I think if Antonio can keep Aaron off-guard, and off balance, he definitely has that shot of beating him.
This bout would last longer than their actual one and might even go the distance, but yes, Pryor's relentless style would eventually prevail again.
Pryor's hell-bent style left him open for counter-punching. Few were able to take advantage of this due to his steam-roller tactics, but there were a few times in his career where he was shown that he was not impervious to the counter. I think Dujuan Johnson had him down but I'm not sure. I know Akio Kameda dropped him and of course, he was decked in the 1st by Cervantes. Cervantes was a tremendous counter-puncher and I think a prime Cervantes of 6-8 years earlier would have kept Pryor on that canvas. Scartissue
I think the '72-75 Cervantes takes Pryor out. I think THAT Cervantes (who started fighting in '63 or so) was the greatest lt.welter in the past 50 years or more.:vikingI have Prypr's career amd went to about 15 of his fights in or around Cincy and I have Cervantes career set and he was truly a great in his prime. He would pinpoint on the Hawk as he came in and take him out. DeJesus is just stunned at what Cervantes could do when you see the film and watching 13 of his other fights proves out "Pambele"'s worth. Pambele is the only guy of that time that I think in his prime champ years (again, 72-75) could maybe beat the Panamanian wildchild.
Interesting. I was wondering if anyone would pick Kid Pambele as he was a superb counter-puncher and we seen how Arguello was able to exploit those openings. I'd love to pick Cervantes, I'm just not brave enough.
Cervantes looked awesome in '75 against Dejesus and the very good Hector Thompson. Then in '76, the child genius Benitez made him look old. This fight has lowered Cervantes a little in my eyes. I just think he had trouble with cute, crafty types (Benitez, Locche). I think he is similar to Arguello but just not quite as good (with the exception of physical strength) in most categories. I definitely think he gives a better account and maybe even drops the careless Pryor a time or two. But I think Pryor's lateral movement would present problems and he'd run Cervantes in to a lot of big shots and maybe stop Cervantes late.
Pambele did have some success in the first two rounds against the wild Pryor (who candidly admitted after Arguello I & II that Cervantes was the one opponent he was genuinely afraid of), enough success to convince me he could have countered his way to victory in his prime. Aaron seldom punched with controlled accuracy, and Pambele was defensively proficient enough to exploit that over the championship distance when at his best.
Pryor beat an old cervantes. A prime cervantes gradually takes him apart with pin-point counterpunching. He would be able to overcome pryor's swarming style because he would have his timing and reflexes and he would make hawks style work against him.
