Who beats 1982 Aaron Pryor?.....{crickets}

[Master]

Terry Marsh would have beaten Pryor after watching that video.

[TitoFan]

Pryor dismantled one of boxing's ATGs in Alexis Arguello. Not once, but twice. But hey... he had a rough night against Akio Kameda, so now that I think about it, he's shit. Hell... today's 140-pounders would've swept the floor with him. FFS.

If worshiping boyhood heroes is bad, blinders to every great fighter in history is even worse. But then I saw this coming with the argument that Ali-Frazier I wasn't that big of a HW title fight.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Big questions marks about Pryor now, i have watched most of his fights many times and he looks wired against Arguello both times, but he was fighting a smaller guy and still got hit a lot.
I used to think he would beat Leonard, but i have altered my opinion on that, Leonard wins a clear decision IMO. Duran in 1979/80 after moving up would've landed a huge shot and probably knocked him out.
Pryor was aggressive and attacking, but woefully reckless. Duran was aggressive, but he was far more measured and a far better boxer.
Mosley beats him, DLH beats him, Tszyu may knock him out in the first or 2nd round! Floyd doesn't lose a round.

[Alpha]

If Castillo and Maidana put hands on Floyd, Pryor f-cks him up.

[Alpha]

A guy like Loi would on the other hand.

[Fenster]

Not sure I'd go as far as picking all the greats to beat him but it really is hard to see a guy so careless/clueless/wild, that is struggling with below elite class competition having much success against modern greats.

Just look how he CONSTANTLY squares up and rightly gets punished? He is literally running face first at fighters. To his credit he is crazy tough, but it's hard to envisage a Mosley, Oscar, Kostya, Floyd, Pac, etc, not making him severely pay, he's begging for one straight down the pipe, the difference being I highly doubt they'd let him off the hook.

[Fenster]

Dujuan Johnson lost two from his next four before getting shot dead, this was the only time he ever fought in world-class. Now i'm not saying he was a poor fighter, but if he's rocking and rolling Pryor all over the shop, you're not selling me that the man is walking through all the greats in history just because he "beat" Arguello.

[Fenster]

These days, with the mountain of video evidence available, there's no excuses for lazy, parroted opinions masquerading as original thought or knowledge.

Pryor may well have been the best 140-pounder in history, however, it is not a crime that some of us believe otherwise. And attempt to offer some form of evidence to explain our thoughts.

Hope this helps.

[Dia bando]

Pryor dismantled one of boxing's ATGs in Alexis Arguello. Not once, but twice. But hey... he had a rough night against Akio Kameda, so now that I think about it, he's shit. Hell... today's 140-pounders would've swept the floor with him. FFS.

If worshiping boyhood heroes is bad, blinders to every great fighter in history is even worse. But then I saw this coming with the argument that Ali-Frazier I wasn't that big of a HW title fight.

Spot on Tito one bad performance does not make you a shit fighter in boxing one bad performance or you loose a fight boxing fans are quick to say a fighter is finished.
Boxing fans are a funny breed but its how it goes.

[Mr140]

The Hawk never moved up in his prime and his division was pretty baron his best win is over a great fighter but he was way over his peak weight. I mean the golden era of boxing was happening above the guy and he is not going to move and try to get into the mix by fighting some contenders at 147 it always seemed weird to me. The man was tough but really wild and left open all the time Leonard wins pretty wide decision, Duran is closer call and I think Hearns puts him to sleep early.

[TitoFan]

Most "fans" who easily dismiss fighters from earlier eras can't even be bothered to watch their fights. They fawn over today's stars, and subscribe to the laughable, flimsy premise that they're somehow superior. Would Pryor have beaten the likes of Leonard, Duran, or Hearns? Probably not. But to automatically dismiss him because of his style is a bit ignorant. Pryor was a swarmer, but a swarmer with power. Many of those mentioned from today would've wilted under the never ending pressure. It's one thing to wade in there without the threat of knockout power... it's quite another to contend with bombs coming non-stop from every angle. Pryor had a decent chin, too. That must be considered. Arguello teed off and hit Pryor several times with shots that would've dropped most any other opponent. Pryor blinked, paused, and moved on. Yes, Arguello had gone up in weight, but he carried the power with him.

[Master]

Julio Ceaser Chavez may have been able to outpoint Aaron Pryor.

[Spicoli]

I'm not ready to write Pryor off as an early version of James Kirkland doing impressions of a crash test dummy but he threw caution to the wind constantly and that was his whole hope of getting his early push. He was buzzed and or dropped in major fights and granted he brushed it off mostly and got right back to trying to rip a guys head off. He freely gave up his head. It's not a case of 'what could he have been' like some others as he had early opportunities he turned down, had platforms off his biggest wins and instead balked at challengers and dropped his trinket. Arguello was coming up sure but in fairness Pryor wasn't exactly a big 140 but fighters weathering a storm and mobile fast timing punchers I think would have done very well putting him off pace and turning his forward sprint against him. I'd go so far to think a Chavez form Frankie Randall would have found too many open lanes right down the middle. Taylor would get sucked in and fight his fight maybe. Crawford..forget about it. Pryor v Cotto 140 would have been hellfire and brimstone.

[mikeeod]

The Hawk never moved up in his prime and his division was pretty baron his best win is over a great fighter but he was way over his peak weight. I mean the golden era of boxing was happening above the guy and he is not going to move and try to get into the mix by fighting some contenders at 147 it always seemed weird to me. The man was tough but really wild and left open all the time Leonard wins pretty wide decision, Duran is closer call and I think Hearns puts him to sleep early.

I've made this point before, but think it is worth repeating here: some fighters have styles and physical gifts that "click" at a certain weight, and only that weight. Monzon and a Hagler are two great examples of this. It is difficult to pick against either in any mythical match up (p4p or otherwise), yet they remained at one weight throughout their careers. Pryor was like that at 140.

There are many old timers who claim Leonard wanted nothing to do with Pryor and that Pryor had his way with Leonard during training/competing in the amateurs. This may or may not be true, but I'm not 100% sold that Pryor has no hope based off of one or two poor performances. Styles, lack of motivation...etc., can impact a fighter's performance, and Leonard had a couple of fights where he looked less than stellar as well (Howard Davis as an example).

Some fighters are swarmers who have a very unorthodox style and rhythm which throws off other fighters. Prime Johnny Tapia, Joe Calzaghe, and even Pac Man are examples. Joe was very similar in that he threw many punches and often seemed to be wide open due to having his hands down, but proved much harder to hit than what was anticipated. Pryor had a great chin also, and this only made him that much more brazen and difficult to beat.

Could Ray, Tommy...etc., beaten Pryor? Sure. Was he overhyped and not as great as people make him out to be? Not in my opinion. Aaron Pryor had the style, attitude, and physical gifts to beat anyone at his weight, and proved this by cleaning the weight class out. Every time you have that dominant a champ, you have people criticizing their level of competition (Hop, Joe Loius, Wlad, Kostya...etc.).

[Mr140]

The Hawk never moved up in his prime and his division was pretty baron his best win is over a great fighter but he was way over his peak weight. I mean the golden era of boxing was happening above the guy and he is not going to move and try to get into the mix by fighting some contenders at 147 it always seemed weird to me. The man was tough but really wild and left open all the time Leonard wins pretty wide decision, Duran is closer call and I think Hearns puts him to sleep early.

I've made this point before, but think it is worth repeating here: some fighters have styles and physical gifts that "click" at a certain weight, and only that weight. Monzon and a Hagler are two great examples of this. It is difficult to pick against either in any mythical match up (p4p or otherwise), yet they remained at one weight throughout their careers. Pryor was like that at 140.

There are many old timers who claim Leonard wanted nothing to do with Pryor and that Pryor had his way with Leonard during training/competing in the amateurs. This may or may not be true, but I'm not 100% sold that Pryor has no hope based off of one or two poor performances. Styles, lack of motivation...etc., can impact a fighter's performance, and Leonard had a couple of fights where he looked less than stellar as well (Howard Davis as an example).

Some fighters are swarmers who have a very unorthodox style and rhythm which throws off other fighters. Prime Johnny Tapia, Joe Calzaghe, and even Pac Man are examples. Joe was very similar in that he threw many punches and often seemed to be wide open due to having his hands down, but proved much harder to hit than what was anticipated. Pryor had a great chin also, and this only made him that much more brazen and difficult to beat.

Could Ray, Tommy...etc., beaten Pryor? Sure. Was he overhyped and not as great as people make him out to be? Not in my opinion. Aaron Pryor had the style, attitude, and physical gifts to beat anyone at his weight, and proved this by cleaning the weight class out. Every time you have that dominant a champ, you have people criticizing their level of competition (Hop, Joe Loius, Wlad, Kostya...etc.).

I am not basing his chances to win off a few fights i just do not see how he is going to get away with his style with guys who are bigger and have power. Pryor was great 140 fighter but that division was kinda baron outside few fighters. All i am saying is with all the money there was to be made at 147 it still baffles me he did not move up and become a contender to fight Leonard, Duran, Benetiz or Hearns. Division up all the legends and money he could ask for think it would be worth it.