I struggle to rate Aaron Pryor

[XThe GreatestX]

Ok. So we have seen the classic Pryor-Arguello fights. Heard the stories of Ray Leonard moving up in weight at the olympics to get away from Aaron. But....its kinda hard to rate him all time.

The black bottle thing ( although he beat Alexis down in the rematch, but it was an Alexis that was waaaayyyy out of his natural weight class). Beating Cervantes is nice

He was so ferocious in there, but had a tendency to take bombs....I imagine Ray would have boxed his way to a victory if that fight had went down? Or would Aaron have blitzed him? Tommy was to complete at that point for Aaron i think. Duran-Pryor would have been fun and Pryor could have maybe gotten him.

Interesting to think about

 

[SSgt Dickweed]

He was severely outsized by Ali.

 

[loyalyolayal]

He was severely outsized by Ali.

 

[Seano]

I rate Hatton higher at 140. Flame on.

 

[TownBiz]

at 140 i rate pryor near the top...probably a notch below pea and floyd....

 

[borntoloseNOT]

Hard to say.

If Duran could beat Ray who beat Benitez who Beat Duran, I suppose you could factor Pryor all over the place in the fantasy realm, but I feel if he entered the 4 like Benitez did, you could expect similar results. The Hearns he met in the ammies wasn't throwing the bombs he eventually would be. SRL woulda been a really tough out, I don't think Pryor was even as close to complete... Duran/Pryor, could that have ever gone down?

 

[Hagler]

140 ATG in general are a bitch to rate, IMO.

 

[ssx]

Pryor was a very good fighter, but Arguello was past his best and fighting above his ideal weight. I also think Arguello may have gotten the best of Pryor if not for the "bottle". I don't see any way Pryor would beat Leonard, Hearns or Duran.

 

[Seano]

Pryor was a very good fighter, but Arguello was past his best and fighting above his ideal weight. I also think Arguello may have gotten the best of Pryor if not for the "bottle". I don't see any way Pryor would beat Leonard, Hearns or Duran.

I'd pick him to beat Duran but not Leonard or Hearns.

 

[cottagecheesefan]

I'd pick him to beat Duran but not Leonard or Hearns.

Really? I think Duran would be willing to trade with him, and win. I do agree with your earlier post that Hatton should be rated higher at 140. Neither are ATG. Regardless of potential, Pryor didn't do much.

 

[ironfist05]

140 ATG in general are a bitch to rate, IMO.

very true. It's a weird division. Significant enough to attract major talent, but always a notch below WW in terms of marketability, so it's always going to be a stepping stone division.

I'd say it's something like

chavez
pryor
cervantes
tszyu
locche
hatton
loi

as my top seven, but it's hard to decide what to do with who

 

[Hagler]

very true. It's a weird division. Significant enough to attract major talent, but always a notch below WW in terms of marketability, so it's always going to be a stepping stone division.

I'd say it's something like

chavez
pryor
cervantes
tszyu
locche
hatton
loi

as my top seven, but it's hard to decide what to do with who

Agreed. You could add Ross - his wins over Canzoneri were at 140 - and Benitez - he was a kid when he beat prime Kid Pambele. They're pretty hard to rank, IMO. You can make a case for Chavez, Cervantes or Pryor for the top spot, and they're not towering above the rest. As Seano said Hatton's record at 140 isn't much worse than Pryor's and it's hard to top Ross's 2 wins against Canzoneri.

 

[Ballsaque]

I rate Hatton higher at 140. Flame on.

Haha, oh wow..

 

[FlowchartRog]

Pryor was a very good fighter, but Arguello was past his best and fighting above his ideal weight. I also think Arguello may have gotten the best of Pryor if not for the "bottle". I don't see any way Pryor would beat Leonard, Hearns or Duran.

Same. The idea of him beating Duran is fucking absurd. Duran but a peak, undefeated Leonard ffs. If it was a prime, focused Duran we're talking, he dominates, without question. Just a better fighter in every way.

 

[FlowchartRog]

I rate Hatton higher at 140. Flame on.

I'd pick him to beat Duran but not Leonard or Hearns.

You rate Hatton above him, yet think he'd beat Duran? Wtf???

He is better than Hatton, but wouldn't come close to beating Duran. In fact the only fighters who gave a prime Duran problems were slick, fleet footed boxers with good defence. Any attacking fighter, especially a wild one without particularly good defence, gets eaten alive by Duran.

 

[Seano]

You rate Hatton above him, yet think he'd beat Duran? Wtf???

He is better than Hatton, but wouldn't come close to beating Duran. In fact the only fighters who gave a prime Duran problems were slick, fleet footed boxers with good defence. Any attacking fighter, especially a wild one without particularly good defence, gets eaten alive by Duran.

Talent and achievement are different things. I think Hatton had a better run.

Duran over 135 was not unbeatable.

 

[Seano]

Haha, oh wow..

Make your case. Hatton beat everyone at 140, except Floyd and only lost at the weight to one of the greatest fighters of this era, arguably at his very best. He ranked as high as #6 in Rings P4P. Hatton was a great 140 pound fighter.

What did Pryor really accomplish? His win over Cervantes is about = to Hattons win over Castillo, if its THAT impressive. I don't believe Arguello at 140 is a better win than Tszyu at the weight.

 

[PHATV]

I'm a homer who watched all his fights and I think Pryor was an ATG and nobody wanted any of that. He was a scary motherfucker there for several years. Had his demons with substance abuse, but it will always be "Hawk Time" for me when discussing his status. I used to e-mail with him as recently as several years back. Was living in poverty and training some local kids at the boys club and such. Buddy LaRosa was taking care of him in his last years/decade to make sure he had a place to live and some income, I think.
A viscous, non-stop monster of a fighter with heart for days and a willingness to die in the ring to win and an incredible, non-stop work rate. A rare breed of warrior.

 

[PHATV]

I'd pick him to beat Duran but not Leonard or Hearns.

They would have had to (literally) kill him to win, so I take Pryor over all of them.

Flame on.

 

[mozfonky]

great fighter, anyone watching his fights should be able to see that, the best stamina fighter that I know of since armstrong, insane work rate, the right fighting attitude, knockdowns brought him to another level. versatile, he could go from slugging to jabbing and boxing as he did against arguello. the one thing i would see hurting him with the four great ones is he was too small. He was a 140 pounder but I always thought he was really a lightweight and didn't even look that ripped as a 140 pounder. I don't know if he could have jumped the weight classes like duran did because even though he had a stellar kayo record, his kayos were like wilfredo gomez', more because of volume than power. they say he beat the tar out of ray when they sparred, maybe he did. It's a damn shame he never got his chance to fight at least one of those guys. and no, i don't think the black bottle changed the arguello fight.