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Anyone who is interested in knowing more about Leonard and Pryor, here is a great bit of information that Frankie, Aaron's wife gave me in one of our email exchanges some years back:
While Aaron may have had some of the greatest hands in boxing they sure aren’t worth much on a computer keyboard.* However, I’ll 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, I’ll 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, it’s 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 it’s 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.* 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.
While Aaron may have had some of the greatest hands in boxing they sure aren’t worth much on a computer keyboard.* However, I’ll 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, I’ll 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, it’s 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 it’s 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.* 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.
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