I've always scratched my head at the thought of having this guy among the top 50 of all time. His best win is over Alexis Arguello, who wasn't at his best at 140lbs, and there was nothing extraordinary in the way of title defenses or longevity either. Where do you rank Aaron Pryor and why?
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.
By the same token, his most impressive victory is tainted by controversy surrounding his corner-man and the infamous 'black bottle'. Personally, I don't allow this to factor into my ranking of Aaron Pryor, but his title reign wasn't spectacular was it? 140lbs wasn't filled with great fighters at the time, and after his 7 year reign...that was it for the Hawk. No more was to come. I think top 50 is pushing it. There's plenty of more modern fighters who I think sported better resumes, better longevity, and accomplished more.
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 had completed like 100 fights before fighting Pryor, and would retire a few years after. He was not close to his best in my judgment. I think Pryor has a hard time cracking a top 80.
Come off it, Cervantes didn't do anything even remotely noteworthy after being defeated by Aaron 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.