Biggest waste of talent: Riddick Bowe or Aaron Pryor?

There have been many that were just as big or bigger wastes than those two.

How about most of the heavyweight division during the 80s? Page, Tubbs, Tucker, Smith, Witherspoon, Thomas...

 

Witherspoon in my view.

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Aaron Pryor

Became a big time drug seller/addict from the mid 80's all the way through the early 90's, after he retired he still continue to use drugs.

Drugs ****ed his abilities/talent (a good example of pryor's drug problems watch his fight against bobby joe young).

 

Pryor..without a doubt...

 

I don't know if either of these guys were wasted talents. They did become world champions. If they had wasted their talent, you wouldn't know who they are. They did squander and miss some opportunities.

Pryor never faced Leonard or Duran. Missing those fights are not entirely Pryor's fault, but are missed opportunities to have further proved himself.

Riddick Bowe never faced Lewis or Tyson. Not facing Lewis is more of his own doings than not facing Tyson.

Both Bowe and Pryor have squandered large sums of money.

 

Bowe made more money than Pryor, and Bowe was also a bigger bust...... Bowe was already lazy and slipping by 1993 at age 26......... At least Aaron Pryor was already 30 years old in 1985 when he looked rusty and faded against Gary Hinton on TV..... By the time Pryor got officially TKO'd, he was 32 and bloated at 148 lbs. for Bobby Joe Young.... Riddick Bowe looked shot at age 29 against Andy Golota in 1996.......

MR.BILL

 

P.S.

Pryor is a "Haller," while Bowe is still hoping....:deal

 

Bowe imo.

 

I'm not sure if Pryor had all that much as some are suggesting. Him making it all the way up to middleweight? I'd give him a very, very slim chance against Leonard and Hearns and that's just 147. A former super featherweight gave him plenty of trouble.

Same with Bowe. He had a style that included getting hit. A lot. He was never going to have a long career, fridge addiction or not. In fact, you could argue that he was somewhat lucky to win the Holyfield rubber match because the latter just broke down but seemed to have figured Bowe out since their 2nd fight and was in complete control when he was actually throwing punches. Nearly stopped him still, in the 6th. Holyfield was Foreman's Frazier, in that he made him what he was. What if Bowe got along when Tyson was ruling, or Lennox (assuming he fights him?). Now that i think about it, Bowe's career may have been as good as it gets the way it is.

 

Well Pryor already accomplished enough to be in the hall of fame where as Bowe beat one great fighter, and had a down hill career since then. If he would have kept in shape and been consistent, then he would have been considered great because clearly he had every tool to be dominant.

 

Well at 300lbs+ it is clearly Bowe against a 140-150lber in Pryor!


Seriously Pryor teased us with brilliance against Arguello, only to throw it all away, up his nose. Bowe had demons from the Olympics onwards, I expected nothing else from Riddick.

 

Pryor at middleweight? He would've most likely lost to those terrific WWs if he'd moved up. Hearns-Pryor at 147 as professionals? Hearns would've wasted Pryor in ugly fashion. Pryor most likely would've lost to Leonard at 147 too, but never got the fight (actually, he wanted more than the $500,000 he was offered from Leonard's camp). Pryor achieved more than Bowe, but was also a better fighter than Bowe. So it's debatable as to who squandered more ability.

 

I share your view.

 

Outside of the necessity to show up a few pounds lighter for some of his fights, I think Riddick Bowe pretty much reached his full talant capacity. Prior on the hand, ruined his his career with drug use and the usual kind of street life that some of these guys never grow apart from even when they hit the top. Aaron could have been the next Robinson.