The fight that should have happened but never did...

[Clegg]

Ring Magzaine done a list of the 80 greatest fighters of the last 80 years they ranked Pryor 35th, Hearns 67th, and Benitez 68th. So he was 23 places above Hearns and 24 above Benitez.

I think that those rankings are pretty poor.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but I really can't understand the reasoning behind them.

[Thread Stealer]

IMO, Hearns was way too low on that Ring list. Pryor was too high. So was Dempsey.

Hearns may have lost his 2 biggest fights to Leonard and Hagler but it's not like he didn't have his share of big wins as well.

[TheGreatA]

Was the number #1 lighweight contender but the was avoided so moved up to the Lw division, were he stopped hall of famer Antonio Cervantes in 4 for the WBA title, and would go on to make 8 title defecnes and in those defences stopped the great Alexis Arguello x2 and then would go on to win the IBF title and make a defence.

Pryor was only the number 1 lightweight contender while he was the light welterweight champion. He rarely ever fought as a lightweight but he could make the 135 lb limit as well as 140 lbs. The champion at lightweight was Alexis Arguello who moved up to 140 lbs to challenge Pryor. No one avoided him.

Cervantes was a very good fighter in his prime but he was at the end of his run when he faced Pryor. A 17 year old Benitez took a prime Cervantes to school and believe me there was nothing controversial about the decision.

Pryor in his prime was a very good, exciting fighter but for whatever reason he has become highly overrated in the past few years. I used to think he was underrated until now.

[Thread Stealer]

Pryor was only the number 1 lightweight contender while he was the light welterweight champion. He rarely ever fought as a lightweight but he could make the 135 lb limit as well as 140 lbs. The champion at lightweight was Alexis Arguello who moved up to 140 lbs to challenge Pryor. No one avoided him.

Cervantes was a very good fighter in his prime but he was at the end of his run when he faced Pryor. A 17 year old Benitez took a prime Cervantes to school and believe me there was nothing controversial about the decision.

Pryor in his prime was a very good, exciting fighter but for whatever reason he has become highly overrated in the past few years. I used to think he was underrated until now.

I blame it on HBO's Legendary Nights.

Well, not for The Ring overrating him in 2002, but on message boards.

[TheGreatA]

The best opponent Pryor fought prior to winning the light welterweight title:









I guess he should receive some credit for beating a shot Alfonso Frazer as well.

[Thread Stealer]

Pryor was an A fighter with a B resume.

I rank him pretty highly in terms of head-to-head matchups at 140, but resume/achievement wise, he's not too impressive compared to the guys he's compared with.

And it's not all the "ducking" of other fighters. His own personal and managerial problems played quite a role in him not achieving what he should've.

[MANGLER]

I think Pryor coulda edged him on points. He's ****in relentless and wouldn't be shaken by Ray's punches.

[StarshipTrooper]

Aaron Pryor beat Tommy Hearns in the amateurs. He also beat Antonio Cervantes, Sang Hyu Kim, and Dujan Johnson who were top 140 pounders.

Also as for the topic, Lennox Lewis-Rid**** Bowe and Roy Jones Jr and DM. Especially the later one.

Henry Tillman beat Mike Tyson TWICE in the amatuers and it didn't mean squat when they fought as pros. Antonio Cervantes was even more washed up than Arguello was. Sang Hyu Kim and Dujan Johnson: Please remind me, what ATG list are they on? Oh wait, they're two of the Three Stooges aren't they? Try again please.

Poet

[StarshipTrooper]

Think your disrepecting the Hawk to much here in your post.

Yes the reason we never got to see more of him was due to drugs addiction. But in his prime he was one hell of a fighter. You say a washed up Alexis Arguello.

How does this work out.When Arguello fought Pryor the first time going into that fight he hadn't been beat in 4 years, and going into the Pryor fight his last five fights had all been by KO and was looking as destrutive as ever, he was not washed up.

You also forgot to metion his 8 WBA title defences at light welterweight and won them all with tko wins, you say who else did he beat beisdes Arguello, he also stopped Antonio Cervantes who had not been beat in 4 years, and was on his 6th defence of his WBA title, and the last fighter to beat him was Wilfred Benitez on a SD, and Benitez would never give him the rematch. Pyor stopped him in 4.

You also say he wasn't on the level of a Hearns or Benitez? which i can't understand. As when Pryor was in his prime he was more consistet and dominate than Benitez and just as good as Hearns.And am not the only one who thinks this as when ''Ring Magzaine done a list of the 80 greatest fighters of the last 80 years they ranked Pryor 35th, Hearns 67th, and Benitez 68th. So he was 23 places above Hearns and 24 above Benitez.

You also say he had no physical tools or boxing skills to beat the likes of Leonard.

Well maybe he didn't have great skills, but should that make not any less of a fighter, because it didn't make Armstrong or Marcaino any less of a fighter. he had unbeliavble cardio, cast iron chin and a workrate that hadn't been seen since Henry Armstrong.

And you say he wound't of beat a fighter of Ray Leonard, did you know something that Ray didn't because Ray avoided him enough, and they sparred numerous rounds and had both dropped each other , so i think the Hawk was in Ray's league, no dout.

You also say he cound't of beat a fighter of Thomas Hearns, well it not much to go of but they fought a year before both turning pro, with no headguards on and Pryor had the ''physical tools'' to dominate him start to finish to get a UD points win. and i think he could of done the same in the Pro's.

So my point is you don't have to be a huge fan of Pryors, but just show him more respect and to say he wasn't in the league or wound of not had the skills or physical tools to not beat Leanord or even Hearns or Benitez a pretty silly comment.

Arguello's prime weight class was Featherweight. By the time he got to Juniorwelter (another bogus division) he was no longer the fighter he once was and was fighting well past his optimal weight.

As I pointed out in a previous post, what happens in the amatuers means nothing in the pros.

You're also making the bogus claim of Ray Leonard "avoiding" Pryor. Hmmm, let me get this straight: Leonard "avoided" Pryor by fighting Benitez, Duran twice, Tommy Hearns, then retiring due to detached retinas. Funny, but all four of those guys were better, more dangerous fighters than Pryor. And I would pick ALL of them over Pryor in a head to head matchup. In the pros, NOT the amatuers. You know, where it actually counts for something.

This cult of Pryor is getting an aweful lot like the cult of Tony Ayala where a fighter gets lauded so much for accomplishing so little.

Poet

[Thread Stealer]

I think Pryor coulda edged him on points. He's ****in relentless and wouldn't be shaken by Ray's punches.

Leonard most likely hits hard enough to get Pryor's respect. Especially with the left hook.

Pryor had to be a little more controlled against Arguello after the first couple rounds, after getting tagged with some good shots. He boxed and used his legs, using some nice in and out movement.

I'm pretty sure that Leonard hit harder in an actual sense (not p4p sense) than Arguello.

You're also making the bogus claim of Ray Leonard "avoiding" Pryor. Hmmm, let me get this straight: Leonard "avoided" Pryor by fighting Benitez, Duran twice, Tommy Hearns, then retiring due to detached retinas. Funny, but all four of those guys were better, more dangerous fighters than Pryor. And I would pick ALL of them over Pryor in a head to head matchup. In the pros, NOT the amatuers. You know, where it actually counts for something.

I hate this "Leonard avoided Pryor" myth.

Leonard "avoided" Pryor by offering him a fight for $500,000.

This cult of Pryor is getting an aweful lot like the cult of Tony Ayala where a fighter gets lauded so much for accomplishing so little.

Let's not take it that far.

Pryor was a champion and one of the greatest ever at 140. No it's not the welterweight or middleweight division, but it's not all that bad a division historically as far as junior divisions go.

That waste of life Ayala never made it past contender level.