Aaron Pryor
Aaron Pryor | |||||||||||||||
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Born | Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | October 20, 1955||||||||||||||
Died | October 9, 2016 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | (aged 60)||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||
Other names | The Hawk | ||||||||||||||
Statistics | |||||||||||||||
Weight(s) | Light welterweight | ||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||||||||||||||
Reach | 69 in (175 cm) | ||||||||||||||
Stance | Orthodox | ||||||||||||||
Boxing record | |||||||||||||||
Total fights | 40 | ||||||||||||||
Wins | 39 | ||||||||||||||
Wins by KO | 35 | ||||||||||||||
Losses | 1 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Aaron Pryor (October 20, 1955 – October 9, 2016) was an American
In 1982, the Boxing Writers Association of America named Pryor as their Fighter of the Year. Pryor was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996, and in 1999 was voted by the Associated Press as the world's best light welterweight of the 20th century.[1] In 2002, he was ranked as the 35th greatest boxer of the past 80 years by The Ring.[2]
Amateur career
Pryor, nicknamed The Hawk, had a record of 204 wins and 16 losses as an amateur. He won the National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Lightweight Championship in 1973. In 1975, he again won the National AAU Lightweight Championship and a silver medal at the Pan American Games, losing in the final to Canadian Chris Clarke.
Pryor beat future champion
As an amateur, Pryor holds also a unique achievement: at the 1974 USSR vs USA boxing duals he defeated three future world champions: Vassily Solomin, Valery Lvov[3] and Valery Rachkov.[4]
Pryor finished his amateur career having 220 fights under his belt, with a record of 204 wins, 16 losses.
Professional career
Pryor turned professional on November 11, 1976, with a second-round knockout of Larry Smith, for which he made $400. A few days later, Pryor signed a managerial contract with Buddy LaRosa, owner of LaRosa's Pizzeria. He was also trained by Raymond Cartier.
Pryor fought eight times in 1977, winning all but two by knockout. The only two fighters who lasted the entire fight with Pryor that year were Jose Resto and Johnny Summerhayes, each losing by an eight-round unanimous decision. After the fight with Summerhayes, Pryor won 26 fights in a row by knockout. It was one of the longest knockout streaks in the history of boxing.
In his last fight of 1979, Pryor was pitted for the first time ever in his professional career against a former or future world champion when he faced former WBA light welterweight champion Alfonso "Peppermint" Frazer of Panama. Pryor knocked out Frazer in the fifth round, advancing his fight record to 20–0 with 18 knockouts. After defeating Fraser, Pryor entered the World Boxing Association rankings.
On August 2, 1980, Pryor faced two-time world champion
In December 1980, Pryor rejected an offer of $500,000 to fight Sugar Ray Leonard for the WBC welterweight championship because he wanted more money. When the WBC raised the offer to $750,000, he rejected that as well.[5] Pryor signed to fight WBC light-welterweight champion Saoul Mamby in a unification bout for $1 million. The bout was tentatively scheduled for February 7, 1981. However, the fight fell apart when the promoter, Harold Smith, disappeared amid allegations that he was involved in a $21.3 million fraud against Wells Fargo National Bank. Smith, whose real name was Ross Fields, was later sentenced to ten years in prison after he was convicted of 29 counts of fraud and embezzlement.[6][7]
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. By the time they worked out a new agreement, the chance to fight Durán was gone.[8]
On June 27, 1981, Pryor knocked out Lennox Blackmoore in the second round. He then defended the title against undefeated Dujuan Johnson on November 14, 1981. Johnson knocked down Pryor in round one, but Pryor came back to stop Johnson in the seventh round.
Pryor knocked out Miguel Montilla in the twelfth round on March 21, 1982. His next title defense was against the undefeated Akio Kameda of Japan. The fight took place on July 4, 1982. Once again, Pryor was knocked down in the first round but came back to score a sixth-round knockout.
Pryor signed to face
Bouts with Alexis Arguello
On November 12, 1982, Pryor defended his title with a fourteenth-round TKO of
Pryor made $1.6 million while Arguello was paid $1.5 million. Arguello, a 12-5 favorite, was attempting to become the first boxer to win world titles in four weight divisions.
The end of the fight was controversial. Arguello landed a punch in the thirteenth round that seemed to stun Pryor, and despite trailing on two of three scorecards, Arguello had things tilting in his direction. Between the thirteenth and fourteenth rounds, HBO's microphones caught Pryor's trainer, Panama Lewis, telling cutman Artie Curley, "Give me the other bottle, the one I mixed."
It seemed to revive Pryor. Coming out quickly for the fourteenth round, Pryor landed a barrage of unanswered blows before referee Stanley Christodoulou stopped it. Arguello collapsed to the canvas near the ropes, where he lay for several minutes.
On April 2, 1983, Pryor knocked out former WBC super lightweight champion Sang-Hyun Kim in the third round.
Pryor had a rematch with Arguello at
Panama Lewis had his license revoked after he removed the padding from the gloves of Luis Resto before his fight with Billy Collins Jr. on June 16, 1983. Pryor hired Richie Giachetti to train him, but they had a falling-out. Two weeks before the Arguello rematch, Pryor brought in Emanuel Steward as his trainer.
The rematch was not as competitive as their first one. Pryor was badly staggered towards the end of round two by an Arguello uppercut, but he dropped Arguello with a right cross in the first round and again with a left hook in the fourth. Pryor put Arguello down for the count in the tenth round.[12]
After the fight, both Arguello and Pryor announced that they were retiring from boxing.[13]
Short-lived retirement and return
Pryor's retirement didn't last very long. In March 1984, he announced that he was going to fight again. "I never really retired. I just rested," Pryor said. "I vacated the title because the WBA insisted I defend it every six months." The newly formed IBF immediately recognized him as their world champion.[14]
Shortly before Pryor made his comeback, his proposed multimillion-dollar fight with WBA lightweight champion Ray Mancini fell through when Mancini was knocked out by Livingstone Bramble on June 1, 1984. "Aaron Pryor actually cried," Said Bob Arum. "I saw the tears."[15]
On June 22, 1984, Pryor defended his IBF title against Nick Furlano in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Pryor knocked down Furlano twice in the first round but was unable to finish him. Pryor won by a lopsided fifteen-round unanimous decision. Furlano became the first boxer in 27 fights to last the entire fight with Pryor.
Pryor defended his title against future IBF light-welterweight champion Gary Hinton on March 2, 1985. Pryor won by a fifteen-round split decision. He got off to a sluggish start but came on strong in the second half, winning five of the last seven rounds on the cards of judges Frank Cairo (who voted for Hinton) and Phil Newman and all seven on the card of judge Lawrence Wallace. Pryor dropped Hinton early in the 14th round with a right to the chin.[16]
Drug abuse and comeback
By the mid-1980s, Pryor's life had become consumed by drugs. In December 1985, Pryor was stripped of the IBF title for failure to defend. "[17]
After 29 months out of the ring, Pryor, insisting he was now clean from drugs, attempted a comeback. He fought welterweight
On December 15, 1988, Pryor scored a third-round knockout of club fighter Hermino Morales in Rochester, New York.
In April 1990, Pryor was ordered to undergo two years of treatment for
Pryor next fought Darryl Jones on May 16, 1990, in Madison, Wisconsin. Jones, who had a record of 13-13, was knocked out in the third round.
Before the Jones fight, Pryor had surgery to remove a
Pryor's last fight was on December 4, 1990, in Norman, Oklahoma. He knocked out unheralded Roger Choate in the seventh round. Pryor's career ended with a record of 39–1 with 35 knockouts.
Pryor finally kicked his drug habit in 1993 and remained drug free until his death in 2016.[22]
Pryor was inducted into the
Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor was voted as the Greatest Light Welterweight in boxing history by the Houston Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2014. The HBHOF is a voting body composed entirely of current and former fighters.
Professional boxing record
40 fights | 39 wins | 1 loss |
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By knockout | 35 | 1 |
By decision | 4 | 0 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
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40 | Win | 39–1 | Roger Choate | TKO | 7 (10), 1:44 | Dec 4, 1990 | Sheraton Hotel, Norman, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
39 | Win | 38–1 | Darryl Jones | KO | 3, 1:15 | May 16, 1990 | Masonic Temple, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | |
38 | Win | 37–1 | Herminio Morales | KO | 3 (10), 1:32 | Dec 15, 1988 | Community War Memorial, Rochester, New York , U.S.
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37 | Loss | 36–1 | Bobby Joe Young | TKO | 7 (10), 0:29 | Aug 8, 1987 | Sunrise Musical Theater, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. | |
36 | Win | 36–0 | Gary Hinton | SD | 15 | Mar 2, 1985 | Sands, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | Retained IBF light welterweight title |
35 | Win | 35–0 | Nick Furlano | UD | 15 | Jun 22, 1984 | Toronto, Ontario , Canada
|
Won inaugural IBF light welterweight title |
34 | Win | 34–0 | Alexis Argüello | KO | 10 (15), 1:48 | Sep 9, 1983 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
33 | Win | 33–0 | Kim Sang-hyun | TKO | 3 (15), 0:37 | Apr 2, 1983 | Sands, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
32 | Win | 32–0 | Alexis Argüello | TKO | 14 (15), 1:06 | Nov 12, 1982
|
Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida, U.S. | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
31 | Win | 31–0 | Akio Kameda | TKO | 6 (15), 1:44 | Jul 4, 1982 | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
30 | Win | 30–0 | Miguel Montilla | TKO | 12 (15), 0:42 | Mar 21, 1982 | Playboy Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey , U.S.
|
Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
29 | Win | 29–0 | Dujuan Johnson | TKO | 7 (15), 1:49 | Nov 14, 1981 | Public Hall, Cleveland , Ohio, U.S.
|
Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
28 | Win | 28–0 | Lennox Blackmoore | TKO | 2 (15), 0:58 | Jun 27, 1981 | Hacienda, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
27 | Win | 27–0 | Gaétan Hart | TKO | 6 (15), 2:09 | Nov 22, 1980 | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
26 | Win | 26–0 | Danny Myers | TKO | 3 (10), 0:57 | Nov 1, 1980 | Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | |
25 | Win | 25–0 | Antonio Cervantes | KO | 4 (15), 1:47 | Aug 2, 1980 | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | Won WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
24 | Win | 24–0 | Carl Crowley | KO | 1 (10), 2:15 | Jun 20, 1980 | Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
23 | Win | 23–0 | Leonidas Asprilla | TKO | 10 (10), 2:00 | Apr 13, 1980 | Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | |
22 | Win | 22–0 | Julio Valdez | TKO | 4 (10) | Mar 16, 1980 | Miami, Florida , U.S.
|
|
21 | Win | 21–0 | Juan Garcia | KO | 1 (10), 0:28 | Feb 24, 1980 | Tropicana Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | |
20 | Win | 20–0 | Alfonso Frazer | TKO | 5 (10), 2:40 | Oct 20, 1979 | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
19 | Win | 19–0 | Jose Fernandez | KO | 1 (10), 0:55 | Jun 23, 1979 | Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
18 | Win | 18–0 | Al Ford | TKO | 4 (10), 2:29 | May 11, 1979 | Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
17 | Win | 17–0 | Freddie Harris | TKO | 3 (10), 2:55 | Apr 27, 1979 | Convention Center, Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | |
16 | Win | 16–0 | Norman Goins | KO | 9 (10), 2:45 | Apr 13, 1979 | Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
15 | Win | 15–0 | Johnny Copeland | KO | 7 (10), 1:42 | Mar 16, 1979 | Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
14 | Win | 14–0 | Marion Thomas | KO | 8 | Jul 18, 1978 | Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | |
13 | Win | 13–0 | Scotty Foreman | TKO | 6 (10), 2:15 | May 3, 1978 | Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. | |
12 | Win | 12–0 | Al Franklin | TKO | 3 (10), 2:58 | Mar 10, 1978 | Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
11 | Win | 11–0 | Ron Pettigrew | TKO | 2 (8), 2:18 | Mar 1, 1978 | Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | |
10 | Win | 10–0 | Robert Tijernia | TKO | 2 (10), 2:25 | Jan 16, 1978 | Convention-Exposition Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
9 | Win | 9–0 | Angel Cintron | TKO | 3 (8) | Nov 11, 1977 | Convention-Exposition Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
8 | Win | 8–0 | Johnny Summerhays | UD | 8 | Oct 7, 1977 | Convention-Exposition Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
7 | Win | 7–0 | Melvin Young | KO | 4 (6) | Sep 3, 1977 | Drawbridge Inn, Covington, Kentucky, U.S. | |
6 | Win | 6–0 | Jose Resto | UD | 8 | May 7, 1977 | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
5 | Win | 5–0 | Isaac Vega | KO | 2 (6), 0:48 | Mar 26, 1977 | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
4 | Win | 4–0 | Nick Wills | KO | 1 | Mar 12, 1977 | Lincoln Heights, Ohio, U.S. | |
3 | Win | 3–0 | Harvey Wilson | TKO | 1 (6), 2:04 | Feb 24, 1977 | Riverfront Coliseum , Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
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2 | Win | 2–0 | Larry Moore | TKO | 3 (6) | Feb 1, 1977 | Convention Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
1 | Win | 1–0 | Larry Smith | TKO | 2 (6), 2:04 | Nov 12, 1976 | Cincinnati, Ohio , U.S.
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Death
Pryor died on October 9, 2016, after developing
References
- ^ http://static.espn.go.com/boxing/news/1999/1208/221260.html
- ^ "About.com: Boxing". Boxing.about.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "DualURS_USA".
- ^ Pryor Rejects Offer - Reading Eagle
- ^ AARON PRYOR FIGHTING FOR RECOGNITION - New York Times
- ^ SMITH, BOXING PROMOTER, IS GIVEN 10-YEAR SENTENCE IN BANK FRAUD - New York Times
- ^ The Champion of Confusion - Sports Illustrated
- ^ Don't Count Out Pryor-Leonard - Star-News
- ^ It Was A Pryor Engagement - Sports Illustrated
- ^ The Final Chapter: Pryor-Argüello I – Panama Lewis and the Black Bottle - BOXING.com
- ^ Good Night, Sweet Prince - Sports Illustrated
- ^ Pryor Stops Pryor in 10 - The Palm Beach Post
- ^ Pryor Is Ending Boxing Retirement - Daily Times
- ^ The Boom Boom Show Was Fun While It Lasted - Beaver County Times
- ^ Pryor Keeps Welterweight Title - The Vancouver Sun
- ^ Return Of Aaron Pryor A Thing Many Won't Believe Til They See It - Chicago Tribune
- ^ Pryor Knocked Out in Comeback - The New York Times
- ^ SPORTS PEOPLE; Treatment for Pryor - New York Times
- ^ Boxing Commission To Seek Cancellation of Pryor Fight - Sunday Times-Sentinel
- ^ Pryor's eyesight causing a concern - Eugene Register-Guard
- ^ "Aaron Pryor Career Highlights - Official Site of Aaron 'The Hawk' Pryor". Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
- ^ ibhof.com
- ^ Gigney, George (2016) "Aaron Pryor dies at 60", boxingnewsonline.net, October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016
- ^ "Former boxing champion Aaron Pryor dies". The Enquirer.
External links
- Official website
- Boxing record for Aaron Pryor from BoxRec (registration required)