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

[oldgringo]

We're talking about Ray Leonard here...who had one of the greatest chins, stamina and durability levels, and all around skill sets as a NATURAL welterweight...against Pryor, a great 140 pounder who had life and death struggles with a past his prime Arguello. Theres no way in hell that Pryor wears out Ray and then KO's him. If Hearns couldn't KO him then Pryor couldn't, and I'm actually going to use that broken logic because the entire argument is just kind of assenine.

[Yogi]

I can't believe that "Pryor by a KO/TKO" has garnered the most votes amongst all those options given. Listen, back then I disliked Leonard as much as anybody did, but some people on here really need to get a ****ing clue.

Ridiculous!

[joe kurtz]

Again, I'll wager that the vast majority of those posting on this thread & touting such outcomes in Pryor's favor have never even seen him fight live on the telly.
Some of them weren't even out of their nappies yet when he was fighting.

[gravity62]

^I think most of them saw him on Legendary Nights and bought into those hyped up clips of him fighting Arguello and thinks that he could move up and also do the man often called the best fighter of the 80's the same way. I think they're sadly mistaken to think that. If any of them saw actual full fights of his, they whould know that he has flaws that whould be much easier to exploit at 147.

[trevorjulien]

This would of been a great fight. Pryor was relentless. But Ray could outbox half the country. He was very smart.

[hawktrooper]

Leonard is naturally bigger and better in just about every category outside of workrate. Leonard would take a fairly easy 15 round decision. Pryor would have a few nice moments and would press Ray the whole way but Leonard is just too much for him at 147.

I'll agree Ray was naturally bigger, but he was no stronger or faster. Although Ray had a good chin, was durable and had great stamina, these attributes were also in Pryor's arsenal.

Both men sparred together for a year and dropped each other in an early sparring session. After the initial KD's neither was ever knocked down again. So, a KO wouldn't be as likely as one might think. I read when they sparred, Pryor was fast enough to counter as Ray jabbed or threw a right, breaking up Ray's combinations.

If pryor could control Ray's jab that would probably be a key factor in the fight. The other would be how well Pryor cut off the ring and limited Rays lateral movement.

Of the five Hall of Famers who boxed at 147 during this 'Golden' era: Leonard, Hearns, Duran, Benitez and Cuevas. I think Ray would be the hardest match-up with Pryor. I'd say Ray wins by decision 3 out of 5 times, followed by Benitez 50/50, Duran 2 of 5, Hearns 1 of 5 and Cuevas would never win. But, I think at lightweight Duran would be at least 50/50 or 3 of 5.

[hawktrooper]

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.

I was watching back in the eighties and late seventies.

Ray Leonard only had a 62% KO rating, which isn't bad but it's not great. Pryor on the other hand had an 89.7 which ranks him number one of anyone whoever won a championship. Rocky marciano being second with 87.75. His entire career he only had four 1st or 2nd round KO's and after he got his first belt he went at least ten rounds 7 of 15 fights, and his nine KO's took 81 rounds or on average they happened in the ninth round. And that's with people like Dave Green, Larry Bonds, Bruce Finch, Kevin Howard, and Donny Lalonde thrown in the mix. So, the second round predictions are hopeful at best.

You mentioned Pryor had hard fights with Miguel Montilla, DuJuan Johnson, Akio Kameda, Nick Furlano, Gary Hinton.

He KOed Montilla, Kameda and Johnson and the Johnson fight was voted fight of the year by Ring magizine. Also all three were the #1 contender at the time as was Blackmore before them and then he fought Arguello twice with a tune up in between. No champions in any weight fight the number one guy six of seven fights in a row.

As for Furlano and Hinton both were fights after he retired and he was a crack addict at the time AND he fought every fight after Arguello II blind in one eye from a detatched retina.

Why use fights after he was washed up, half blind and a crack addict. That's like saying Ray Leonard couldn't beat Pryor because he drew (actually lost) to an old Hearns, lost to Terry Norris and was KOed by an old Camacho.

Both fighters were great. Both struggled in fights maybe they shouldn't have and both fought about four or five fights more than they should have.

[hawktrooper]

Size is usually the, or one of the main factors when predicting the outcome of a fight. You take away the size factor and it's very hard predicting fights. For example a heavyweight should have no problem with a flyweight. In boxing any advantage in size or weight matters, especially in the lower weight divisions, so your logic is kind of backwards.

I think what made leonard more powerful than Pryor was his sharpness and accuracy. Pryor wasn't really accurate, but he did throw punches from all angles and had power at 140.

I agree a 105lb man should generally lose to a 200 lb man as in your fly/heavy analogy. What size advantage would Ray have if both men were 147 lbs? What he was taller? Being short never stopped Frazier or Tyson or a myriad of other fighters and being tall didn't saved Marc Breland or Bonecrusher Smith. Size within the same weight class doesn't matter. Hearns was taller than everyone that beat him.

Ray was no stronger. Ray was never known to be a heavy hitter and was not a KO artist. As for Ray being faster with his hands. No, he was not faster, both men were extremely fast.

The whole fight would come down to style and controlling the ring.

[FistoftheDallasStar]

A great fight that could have gone either way. But I would have to go with Leonard on this fight. It's so hard to pick against him during his prime. A close UD - these two guys were good enough to seriously mess up each others carriers for good after fighting each other. I'm sure if they did fight it would've been a classic.