They all have the skill and stamina to outpoint the often wild Pryor, making him miss and pay. Banking everything on a knockout like Arguello did twice is a fool's errand when dealing with a peak Hawk. These gentlemen would have been more geared to outscore him though, and it would pay off.
He definately beats Mclarnin and Berg for me although I am less certain about a peak Canzoneri, Chocolate and Ross. I think Canzoneri and Chocolate may well be too small for Pryor, but I believe Ross should be favoured to outpoint him.
he has a style that transcends time, it'is just as dangerous way back when as it would be now. I say pryor could give them all hell. chocolate is fast enough to catch pryor coming in with some lead hook or uppercut. but he also seems a bit too slender to handle pryor. ross is good enough to box with him and keep him away. would've been nice if ross was at his prime to fight armstrong cause that would be a good indicator for this matchup here.
canzoneri and ross i agree would be his hardest fights, chocolate as said is to small , mclarnin i think has a shot at winning one in a series of three. but berg would match pryor and probably surpass him in punch output so i will go for berg to go down via a very close decision but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that berg would take a fight off pryor of course this is a completely unbiased view no i really do mean it is unbiased
Personally, I think all of them have at least a very good chance of beating Pryor. Ross and Canzoneri have the best chance and IMO should both be favourites. McLarnin and Berg is closer, I still think both would beat him but Pryor has a good chance and I expect him to win one out of three in a series against either one. Chocolate is at a size disadvantage and against a physical fighter like Pryor this will be a problem. On the other hand he is very good defensivly and may be able to hold his own even when getting bullied. Here is what I roughly think about the chances they have: Ross: 80% Canzoneri: 75% Berg: 60% McLarnin: 55% Chocolate: 30%
Ross isn't beating Pryor in a million years, he got his ass handed to him by a 133lb version of Pryor Chocolate - just too small
Jimmy McLarnin - The Irish lullaby's power could play a real part in the bout. Jimmy was a good counter-puncher and has proved he can fight at a very high pace, whilst keeping his composure and firing back hard counterpunches as he did in his wars with Barney Ross. I like McLarnin to out-point Pryor by virtue of hard, clean counter-punches stopping the Hawk from swarming all over him. Tony Canzoneri - With his counter-punching style I think Pryor is a bad match up for him. Pryor would throw lots of punches which would make it hard to counter and take advantage of the low guard of Canzoneri. Canzoneri is tough and could hang in the trenches hough and make it a real dog-fight and hammer in the hard combinations and his famed left hook. A very hard match to pick, be interesting to see other opinions. Barney Ross - Ross is just a supreme technician. He can and will fight at Pryor's pace and will match him for output. Ross is also much more disciplined and will get the advantage in the trade's as he is more disciplined defensively and will get Pryor with clean shots, whereas Pryor will hit gloves and air IMO. On the outside Ross's jab and combinations will not allow Pryor the room and movement that Arguello offered him and Ross should take a clear cut decision. Jackie "Kid" Berg - What a fun fight this would be. Both guys will be bringing it from the start and until the end. Berg is the more traditional pressure-fighter/swarmer and perhaps the more solid puncher. Pryor more than compensates with his speed and agility, but Berg's incessant pressure should keep this bout as more of a brawl. It basically pits Berg's strength and Pryor's more athletic nature. In a series of three I would probably pick Pryor but this bout could go either way. Kid Chocolate - Chocolate IMO has a good chance stylistically as his outside movement and pin-point counter-shots from long range would do wonders at keeping Pryor off-balance to quell his rushes. However, the strength of Pryor would probably tell in the end as he would just walk through Chocolate by the mid-way point and start to get inside and wear him down. I think it could be a late stoppage for Pryor.
Chocolate was really a featherweight. Even Canzoneri was more so a 130 lber, although he could hang with bigger opponents.
