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One of the greatest myths in boxing that has prevailed is the uneducated notion that Leonard ducked or avoided Pryor. No, I did not put up a poll because I am not posing a question, as this is not up for debate as the facts will show that Leonard did not duck Pryor. In fact, they signed a fight. Bet some of you did not know that! That's right....signed a fight. I followed these guys closely and I have in the past, emailed Leonard himself (my favorite fighter of all time) and Pryor's wife. I still have their email addresses but cannot give them out. Before I get to the matter of the title of the subject, here are a couple unrelated facts about these two:
Leonard. A number of people believe that the reason Leonard fought Duran the way he fought him the first fight was because Duran forced him to in the ring. Not true. In the days leading up to the fight, Duran disrespected Leonard's wife and Leonard made the decision to brawl in that fight which was a tactical mistake. As a fan, I wouldn't want it any other way because it showed Leonard's mettle and Duran's skills and was simply a great fight. But I am glad Leonard showed his skills in the rematch. Leonard and Mike Trainer confirmed the above as well, both through emails. The reason for the confirmation was I was debating someone on another board who claimed the Duran made Leonard fight his fight which was proven to be untrue. Those old newspapers don't lie. I knew this, Leonard knew this, Mike Trainer knew this. The email from Leonard quickly shut up the guy I was debating.
Pryor. He and Leonard were CLOSE friends. Pryor was a year older. The sparred a bit and in one three rounder I read about from a 1979 boxing magazine, Leonard won the first, Pryor edged Leonard in the second, and Leonard buckled Pryor's knees in the third and won that round easily. Pryor had 230 fights, 16 losses and most know this. What is not know entirely or I have not learned is who the 16 losses were to. But, below you can see some of the fighters listed in those 16 loses in a letter from Pryor's wife to me at the bottom which provides some nice insight into Pryor and Leonard's relationship.
Now, as to the myth of Leonard ducking Pryor, the fact is Pryor has turned down one offer from Duran, and one from Leonard, BUT signed to fight Leonard on the second offer. Yep, he signed to fight Leonard. Pryor it seems was afraid of no man. But, his lawyer and manager situation left him without a shot at Duran which would have at least placed him in the thick of great fights that he never really got outside of the Arguello fight but at least that was an epic fight in his career. My pick is Duran and Leonard would have beaten Pryor, but he would have held his own at times.
Okay, on to the main topic, so here is the same information anyone can find on the Net. I believe it is 100% accurate:
Between 1980-1981: Pryor was offered $750,000 to fight Roberto Duran but turned it down because his new attorney told him not to sign anything until he worked out a new contract with LaRosa. By the time they worked out a new agreement, the chance to fight Duran was gone.
1982: Pryor signed to face Sugar Ray Leonard for the undisputed welterweight championship in the fall of 1982. His purse was going to be $750,000. Pryor had previously been offered $500,000 to fight Leonard, but he turned it down. Before fighting Pryor, Leonard first had to defend his title against Roger Stafford in Buffalo, New York on May 14, 1982. Pryor was on his way to Buffalo to taunt Leonard (business is business even between close friends)and help hype the fight when he heard on his car radio that Leonard had suffered a detached retina. "I pulled off to the side of the road and I cried," Pryor said. Leonard retired six months later.
LETTER FROM 2007:
Hi Richard,
Thanks so much for writing.* This is Frankie Pryor, Aaron Pryors wife. While Aaron may have had some of the greatest hands in boxing they sure arent worth much on a computer keyboard. However, Ill be happy to provide you with some info. After 16 years of living with Aaron and hearing the stories a million times from Ray Leonard and Aaron, Ill be happy to give you some insight on those early years.
First of all, Aaron does not remember the names of each of those 16 losses. I just asked him that question and he said that out of 230 amateur fights, its hard to remember the wins much less the losses! I do know that the top opponents he had in the amateurs were Norman Goins, Hilmer Kenty, Chris Clark & Tommy Hearns. Norman Goins beat Aaron as an amateur but then Aaron came back and beat him when they were pros. Neither Hilmer Kenty or Aaron can remember exactly the final tally of their match-ups as they did fight a lot in the amateurs. All Emanuel Steward, Hilmer Kenty & Aaron Pryor remember is Hilmer did beat Aaron a few times and vice versa.* This subject comes up often whenever we are visiting Aaron Pryor, JR. in Detroit as Aaron, Jr. is co-trained by Emanuel Steward and Hilmer Kenty is still a part of the Kronk organization. Chris Clark beat Aaron at the Pan-Am games which meant that Aaron received a Silver medal instead of Gold. But then he came back and beat Thomas Hearns knocking him out of his Olympic spot. We regularly see a lot of the amateur guys who went on to become champs such as Thomas Hearns, Ray Leonard, Hilmer Kenty, Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, etc., so its a lot of fun for the guys to relive those days.
As for Aaron & Ray Leonard, they have a relationship that goes back to their early amateur days. Once they both made the USA Boxing Team in their teens they became friends and traveled around the world in competition to places such as Russia, Poland, Venezuela, Mexico, etc., Aaron would go to Maryland and stay with Ray and his family for months at a time training and sparring together. Their relationship began in the amateurs and continued into the pros. No one was ever badly hurt during those sessions but they do have a difference in opinion on who got the best of the other one. They were always very competitive but always very good friends. In fact, they still stay in touch and we see Ray at least 2-3x a year. They have a great time talking about their amateur days and being on the USA Boxing Team. They especially enjoy talking about their families.
Hope this provided you with the info you were looking for.
Best regards,
Frankie Pryor
Leonard. A number of people believe that the reason Leonard fought Duran the way he fought him the first fight was because Duran forced him to in the ring. Not true. In the days leading up to the fight, Duran disrespected Leonard's wife and Leonard made the decision to brawl in that fight which was a tactical mistake. As a fan, I wouldn't want it any other way because it showed Leonard's mettle and Duran's skills and was simply a great fight. But I am glad Leonard showed his skills in the rematch. Leonard and Mike Trainer confirmed the above as well, both through emails. The reason for the confirmation was I was debating someone on another board who claimed the Duran made Leonard fight his fight which was proven to be untrue. Those old newspapers don't lie. I knew this, Leonard knew this, Mike Trainer knew this. The email from Leonard quickly shut up the guy I was debating.
Pryor. He and Leonard were CLOSE friends. Pryor was a year older. The sparred a bit and in one three rounder I read about from a 1979 boxing magazine, Leonard won the first, Pryor edged Leonard in the second, and Leonard buckled Pryor's knees in the third and won that round easily. Pryor had 230 fights, 16 losses and most know this. What is not know entirely or I have not learned is who the 16 losses were to. But, below you can see some of the fighters listed in those 16 loses in a letter from Pryor's wife to me at the bottom which provides some nice insight into Pryor and Leonard's relationship.
Now, as to the myth of Leonard ducking Pryor, the fact is Pryor has turned down one offer from Duran, and one from Leonard, BUT signed to fight Leonard on the second offer. Yep, he signed to fight Leonard. Pryor it seems was afraid of no man. But, his lawyer and manager situation left him without a shot at Duran which would have at least placed him in the thick of great fights that he never really got outside of the Arguello fight but at least that was an epic fight in his career. My pick is Duran and Leonard would have beaten Pryor, but he would have held his own at times.
Okay, on to the main topic, so here is the same information anyone can find on the Net. I believe it is 100% accurate:
Between 1980-1981: Pryor was offered $750,000 to fight Roberto Duran but turned it down because his new attorney told him not to sign anything until he worked out a new contract with LaRosa. By the time they worked out a new agreement, the chance to fight Duran was gone.
1982: Pryor signed to face Sugar Ray Leonard for the undisputed welterweight championship in the fall of 1982. His purse was going to be $750,000. Pryor had previously been offered $500,000 to fight Leonard, but he turned it down. Before fighting Pryor, Leonard first had to defend his title against Roger Stafford in Buffalo, New York on May 14, 1982. Pryor was on his way to Buffalo to taunt Leonard (business is business even between close friends)and help hype the fight when he heard on his car radio that Leonard had suffered a detached retina. "I pulled off to the side of the road and I cried," Pryor said. Leonard retired six months later.
LETTER FROM 2007:
Hi Richard,
Thanks so much for writing.* This is Frankie Pryor, Aaron Pryors wife. While Aaron may have had some of the greatest hands in boxing they sure arent worth much on a computer keyboard. However, Ill be happy to provide you with some info. After 16 years of living with Aaron and hearing the stories a million times from Ray Leonard and Aaron, Ill be happy to give you some insight on those early years.
First of all, Aaron does not remember the names of each of those 16 losses. I just asked him that question and he said that out of 230 amateur fights, its hard to remember the wins much less the losses! I do know that the top opponents he had in the amateurs were Norman Goins, Hilmer Kenty, Chris Clark & Tommy Hearns. Norman Goins beat Aaron as an amateur but then Aaron came back and beat him when they were pros. Neither Hilmer Kenty or Aaron can remember exactly the final tally of their match-ups as they did fight a lot in the amateurs. All Emanuel Steward, Hilmer Kenty & Aaron Pryor remember is Hilmer did beat Aaron a few times and vice versa.* This subject comes up often whenever we are visiting Aaron Pryor, JR. in Detroit as Aaron, Jr. is co-trained by Emanuel Steward and Hilmer Kenty is still a part of the Kronk organization. Chris Clark beat Aaron at the Pan-Am games which meant that Aaron received a Silver medal instead of Gold. But then he came back and beat Thomas Hearns knocking him out of his Olympic spot. We regularly see a lot of the amateur guys who went on to become champs such as Thomas Hearns, Ray Leonard, Hilmer Kenty, Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, etc., so its a lot of fun for the guys to relive those days.
As for Aaron & Ray Leonard, they have a relationship that goes back to their early amateur days. Once they both made the USA Boxing Team in their teens they became friends and traveled around the world in competition to places such as Russia, Poland, Venezuela, Mexico, etc., Aaron would go to Maryland and stay with Ray and his family for months at a time training and sparring together. Their relationship began in the amateurs and continued into the pros. No one was ever badly hurt during those sessions but they do have a difference in opinion on who got the best of the other one. They were always very competitive but always very good friends. In fact, they still stay in touch and we see Ray at least 2-3x a year. They have a great time talking about their amateur days and being on the USA Boxing Team. They especially enjoy talking about their families.
Hope this provided you with the info you were looking for.
Best regards,
Frankie Pryor
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