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"Ray Leonard and the other big names (at welter) ducked Aaron Pryor, they were scared of him"
This is what happens when people bring in a 5th grade lunchroom mentality to boxing. "Oh my god, he called him out and he didn't fight him, he's so scared of him and ducking him". Besides the fact that they were in different weight classes anyway, and that damn everyone challenges the big name for a big money fight, Pryor (or his team) wasn't happy with a $500,000 offer from Leonard's camp, so they turned the offer down. Pryor also had an offer for $750,000 for Duran, but it fell through. Pryor was going through managerial problems at the time, and had to sort that out, and by the time he cleared it up, Duran looked elsewhere.
Where Pryor's real legacy/achievements were hurt by guys "avoiding" him was at lightweight, where he was a top ranked contender but never got any offers (to my knowledge) at the title there. He most likely would've handled the champs at 135.
"Meldrick Taylor was brain-damaged and totally ruined from the Julio Cesar Chavez fight alone"
I do think that Taylor was never the same after the Chavez fight, but he was still a good fighter for a little while afterwards. Aaron Davis was no scrub, and Taylor moved up in weight to beat Davis for a welterweight title, 10 months after losing to Chavez. Taylor took too much punishment in general, and does anyone picture a Philly fighter like him taking it easy during sparring (which plays a big role in brain damage)? Taylor's management also made a big mistake IMO in having him move up to fight Terry Norris. The Chavez fight was the worst beating he took, but far from the only one.
This is what happens when people bring in a 5th grade lunchroom mentality to boxing. "Oh my god, he called him out and he didn't fight him, he's so scared of him and ducking him". Besides the fact that they were in different weight classes anyway, and that damn everyone challenges the big name for a big money fight, Pryor (or his team) wasn't happy with a $500,000 offer from Leonard's camp, so they turned the offer down. Pryor also had an offer for $750,000 for Duran, but it fell through. Pryor was going through managerial problems at the time, and had to sort that out, and by the time he cleared it up, Duran looked elsewhere.
Where Pryor's real legacy/achievements were hurt by guys "avoiding" him was at lightweight, where he was a top ranked contender but never got any offers (to my knowledge) at the title there. He most likely would've handled the champs at 135.
"Meldrick Taylor was brain-damaged and totally ruined from the Julio Cesar Chavez fight alone"
I do think that Taylor was never the same after the Chavez fight, but he was still a good fighter for a little while afterwards. Aaron Davis was no scrub, and Taylor moved up in weight to beat Davis for a welterweight title, 10 months after losing to Chavez. Taylor took too much punishment in general, and does anyone picture a Philly fighter like him taking it easy during sparring (which plays a big role in brain damage)? Taylor's management also made a big mistake IMO in having him move up to fight Terry Norris. The Chavez fight was the worst beating he took, but far from the only one.
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