Aaron Pryor: Where does he rank?

I have him top 50. He dominated for quite a while fought good competition, and didn't lose in his prime. There is something to be said about that.


Keith

 

Not in the 50.

Somewhere in the 100 if you were more inclined to rank a guy based on H2H ability and form on film.

He was really a brilliant fighter at 140 but the Arguello's wins can only take him so far when ranking him...and thats even if you dont take into account the black bottle shenanigans.

 

He spent 5+ years on top. Beat a very good champ to win the title and beat Arguello twice. I don't rate the black bottle thing much at all.

Though we agree a lot in the general forum, we won't see eye to eye this I'm sure.

I rate fighters on how they dominate their division. Pryor was hands down unarguably the best, and didn't lose doing it. I'd have to look, as I have it written down somehwere, but he's probably closer to 30 than 50 for me.

Keith

 

He wasnt even champ for that long though...He held the belt he won of Cervantes for a little over 3 years..retired..then got given the IBF belt when he came back and didnt hang around much longer after that.

 

Cervantes was cooked by the time Pryor got to him. I don't rate that win very highly.

 

Cervantes may have been past it, but he was still winning fights before and after he fought pryor.

 

That is sort of hind sight history there though.

Cervantes was good enough to be the cahmp.

Pryor beat the champ.

Using that line of arguing, ANY fighters wins could be degraded on a whim.

Keith

 

Despite their states at the time, those two (much moreso Arguello, as he had a lot more to offer a fighter like Pryor even at that stage) are definitely his highest profile wins. Outside of them, I'd say the win over up and comer Dujuan Johnson was probably his best win. Johnson was a big puncher, and a hyped prospect out of Kronk's gym. He hit Pryor with everything but the kitchen sink in their fight, but Pryor just kept on coming as if he wasn't even phased (save for a flash knockdown in round 1) and eventually overwhelmed Johnson with his highly unorthodox whirl-wind approach. You'll rarely see a more entertaining performance from Pryor, which is saying something.

 

But cant you see the flaws in that kind of logic keith?

All fights need to be put into context, it doesnt come down to just what it says in the record book.

Cervantes was not the same fighter that he was 5 years before that fight.

 

He was good enough to be champ, but just barely by that stage. He was winning split decisions over mediocre challengers like Kim. C'mon man, it was quite clear that he was well on the slide by that point. Ready to order for a fighter like Pryor.