I think the Hawk would have took him down kinda easy with or without the black bottle, lol

Dunno, leonard was a slick ****er in his prime. he might just stay away long enough to get the decision. he surely would be faster than pryor. good chin and skill too.

Leonard has been and always will be my pick for this matchup, and I personally see Leonard having a fairly easy time of it...Well, not exactly easy for him, but, whether the fight goes the distance or ends in a TKO, I think the fight would have shown that Leonard was clearly the superior fighter of the two.

Leonard was quite a bit bigger (Pryor being a natural 135 lb'er), was faster of both hand & foot, hit harder, hit with better accuracy, better defensively, had a better chin, at least as good in both the stamina & heart departments, ditto for workrate, more adaptable to styles or gameplan (both good at that, though), better counter puncher, was a helluva lot more proven at 147, and had MUCH better boxing technique than did Pryor, who did "everything wrong" according to an old trainer of his...Mind you, coupled with very gifted natural ability, that awkwardness of his could very well count as a strength for Pryor, as he was a lot less predictable to defend & attack than most fighters.

Save for his aggressiveness, I honestly can't think of another advantage that Pryor would have in this matchup, and even then that aggressiveness might be a fault for Pryor against a lightning fast, hard punching, sharpshooter like Leonard, who also had very proven counter punching ability.

Either by a fairly wide UD (about 10-5 or 11-4) or by late round's TKO, Leonard is my pick.

Ray by late round tko.

I could see Ray decisioning Pryor.

I would also pick Whitaker to beat Pryor.

I periodically speak with Aaron via e-mail through his wife Frankie. Of all the questions she fields on a daily basis, a proposed Leonard-Pryor fight gets asked more than any other questions. Here is what Frankie told me when I asked.

"Aaron and Ray have been friends since their teen years when they were both on the US Boxing Team and traveled together to such places as Venezuela, Russia, Poland, Germany, etc., Aaron and Ray did not spar together as amateurs since they were on the same US Boxing Team. This was right before Aaron became an alternate on the 1976 Olympic Team. But Aaron was Ray's sparring partner after the 1976 Olympics when they both turned pro. Aaron would go to Palmer Park, MD and stay for several months at a time with Ray & his family. They were just getting their careers started and they tell great stories about that time period. One being that Ray's Mom encouraged both of them to go to college and get real jobs since she didn't believe they could support themselves through boxing! Aaron & Ray are still very good friends and see each about 3-4 times a year. In fact, they had a reunion of the 1976 Olympic Team at the IBHOF Induction this year.

There was never any negotiations or informal talks to fight as pro's. Angelo Dundee has told me (Frankie Pryor) numerous times that he was deadset against Ray fighting Aaron because he felt that it would have been too difficult of a fight for Ray. Of course, both Ray and Aaron have different opinions about who would have won."

Personally, I was a big fan of both and met both guys when they were still fighting, but would have to go with Leonard for the reasons posted previously by Yogi. I do think Pryor would put forth a surprisngly good performance but at the end of the day Pryor was really a lightweight and Leonard a welterweight and a great one at that.

lenord by ud, pryor was great but he didnt have the speed of srl so the whole fight srl picks his spots and wins by a wide ud

dam maybe i need to do more history. im in the minority. good replys fellas

Leonard has been and always will be my pick for this matchup, and I personally see Leonard having a fairly easy time of it...Well, not exactly easy for him, but, whether the fight goes the distance or ends in a TKO, I think the fight would have shown that Leonard was clearly the superior fighter of the two.

Leonard was quite a bit bigger (Pryor being a natural 135 lb'er), was faster of both hand & foot, hit harder, hit with better accuracy, better defensively, had a better chin, at least as good in both the stamina & heart departments, ditto for workrate, more adaptable to styles or gameplan (both good at that, though), better counter puncher, was a helluva lot more proven at 147, and had MUCH better boxing technique than did Pryor, who did "everything wrong" according to an old trainer of his...Mind you, coupled with very gifted natural ability, that awkwardness of his could very well count as a strength for Pryor, as he was a lot less predictable to defend & attack than most fighters.

Save for his aggressiveness, I honestly can't think of another advantage that Pryor would have in this matchup, and even then that aggressiveness might be a fault for Pryor against a lightning fast, hard punching, sharpshooter like Leonard, who also had very proven counter punching ability.

Either by a fairly wide UD (about 10-5 or 11-4) or by late round's TKO, Leonard is my pick.Great post Yogi, I agree with everyting you said about this fight. ;) Pryor was a beast at 135 I just don't see him beating Leonard at 147.

If we had a 135 lb version of Leonard then this fight could've gone either way.