Henry Armstrong v Aaron Pryor @ 140

Given Pryor was sometimes compared to Armstrong in terms of his non-stop windmill punching style and they fought around the same weight, who do you pick in a head to head?

 

Have you got a link to it? Couldn't find it.

 

Yeah, that's the crazy thing about Armstrong. He was a lightweight defending the welterweight title 19 times and winning most of them by KO! He might have been the greatest lightweight of all time if you take that into consideration rather than his actual lightweight title reign which was brief.

 

After I started this thread I had a look online for similar threads and found the following post. Even if you don't agree with the view of the fight, it's an interesting analysis of Armstrong's style and what made him difficult to beat.

"I am certain Armstrong in his best would have beaten Pryor by unanimous decision and i'll explain why.

Few understand Armstrong's style. Armstrong wasn't powerful, and he was not a great combination puncher but his style was uncomfortable and he dictated the pace against everyone, and i mean everyone who decided to fight on the inside due to his consistent punching & inside game.

Here are some of his techniques;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRMCWnL6...

The way to beat Armstrong was to be allot bigger, taller and stronger than him and to dance. Robinson gave an aging Armstrong a clinic with this technique.

Pryor was no dancer. Pryor was a swarmer who fought similar to Manny Pacquiao but with slightly more combinations and slightly less lateral movement.

Pryor didn't fight while ''dancing'' thus he would fall into Armstrongs game.

Armstrong was a true inside fighter, a technique lost today, only a few fighters, like Andre Ward, have used it effectively [look at his ko of Chad Dawson].

Armstrong kept his head on his opponents neck/shoulder and fought shoulder to shoulder. Pryor liked to throw combos but he was never a true inside fighter, and shoulder to shoulder is truly an inside game.

When you're shoulder to shoulder only few punches, like body shots, can be used. Armstrongs stubby physique gave him an advantage in this.

Both fighters would try to create distance when being shoulder to shoulder. Pryor pushed opponents away when they were this close, and against Armstrong he would need to do this all night, thus draining some of his energy and possibly getting a point deduction for pushing [or holding too much].

Armstrong created distance with his head or shoulder and he would immediately follow it up with a hook, mostly to the head.

Point being; unless you were extremely effective with fighting on your toes, which Pryor was not; you were not going to beat Armstrong who was a master infighter.

There are films of Armstrong frustrating better technicians than Pryor due to his inside game"