Had Duran chosen to fight at that weight I think it would have been him, but as things stand I'd say Pryor.
Without doubt. Stamina, chin, power, heart, boxing ability and insane will to win. Hard to beat that combination.
Pryor... Nice mention of Ross, way underrated. But, prime Pryor(albeit way too short) was indomitable. Power,stamina, insane work rate and damn good boxing skills(when needed) PBF ? The Hawk would have eaten him up... Look at the problems he had with Castillo and Maidana !
Based on record, I'd go with Chavez, but based on ability, I think there are quite a few who would've beaten a prime Chavez @ 140 - Pryor, Mayweather, Whitaker, De La Hoya, Tszyu, and maybe Duran and Pacquiao too.
stylistically you could make a case for them all beating each other, so the only way to measure it with any fairness is to consider their records in the division. Telling me that 'mayweather schools whittaker, fact' is saying nothing because no one can really know. Longevity, opposition (although some would suffer from having a weaker division to fight) dominance, contemporary regard, achievements, ability to cope with varied styles, all these things should be considered. At light welter, id have to say Chavez achieved most
A rough top ten. 1. Antonio Cervantes 2. JCC 3. Aaron Pryor 4. Niccolino Locche 5. Kostya Tszyu 6. Jack Kid Berg 7. Barney Ross 8. Tony Canzoneri 9. Eddie Perkins 10. Duilio Loi