Jose Pipino Cuevas vs Aaron The Hawk Pryor, at 147 lbs, Both Prime, 15 Rounds.

Rosario was a much bigger puncher than Pryor, I don't know how that's even debatable.

Even Arguello was a harder hitter than Pryor.

 

The only spinning is coming from you HG. I never said you said Rosario wasn't. What happened was that you asked who were the best men he ko'd. I elaborated and also put into perspective your attempt to downgrade him by saying Chavez walked thru him and Bramble took a heap of shots etc.

You said Pryor was a "huge" puncher, among other things and you are actually WRONG.

Boxing Illustrated March 83

In a unification matches article they list strengths.

For Pryor - Can adapt to any style. Can punch for 15 rounds. Good boxer. Good chin.

Not a single mention of this great power you are claiming. Heck his boxing ability is being spoken of more than his power. If he was near the puncher you claim he is it would have been there.

Big Book of Boxing March 83

Knockout percentage is one of the best in boxing , even tho he is not a one punch slugger.

No kidding.

Big Book of Boxing September 83

In their power scores (rating the best fighters in boxing) he rates the same score as Camacho, Qawi, Pintor, Davey Moore, Mayweather, Mancini, Curry and Chacon. Not a bomber among them to say the least.

International Boxing December 82

They had one of their brilliant analysis articles in how Pryor and Arguello compared in 20 crucial categories leading into their Superfight.

Pryor Power (Right) 4.0 out of 5.0 - Pryor's right lacks some of the polish and crispness that Arguello's has. Where Arguello throws the cross short and straight, Pryor sometimes loops it in wide arcs, costing him power.

Pryor Power (left) 4.0 - Again, Pryor's left is not as effective as Arguello's, rating 4.0. His left is most potent when he uses it as a hook or uppercut. He pushes his jab out and doesn't snap it with authority. The left hand is Pryor's secondary weapon.

Arguello rated 4.5 for both hands and that was a little conservative as there was reservations due to him moving up in weight.

So there it is, multiple contemporary articles from multiple mags from various mags all singing from the same songbook. People whose actual job was to scrutinize and write about boxing.

I'd accept an argument Pryor's power may have been a little underrated in the big scheme of things but the undeniable fact is he was never considered the puncher you claim he was.

 

Pryor was a lot like Henry Armstrong , probably hit a little
harder than him . But he wasn't a puncher on
the level of Rasario, Arguello, or Duran with one shot.
Pryor was a attrition puncher..... Most of
his career it's demonstrated that was enough.
Like Hammerin Hank, A high ko percentage
doesn't automatically mean a devastating
puncher.

 

Cuevas coldcocks Pryor in the 6th round.

 

Exactly. I have seen great posts in here tho supporting Hank as a notably bigger puncher, at his lighter weights, than people realize.

I also meant to add to the evidence above that Pryor didn't even make the Rings top 100 list. It was "greatest" punchers but big power went a long way to getting you on there particularly if you were a top quality fighter on top of it like Pryor but alas he wasn't there.

Again I'd be willing to digest a thoughtful post purporting him to be a little underrated as a puncher but not to the level of being a huge puncher etc.

 

This is about how I see it. Punch for punch he isn't the most powerful but overall attack was devastating. Basically he stopped everyone he faced.

Alexis Arguello told his son after their rematch Pryor was the only guy he ever faced who hit him with both hands at the Sametime (seeminly).That's how quick Pryor was putting his shots together.
If Aaron's power gets overrated perhaps his speed gets underrated.

 

I don't think anyone's claiming it overrated as I've only ever seen one person claiming it to be huge. His power is, on the whole, rated somewhere around where it should be.

 

His speed AND his skills get underrated. Mainly most on this site get
caught up on their "magic bottle " theory's they completely ignore
the previous 13 rd, of that fight, and that their was a 2nd fight against Arguello,
and the entirety of his career.

Pryor was an amazing fighter, that simple.
Theirs a series of punches in one of his fights, against Julio Valdez
that's as good as any combination ever filmed.
Pryor lands an overhand right, turned it into a right uppercut, hooks the
right hand, than follows up with a bolo right uppercut.
This combination is hard to do against a stationary punching bag effectively (Yep I
tried it, multiple times in my youth, right after the fight, never could get comfortable
with it, never even thought of trying it in the ring against a live opponent)
Pryor did it so fast, easily , and intuitively, while moving his feet, and poor Valdez,
fighting for his life, his head snapping around like a ping pong ball, completely
helpless . That combination is beautiful as it's brutal.

 

Arguello was a bigger hitter at 135 ? 140 ?

Rosario was a much bigger hitter based on what victories ?

Not debatable ? Guess you decide that ?

 

How do you rate Hagler's power ?

 

Agreed, Pryor probably ends up trading too much.

I think he might surprise us and stay disciplined for the first half of the fight, piling up points, while having the beard to withstand the occasional shot getting through. Arguello's power was excellent & Aaron's chin was insane, but with Cuevas of course we're talking about one of the hardest punchers ever, and the brawler in Pryor ultimately sees him counted out.

 

So why did the Montilla rematch take place? Public demand for the fight? Huge purse?
Or was it the mere fact the first one left questions that needed answers?

 

Not as high as you do and certainly not on the top shelf. Tho not an out and out bomber he has damaging power. I'd go 8-10, maybe heading toward 8.5. It depends on one's personal scale and where they bracket others.

Duran was unimpressed with his left hand in particular but he felt Haglers right, his stronger punch. He was unrelenting and very classy and the pressure this put on an opponent was immense (when he wasn't short circuiting against a Duran or SRL).

"Very good" is sorta where i am at. Some might proffer "extremely" good while other might go a smidge lower.

 

I do rate him much higher as does the quoted Ring Magazine 100 Punches list which has him at 3rd highest ranked middleweight .. the same source has Matt Saad rated at the center of their list but completely excludes Eddie Mustafa who was without question a bigger single shot hitter than Saad .. so as they say, source can be shaped .

 

Hence why i provided a truckload of them

And that's also why i explained above that the Ring list didn't just go on power it was "greatest"

Which should be blatantly obvious given the likes of Sanchez made the list as well as Hagler and Monzon being so high.

As for Saad and Mustafa you will find a good share of people arguing there wasn't much in it or that Saad was a bigger one shot hitter.

As for Hagler being the third highest rated middleweight, well you might want to check your counting ability. Last i looked Ketchel, Graziano, McClellan, Valdez and Briscoe were middleweights. So that takes him out of the top 5 let alone third. That's without even considering others that spent a good deal of time at 160.