aaron pryor loss

[3] In August of 1980 he was matched with the peerless Colombian Antonio Cervantes, who had fought 100 times and had been world champion since 1972. The gold medalists from that historic Olympics had gone on to high rankings and championship wins, and while Pryor had beaten guys like Thomas Hearns and Hilmer Kenty in the amateurs, now they were the ones getting big money and world title matches, while Pryor struggled in obscurity.

It wasn’t so much that in Pryor he encountered his most relentless and formidable adversary and that he took more punishment than in any previous bout, but more the fact that this was, by a large margin, the biggest fight of Alexis Arguello’s career, one of the biggest of the 80’s, a decade of huge fights. And second, the suspicion of foul play arose after microphones had picked up Pryor’s trainer at the time, Panama Lewis, calling for a special water bottle, the one he had “mixed,” before the start of round 14. “Pryor not only took them,” The New York Times wrote, “but he answered back in kind in an all-round performance that finally but clearly established him as one of boxing’s biggest stars.”.

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Pryor won by a lopsided fifteen-round unanimous decision. He was a two-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 1980 to 1983, and the IBF title from 1984 to 1985.

Pryor won 204 of his 220 amateur fights, according to Sports Illustrated, and won two National Golden Gloves titles, whipping Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns for one of them. Pryor triumphs in the first great battle with Arguello. The newly formed IBF immediately recognized him as their world champion.

“I’d put it in the top five.”. Pryor was teased with promises, often offered short money for showdowns, but he kept mowing down the opposition with relentless and fan-friendly displays; after five defences he was matched in late 1982 with the Nicaraguan lightweight world champion Alexis Arguello, who many at the time considered the finest fighter on the planet.

Once again, Pryor was knocked down in the first round but came back to score a sixth-round knockout. Pryor knocked out Miguel Montilla in the twelfth round on March 21, 1982. Arguello, a three-division champion and popular TV attraction, was favored to win a title in a fourth weight class before Pryor wore him down late and forced a referee stoppage with a devastating combination of right hands along the ropes. Former gold medalist and world champion Leo Randolph, a member of the U.S. Olympic team on which Pryor was an alternate, has been quoted as saying that Pryor “was the best defensive amateur boxer that I have ever seen. Aaron Pryor, Boxing Champion Who Defeated Addiction, Dies at 60 ... ending his career in 1991 with a professional record of 39 wins — including 35 knockouts — and one loss. Gone too soon, and taken in the same year that saw the passing of Muhammad Ali, “The Hawk” succumbed to heart disease shortly before his 61st birthday, but like “The Greatest,” he will never be forgotten by serious boxing fans.. Beaten for a berth on the 1976 United States Olympic team, a dejected Pryor returned to Cincinnati, where he was met by a lone, loyal friend, Ken Hawk, carrying a 20-foot sign that read, “Welcome Home, Aaron, You’re Still My Champ.” The Hawk became his nickname “because I swoop down on my opponents,” he said. But haunted in part by the controversy over that fight, Pryor descended into cocaine addiction and was stripped of his title in 1985 for failing to defend it. Jackie Lacey vs. George Gascón: Here’s everything you need to know about the L.A County district attorney’s race. All rights reserved. On June 27, 1981, Pryor knocked out Lennox Blackmore in the second round.

Things are just going really great for me.”. After the election, there could be greater federal support for this research. When the WBC raised the offer to $750,000, he rejected that as well.

Skepticism about this incident only intensified when the following year Lewis was condemned for tampering with the gloves of Luis Resto before his bout with Billy Collins.

During Pryor’s five-year reign as world champion, he made more than $5 million, The Enquirer estimated.

The pair delivered one of boxing’s truly great fights in Miami in front of nearly 30,000 fans on that November night and it finally came to a savage end in the 14th round; Pryor was still unbeaten, Arguello was out on his feet and LaRosa was very rich. A look at California’s November ballot propositions.

[4][5], Pryor was then offered $750,000 to fight Roberto Durán in April 1981, but Pryor turned it down because his new attorney told him not to sign anything until he worked out a new contract with manager Buddy LaRosa.

“I serve the Lord. After the fight with Summerhayes, Pryor won 26 fights in a row by knockout. With corrective lenses, the vision improved to 20/70. The Arguello clashes were big, but not on quite the same level, and the closest Pryor ever got to a multi-million dollar superfight was when Leonard gave serious consideration to granting Pryor a shot at his welterweight title in 1982. He was given the surname Pryor by his mother, the family said, but it was unclear when. Proposed dream fights with Sugar Ray Leonard, Ray Mancini and Hector Camacho also fell through for a number of reasons. He would later travel the world making personal appearances and spreading his anti-drug message.

Pryor made $1.6 million while Arguello was paid $1.5 million.

Two years later, he survived a punishing 14 rounds in a memorable though controversial victory over Alexis Argüello of Nicaragua.

Montreal is The Fight City. Pryor won by a fifteen-round split decision.

Against the Broncos, they held on until the last play when Denver scored the winning touchdown.

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Many in boxing thought it contained stimulants, but the corner man, Artie Curley, said it was peppermint schnapps.

[1] In 2002, he was ranked as the 35th greatest boxer of the past 80 years by The Ring.[2]. Where to vote. "I pulled off to the side of the road and I cried," Pryor said. Of course, these Miami coaches came from that New England staff. "I saw the tears."[13].

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Create a commenting name to join the debate, There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts, There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor was voted as the Greatest Light Welterweight in boxing history by the Houston Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2014. It took me so long to get this far, what would I have to do to get here again?”, Aaron Pryor, Boxing Champion Who Defeated Addiction, Dies at 60, Aaron Pryor, right, threw a hard right at Alexis Argüello in Round 2 of their 1982 match, which was labeled the “Fight of the Decade.”. On April 2, 1983, Pryor knocked out former WBC super lightweight champion Sang-Hyun Kim in the third round.