew what it took to cheat and what it took to place in his bottled mixtures to keep you going even when hit hard. 8. Duran had everything, Pryor did not, so a KO after an early exciting fight.
Leonard also easily beats him after some exciting early rounds, probably KO or TKO, he was too fast and big and strong for Aaron, and way too smart with another great Chin, he takes anything Aaron could hit him with, and SRL had KO Power.
Pryor only really fought Arguello who was near the end of a great career, he only fought a few more times, he was over 30, he was well above his best weight to fight in, LW was probably his limit, even though that big punch should have Koed a sober Pryor. Alexis was even slower at JWW and a robotic/technical fighter that gave Aaron plenty of time to get off on. at LW if they had fought Arguello had more power, slightly faster and quicker and he wins, he also wins at JWW without Panama Lewis and his mixed drug bottle.
The next best guy Aaron fought was Antonio Cervantes to win the Title, he was at the end of a great career, aging, slow and losing it all, yet he still put Aaron down in the fight and would have kept him down in his prime, Pryor was put down 7 times in his Career, yet took the hardest punch he was ever hit with by Arguello, Proof he was on something.
Pryor vs. another Ohio guy, Ray Boom Boom Mancini, they had a deal fight after Ray fought Livingstone Bramble, but we all know the outcome of that one, so Ray lost and the fight was off, Ray would have been his best opponent, WHY? Young in his Prime champ with the most power he had ever faced, Ray and Aaron would have been a short great WAR! I think Aaron wins, but I would loved to have seen it.
Aaron came out of the Amateurs to LW was as high as #3 and soon to get a title shot, then for some odd reason moved to JWW the worst division in boxing with no good fighters. at LW, you had Jim Watt, Hilmer Kenty, Sean O'Grady, Esteban DeJesus, Ray Mancini, Howard Davis Jr. who had beaten Aaron twice in the Amateurs, Gato Gonzales a hard punching solid Mexican contender, and several others that would have been better fights than anything he had at JWW, even guys like ROcking Robin Blake, Harry Arroyo, and Andy Ganigan if he had hit Pryor it would have ended. Also in time while still a young fighter he could have faced, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jimmy Paul, a solid fighter with power, Hector Camacho, Edwin Rosario a solid champ with great Power, and again many others that came along during Pryor's time and if he had not had to quit due to Drugs.
A final thought, if you wanted to see how Pryor would have done against the likes of a PRo Hitman Hearns, Leonard, Duran and I forget the great Wilfred Benitez who moved to WW that's why I believe Pryor went to JWW after BEnitez left, just watch the Bobby Joe Young vs. Aaron Pryor fight, Aaron was 100% clean, 100% in the best shape of his career as good if not better than at anytime he had ever fought, he was still young and had recovered fully from his drug use. He was as quick and fast and powerful as ever, we all saw it in the gym, yet a journeyman guy like Young although a good solid Journeyman, easily beat Aaron, WHY? because he had none of the enhanced drugs in his body that allowed him to feel nothing and keep going. Even in his PRIME watch some of his tougher fights especially ones he was put down in, that's how the upper level guys would beat him and keep him down the whole fight.
We became good friends with many of his entourage and got to see and talk to Aaron on occasion, he always had so many around him it was near impossible most times to get close enough for a chat.
But how good was he? I've boxed, trained and been into boxing and it's history for many years now, I am now 60, and here are my thoughts from personal experience with Aaron and his group and I saw all but 1 Pro fight and many in person as over a dozen of his fights we got to travel as part of the entourage and be Gofers on the road with them. I saw around 70% of his amateur fights.
Many talk about how he beat Tommy Hearns in the Amateurs, I saw it in person, Hearns at that time I believe was 16 maybe 17 at most or just turned 17, he was a skinny young HS kid, with some very nice boxing ability, but he was a far cray from the HITMAN he would become as a pro, he still had years to go to get there, on the other hand at that time, Aaron Pryor was a fully mature fighter and at his Amateur peak ready for the Pros at any moment, so to judge or gather anything from this fight to compare them fighting in the pros is useless and totally crazy to do so, Hearns possessed very little if any Power at that time, he was a pure boxer only and Aaron was stronger and just the more mature fighter at the time.
In the Pros I believe Hearns would have beaten Pryor the way he did Roberto Duran, by eventual KAYO in the early rounds, Hearns fought at a higher weight at WW in the Pros when he began, Pryor started at LW then soon moved to JWW but could never have fought at WW, so in the Pros they would have had to fight at a catchweight.
What about Duran vs. Pryor, it nearly happened, as Duran was moving up to WW from LW before the Leonard fight, he wanted to get the JWW title and fight Pryor, his camp sent them an offer of $500,000 good money for the time, Pryor's camp never responded tot he offer, it had a time limit since Duran was moving on up to WW, so it ended without any reply or negotiating, I'm not even sure 100% if Pryor himself ever knew of the offer at least until it was too late.
Why did they never respond, from talking to many in his camp at the Gym, I have an opinion I formed, his entourage were a greedy bunch, they knew or at least believed they knew what Aaron could do and not do and whom he could beat and not beat, they thought he could never beat Duran, they wanted him to remain Champ as long as Possible not only for the money, but it was a big glory/prestige thing to travel anywhere with a Boxing Champ of any division.
So they wanted to keep that with as little risk as possible and they all were still getting nice paydays to keep them going, and they loved the partying lifestyle, sometimes we partied till late into the night at the Gym, it was a good time, eat, drink all you wanted to, I was not into the drugs, but they were there also as were the girls, no one there wanted any of that to end, nor did they want to risk it in a loss.
Pryor vs. Leonard, again another big name that fought at WW and above and above Pryor's weight, but another catchweight fight was possible, Aaron followed Leonard around for awhile showing up at press conferences and things challenging him, so finally Leonard sent and offer of $500,000 it was turned down, then he upped it to $750,000 again turned down with no counter offers, Leonard then moved himself to eventually fight Duran at WW.
So Pryor vs. Duran what if, I believe Duran is most likely the greatest LW in History, one of the best Pound for Pound ever, he went the distance with Hagler, at MW and knocked out some solid JMW Champs, he was one of the greatest power punchers ever and greatest defensive fighters with an IRON CHIN, he and Pryor have an awesome 1st few rounds until Duran gets the feel of him and then Knocks him Cold, Pryor can't beat him on any day.
Why? 1. Pryor had ZERO Defense, it was all offense. 2. He was one of the dumbest guys and fighters in history, so Ring Generalship was a big fat ZERO, Durans was a 10. 3. Pryor could hit hard with both hands, but did not actually possess 1 Punch KO Power in either, all his KO's in his career came with a Combination of punches, and mostly against BUMS. He hit hard yes, but no 1 Punch KO POWER> 4. He could not take a big Punch, he never fought anyone with good to great Power, Arguello Maybe but he was a JLW at his best with superb power, that's 3 divisions under Pryor, at LW Arguello clearly lost a lot of speed and power, he could still KO most any boxer at the right moment, but not as he did at JLW, and moving up to JWW he most likely lost a little more. Yet with that 1 punch where he bent Pryor's head straight back and it appears to touch his back, he should have gone down, but the drugs and mixed drug drink Lewis supplied Pryor kept him going. Arguello was cheated for sure, as that Punch Ko's or at the very least Knocks down anyone. 5. Pryor had poor balance, most of his punches were thrown off balance, early on when they were friends, Leonard came to the gym to work with Aaron on his deficiencies. 6. Poor Corner people, they gave him crappy advance in fights as they were not that smart themselves, I know I trained with them often. 7. Panama Lewis did know boxing well, but he knew what it took to cheat and what it took to place in his bottled mixtures to keep you going even when hit hard. 8. Duran had everything, Pryor did not, so a KO after an early exciting fight.
Leonard also easily beats him after some exciting early rounds, probably KO or TKO, he was too fast and big and strong for Aaron, and way too smart with another great Chin, he takes anything Aaron could hit him with, and SRL had KO Power.
Pryor only really fought Arguello who was near the end of a great career, he only fought a few more times, he was over 30, he was well above his best weight to fight in, LW was probably his limit, even though that big punch should have Koed a sober Pryor. Alexis was even slower at JWW and a robotic/technical fighter that gave Aaron plenty of time to get off on. at LW if they had fought Arguello had more power, slightly faster and quicker and he wins, he also wins at JWW without Panama Lewis and his mixed drug bottle.
The next best guy Aaron fought was Antonio Cervantes to win the Title, he was at the end of a great career, aging, slow and losing it all, yet he still put Aaron down in the fight and would have kept him down in his prime, Pryor was put down 7 times in his Career, yet took the hardest punch he was ever hit with by Arguello, Proof he was on something.
Pryor vs. another Ohio guy, Ray Boom Boom Mancini, they had a deal fight after Ray fought Livingstone Bramble, but we all know the outcome of that one, so Ray lost and the fight was off, Ray would have been his best opponent, WHY? Young in his Prime champ with the most power he had ever faced, Ray and Aaron would have been a short great WAR! I think Aaron wins, but I would loved to have seen it.
Aaron came out of the Amateurs to LW was as high as #3 and soon to get a title shot, then for some odd reason moved to JWW the worst division in boxing with no good fighters. at LW, you had Jim Watt, Hilmer Kenty, Sean O'Grady, Esteban DeJesus, Ray Mancini, Howard Davis Jr. who had beaten Aaron twice in the Amateurs, Gato Gonzales a hard punching solid Mexican contender, and several others that would have been better fights than anything he had at JWW, even guys like ROcking Robin Blake, Harry Arroyo, and Andy Ganigan if he had hit Pryor it would have ended. Also in time while still a young fighter he could have faced, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jimmy Paul, a solid fighter with power, Hector Camacho, Edwin Rosario a solid champ with great Power, and again many others that came along during Pryor's time and if he had not had to quit due to Drugs.
A final thought, if you wanted to see how Pryor would have done against the likes of a PRo Hitman Hearns, Leonard, Duran and I forget the great Wilfred Benitez who moved to WW that's why I believe Pryor went to JWW after BEnitez left, just watch the Bobby Joe Young vs. Aaron Pryor fight, Aaron was 100% clean, 100% in the best shape of his career as good if not better than at anytime he had ever fought, he was still young and had recovered fully from his drug use. He was as quick and fast and powerful as ever, we all saw it in the gym, yet a journeyman guy like Young although a good solid Journeyman, easily beat Aaron, WHY? because he had none of the enhanced drugs in his body that allowed him to feel nothing and keep going. Even in his PRIME watch some of his tougher fights especially ones he was put down in, that's how the upper level guys would beat him and keep him down the whole fight.