15 rounds with Chavez is a hellish prospect. Without Panama Lewis' little black bottle I don't see Pryor seeing the final bell.
Helluva battle. One of those fantasy match ups we all wished had taken place. I flip flop, but today I'll take JCC at 140 if he can find success working the body throughout the fight. Pryor won't be hard to find.
I used to automatically go with Chavez here for his tighter technique among other things but i don't think there'd be much in it. Chavez definitely lost something above 135 imo while Pryor absolutely lived there. Pryor won't wear down and Arguello's vaunted body attack didn't overly faze him. I'd now favor Pryor. What a match it would be.
Terrific hypothetical matchup. Aaron Pryor at his peak against Julio Caesar Chavez Sr, at his peak at 140lbs. Pryor's management would have studied the bout Chavez had against Meldrick Taylor on video tape. Chavez's management would have looked at Pryor's first bout against Alexis Arguello. When Aaron enters the ring, he would point to Julio, responding the chants of It's Hawk Time. Chavez hustles into the ring to Mariachi music, ignoring the crowd and Pryor. Aaron would dash across to tag Chavez with a jarring right hand, then begins to use his gyrating style behind a left jab, circling Julio. Chavez has a difficult time connecting on the quicker Pryor, who begins to land punches in bunches, escaping the intended body attack of Chavez, meant to short circuit the mobility and speed of Pryor. The stamina of Pryor is unmatched, Julio cannot keep up with Aaron's pace, Pryor's hand speed proves too much. The bout goes the 15 rounds with Aaron Pryor's hand being raised, and it is unanimous, as Pryor will not make the same mistakes that Taylor made on March 17 1990
I would bet the house on Chavez. Too smart, too strong, too proven and too sound on technique. People base their estimation of Pryor on a few fights. We know so much more about Julio. And what we know is that he would win.
Pryor went up a level in terms of opposition and performance when he fought Alexis Arguello. Before that fight he could overwhelm fighters with volume punching but against Arguello he had to try something different, so he used his boxing skills and mixed up his attacks much more. That was the best version of Pryor anyone saw which could either mean that he would rise to the occasion when he fought someone great or that he had one or two truly great performances in him. Chavez seemed to bring a consistent level of performance regardless of opposition. Some performances were better than others but he seemed focussed and disciplined during his prime whoever he was fighting. Pryor was wild and his intensity was his biggest weapon. He wouldn't overwhelm Chavez in my opinion and he wouldn't have the same sort of hand speed that Taylor had that Chavez found so hard to combat. I don't rule out a Pryor win but I do think Chavez has the tools to take away some of Pryor's offense. The question is could Pryor repeat the type of peformance he gave against Arguello. If he could, then I'd favour him. Otherwise, I'm picking Chavez.
100% Chavez would put it on him. Pryor would be switching styles because, no matter what he did, it wouldn't work. If he came out crazy aggressive, which I don't believe that he would do, Chavez would hit him with some very precise right hands. If he leans in and tries to punch in flurries, Chavez will hit him with uppercuts and to the body. May God help him when he realizes that he can't win inside and tries to box.
