Pryor-Leonard - The match that failed to happen..

[Tha Greatest]

Who would win this war between these 2 fighters

IMO it wouldn't be a war, it would be Pryor attacking Leonard, and Leonard runnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnning!

if anyone remembers

Hagler:Fight like a man u little *****

Leonard:...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....*keeps running*

Pryor by a spectacular KO

and if this fight was 15 rounds not 12!

[Hurlex]

i think pryor (ko/tko)..he was a beast and leonard was amazing (DLH has nothin on him) but i dont think he could have had the power to scare off pryor and would eventually get caught...i also would have loved to see a Prime Duran vs leonard...i dont think durans heart was int it much with leonard..or maybe ti was the weight,who knows.

[joe kurtz]

Pryor was without a doubt an all time great. But, so was Leonard & all things being equal, a good big man always beats a good little man.
A Pryor was a naturally much smaller man than Leonard. You've got to remember that Pryor was actually a relatively small framed lightweight. Infact, he never had any difficulty making 135 lbs. It was actually his preferred weight class, but he couldn't anyone to fight him at that weight class. So, he took some fights at light welterweight to stay busy & make a living until he could land a title shot.
Unfortunately, none of the guys at lightweight would give him a shot, so they jumped at the chance when Antonio Cervantes agreed to defend against him. Then after he won the 140 lb title he had to stay there. But, he said on many occasions that he was ready, willing & able to go back down to 135 if it would help him land a big fight.
The only time he fought over 140 was after his trouble with drugs & he was just outsized & worn down in his only loss, a KO to the so so welterweight Bobby Joe Young.

Besides being too small for Leonard, he didn't match up well styles-wise with Leonard. He was pressure, volume puncher with big gaps in his defense. Not a terrible liability against men his own size, but Leonard would have just been too big, too strong & hit to hard for him.
Oh, Aaron would have certainly made it very exciting for as long as it lasted, but it wouldn't have lasted terribly long.
Leonard by KO4.

[MexicanBoxer]

da *** are u talkin about Duran would love to fight pryor, he quit cuz leonard wasing fighting him, he was clowning around. Duran nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeveeeeeeeer had problems with guys who fought him toe to toe in his prime.U really think pryor is gonna try 2 box Duran?

[Tha Greatest]

Pryor was without a doubt an all time great. But, so was Leonard & all things being equal, a good big man always beats a good little man.
A Pryor was a naturally much smaller man than Leonard. You've got to remember that Pryor was actually a relatively small framed lightweight. Infact, he never had any difficulty making 135 lbs. It was actually his preferred weight class, but he couldn't anyone to fight him at that weight class. So, he took some fights at light welterweight to stay busy & make a living until he could land a title shot.
Unfortunately, none of the guys at lightweight would give him a shot, so they jumped at the chance when Antonio Cervantes agreed to defend against him. Then after he won the 140 lb title he had to stay there. But, he said on many occasions that he was ready, willing & able to go back down to 135 if it would help him land a big fight.
The only time he fought over 140 was after his trouble with drugs & he was just outsized & worn down in his only loss, a KO to the so so welterweight Bobby Joe Young.

Besides being too small for Leonard, he didn't match up well styles-wise with Leonard. He was pressure, volume puncher with big gaps in his defense. Not a terrible liability against men his own size, but Leonard would have just been too big, too strong & hit to hard for him.
Oh, Aaron would have certainly made it very exciting for as long as it lasted, but it wouldn't have lasted terribly long.
Leonard by KO4.

that is why he used to beat on Leonard in their sparring sessions

[MexicanBoxer]

"that is why he used to beat on Leonard in their sparring sessions"


ummmmmmmmm u ever sparred?

[MexicanBoxer]

when u sparr your not trying 2 beat the **** out of your opponent.

[Tha Greatest]

when u sparr your not trying 2 beat the **** out of your opponent.

I'm sorry I dunno what kind of sparring u been doing, but when u sparr as a pro, u dont take it lightly...

[Bozo_no no]

I'm sorry I dunno what kind of sparring u been doing, but when u sparr as a pro, u dont take it lightly...

When you sparr, you often work on weaknesses.

Ali was knocked down in sparring on a regular basis. That doesn't mean anything.

[Bozo_no no]

I'm of the opinion Leonard would outbox and outfox Pryor.

I think, as was already mentioned, it would have been another example of a good bigger guy beating a good smaller guy.

It's suprizing to see people picking Pryor by KO.

If they fought, it would have been around the end of 1981 after Ray beat Hearns and just before Pryor beat Arguello (Ray retired shortly after that with the eye injury). At that point, Ray had walked through some serious power shots from Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran. I just don't see Pryor knocking him out (although I'm not completely writing it off).

This is not to take anything away from Pryor, but Sugar Ray is a whole lot bigger/faster/stronger/better chinned/harder hitting than Alexis Arguello. And while Ray made the mistake of brawling (like Arguello did with Pryor) when he fought Duran, he easilly correct his approach for the rematch.

I think Ray would frustrate and outbox Pryor much like he did to Duran in their 2nd fight, with Pryor finishing the fight and losing a decesion.