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

[GROCERYGETTERS]

Leonard would not lose by ko. In fact I think he pulls out a decision because like the above posts said, the Hitman was one of the most lethal punchers pound for pound of any generation and if Leonard can escape that and also beat Hagler who waged one of the most action packed wars with Hearns, he will definately survive Pryor and outbox him.

[gravity62]

"Size does matter, I'm not debating that. But to say that it is a significant basis for prediction is inaccurate. If size mattered that much, Leonard would have lost to Hearns and Hagler according to your "logic". Also look at Duran: He was undersized most of his fights being he is a natural lightweight and he still kicked ass. My point was more geared towards heavyweights in that a fighter like Vitali Klitchsko would be easier to judge in a fight based on his size. He is too big basically for any heavyweight and this gives him an immediate advantage. Fighters at lower weight classes tend to rely more on their skills and not their size. Although Sugar Ray had more boxing skills than Pryor, it is purely speculative as to who had more power. All I know is that Ray refused his challenge for some reason, called his ass out in front of everyone and the look on Ray's face said "I don't want any part of this ****er"."

When I say "size" I mean height and weight together. Hearns had the height and reach advantage and that's why he mounted such a huge lead on the scorecards. However, Leonard had a 2 pound weight advantage, his punches were more solid on that night enabling him to walk Hearns down in the later rounds and get the TKO. Hagler was a natural middleweight (Leonard wasn't) and the harder puncher, so Leonard used the punch and move style. See Ray was very versatile and changed his style often depending on the fighter; and he whould've been ready for Aaron Pryor. His power, size and speed advantages whould've translated into a victory.

Back to what I was saying. In the lower divisions, 2 inches in height/reach and a 5-7 pound weight advantage is huge, as aposed to heavyweight where that amount doesn't matter quite as much. While size matters in every divisions, it matters more in the lower weight classifications. That's why the Tale of the Tape matters so much.

If we're both talking about the same press confrence, Aaron Pryor tried calling Ray out and Ray calmly told him to "step off" and kept the confrence moving. I don't know, to me it just looked like he thought Pryor wasn't on his level.

[gravity62]

And I never said whoever's the biggest wins. What I was saying was size is one of the main factors you look at when determining who has the better style match-up.

[joe kurtz]

Ray Leonard would have knocked Alexis Arguello out within three rounds.
Pryor needed 14 rds, & then 10 rounds, to turn the trick(s).

I guess Pryor could have outboxed Ray Leonard ? Not on this planet.

As for Ray avoiding Pryor ? LMAO !

Ray Leonard fought Tommy Hearns & Marvin Hagler.....but was afraid of PRYOR ?

I seriously think most of you are getting your **** second-handed. Those who were following boxing during that time period......know you youngins have bought into a MYTH that just sounds really good today.

Did you guys see Pryor struggling with the likes of Miguel Montilla, DuJuan Johnson, Akio Kameda, Nick Furlano, Gary Hinton ?

Ray Leonard would have knocked them all out in two rounds, all in the same night.

FINALLY!
Someone who was actually around during those days & watched the fighters we're discussing with an obviously educated eye.
I don't know where some of these folks have come from who have posted in this thread, but it's terribly obvious that they were either still filling their shorts while Pryor & Leaonard were fighting or ( even more likely ) not even born yet. Because, quite frankly, the majority of them just don't have a bloody clue!

[joe kurtz]

Ray Leonard would have demolished Aaron Pryor.
Tell me ONE foe that Pryor faced who was on Leonard's level ?
Don't give me Arguello, either. Arguello was at his best at 130, in the late 70's.
Pryor struggled like hell with the smaller, slower Arguello. Believe me, Ray Leonard's 147 lb. punches would have inflicted far more damage than Arguello's 140lbers would have.
Lb 4 lb., Arguello was a much bigger hitter than Leonard.....but we're talking about a significant size difference.

Pryor's style would have played right into the hands of Ray.....Always off-balance, susceptible to getting dropped (see Akio Kameda, DuJuan Johnson, Cervantes).....& vulnerable to body shots....
Pryor was too small & flawed to hang with Ray Leonard.

No offense to Pryor, who was a terrific fighter. But Ray was bigger, & just plain better.

Again, right on the money.

As I said in my earlier post regarding this match up, Pryor was a fabulous fighter. An all time great. Perhaps THE top man at 140 lbs ever. But, as a natural 135 lb fighter, there's just no way that hangs with, much less beats Ray Leonard.
And I don't want anyone bringing up Duran as an example of another "natural lightweight" beating Leonard. Duran always struggled to make 135 & was in fact a natural welter who killed himself to get down to lightweight.
Take my word for it as I'm met both men on numerous occasions over the years, Duran has a much larger frame than Pryor does. He's physically a bigger man. That's why he was able to hang with Leonard for three fights while Pryor would not have been able to.
That & his chin. Duran had an all time great chin. A fantastic chin that really only failed him once & that was against P4P one of the VERY best punchers ever in Thomas Hearns ( I'll not count the TKO3 to William Joppy because Duran was a grandfather by then . Whereas, though a terrific fighter, Pryor did NOT possess a great chin. It wasn't bad, but it was vulnerable. The first round spills against both Antonio Cervantes & Akio Kameda aren't so much proof of this, but more so his very rocky moments against Dujaun Johnson who dropped him & had him in serious trouble before Pryor came back to KO him.
Johnson was a big light welterweight who probably was closer to a natural welter in all honesty & he troubled Pryor greatly with his punch & superior strength. And, while Johnson was good, he wasn't anywhere even remotely near Leonard in ANY category.
I'm telling you, a Leonard - Pryor match would have greatly resembled the Terry Norris KO of the outsized, outgunned Meldrick Taylor.

[Dynamite76]

Ya man, that was the ******est thing i've EVER heard from someone


When has Sugar Ray ever knocked out a decent fighter in 3....

Aaron Pryor, a fighter that took Arguellos best shot and didnt even feel em....is gonna get knocked out by Sugar Ray?? How? cuz sugar ray runs the whole fight? Pryor will come blasting out of his corner and try n put u down, Hagler was big and a middleweight and he was slower, but Pryors got 10 times the speed of Hagler

I predect a Aaron Pryor knockout...

Ray could knock Aaron out.He's on another level than Aaron was.And if guys like Kameda was flooring him, Ray would own him,repeat OWN him.

[Tha Greatest]

Ray Leonard would have demolished Aaron Pryor.
Tell me ONE foe that Pryor faced who was on Leonard's level ?
Don't give me Arguello, either. Arguello was at his best at 130, in the late 70's.
Pryor struggled like hell with the smaller, slower Arguello. Believe me, Ray Leonard's 147 lb. punches would have inflicted far more damage than Arguello's 140lbers would have.
Lb 4 lb., Arguello was a much bigger hitter than Leonard.....but we're talking about a significant size difference.

Pryor's style would have played right into the hands of Ray.....Always off-balance, susceptible to getting dropped (see Akio Kameda, DuJuan Johnson, Cervantes).....& vulnerable to body shots....
Pryor was too small & flawed to hang with Ray Leonard.

No offense to Pryor, who was a terrific fighter. But Ray was bigger, & just plain better.

Damn man where the hell u been all this time

[Cali_Rob]

Whether Pryor would have knocked him out or Leonard won by decision, all I know is Pryor wanted the fight bad and Leonard didnt want no part of it. Personally, I lost some respect for Leonard after I saw the clip of one of his press confrences in the Pryor-Aguello Legendary Nights. If a legit contender in Pryor went out of his way to respectively challenge Leonard in public,and Leonard still totally blew him off.....if youre a true champ the only explanation in my opinion is Leonard was duckin. I pick a Pryor KO in one of the early-late rounds, KO is the only way Pryor would have won. Though I defintley dont count out a Leonard KO or decision.

[Bozo_no no]

Leonard was always very vain, and a jerk. But a very talented one at that.

It just doesn't make sense to say Leonard avoided Pryor, but fought Benetiez, Duran, Hearns, and Hagler. He probably could have fought Pryor, but in light of his resume its hardly fair
to call Leonard a fight ducker.

Pryor may have wanted the fight, but he didn't force it by fighting at Welterweight to create the demand.

Further to that, how do you think he'd have done vs:

A) Duran
B) Hearns
c) Benetiez

If Pryor had stepped up and convincingly beat one of those guys, he may have forced the fight.

But the fact remains, he fought his whole (brilliant) prime at 140.

[joe kurtz]

Whether Pryor would have knocked him out or Leonard won by decision, all I know is Pryor wanted the fight bad and Leonard didnt want no part of it. Personally, I lost some respect for Leonard after I saw the clip of one of his press confrences in the Pryor-Aguello Legendary Nights. If a legit contender in Pryor went out of his way to respectively challenge Leonard in public,and Leonard still totally blew him off.....if youre a true champ the only explanation in my opinion is Leonard was duckin. I pick a Pryor KO in one of the early-late rounds, KO is the only way Pryor would have won. Though I defintley dont count out a Leonard KO or decision.

How in the **** could Leonard have been ducking Pryor when by the time Pryor had done something significant enough to make the fight attractive ( i. e. his KO of Arguello ) Leonard was retired due to his detatched retina?!!
Please, before making TOTALLY unfounded accusations, do a little research & pay attention to the timelines involved.