I watched Pryor-Arguello 1 and 2 about a week ago and...

Resume quite a bit, and his ability to an extent. I would sneak him into the top 50 P4P, but the way he gets percieved by many is over the top. He has 3 really meaningful wins, and they are not as good as some think.

Cervantes was old man river by the time he fought
Pryor. 100 fights under his belt. He'd actually lost his title to Wilfred Benitez a bit more than 4 years earlier. He gained the same title back only because Benitez moved up in search of further glory. Cervantes was about 35 by the time he lost to Aaron, and was no longer the maestro he had been many many years prior. A good win but nothing extraordinary, lets be honest.

Arguello was still great, and very dangerous, but also on the decline, without doubt. 82 fights, many of them wars, many against sterling opposition. The win is a fantastic one, but Arguello had much against him. His first title was all the way back down at Featherweight, and juinor welter (his fourth division) vs a great fighter at his peak was certainly one jump too many. Stylistically Pryor was also all wrong, Arguello was a methodical technician who started slow and liked to slowly dissect his opponent, wearing them down, working them out, then deliver the coupe de grace. Pryor had no style, he was all over the place, and this is indeed a strength of his. He also had unbelievable stamina and a fantastic chin. Arguello never got his rhythm and never controlled the fight at all. A great win, but not one to build a mythical figure upon.

A Duran beating SRL for instance is far far greater, Duran was the man moving up TWO divisions at once, against a fighter only just short of his peak.

As for the Hearns video, Pryor was ahead of Hearns development wise and a great amateur fighter. Remember, this version of Hearns could not bust a grape, it was until he turned pro that he started knocking people over like tenpins. Hearns had just 11 knockouts in 155 fights in the ams. Never the less it's a good win for Pryor at the time, Hearns only ever lost 8 am fights i think.

I see some hinting Pryor is brilliant defensively, but that's far from right. His technique and basics left plenty to be desired, but his frenetic style and almost constant offense did indeed make him very hard to hit clean. Better fighters and technicians like SRL and Duran would have found him tho. Pryor, again unlike many realise, was no huge hitter or one punch power man. Good power but not great. Arguello certainly hit harder even after scaling the divisions, huge hitter. Pryor overwhelmed with his non stop aggression more so than big power.

Debates can certainly be made to put him number 1 at 140. I think KT is a contender among others.

I think a Duran would be a nightmare for Aaron. An absolute nightmare. You cannot hurt Duran at this weight. He can match Pryor for stamina. Incredibly underrated technician. Pryor's aggression would kill him vs Duran, a great infighter and very comfortable under fire. He'd rap Pryor's body too, take some life out of him. Duran's the harder hitter at 140, i have no doubt. Even if Pryor tried to box Duran would patiently cut him off, slipping punches at long range with aplomb. I also think Chavez has a great chance vs Pryor.

 

Your analysis of these match ups seems spot on to me. Pryor is worthy of consideration among some great names at this weight. It's just a shame that we didn't get to see more marquee fights from him.

At least the two Arguello fights tell the tale of what might have been.

 

Pryor would beat Floyd but Arguello wouldn't. Alexis couldn't handle great boxers.

 

Pryor was very talented and brought a lot of his own unique gifts to the table. It's a shame he drugged out when he could have been attempting to go from great to legendary.