Please rate Aaron Pryor's skill level 1-10.

An 8 or 8.5 from me.

 

7 for technique, 9 or 10 for athleticism/speed/stamina etc.

Pryor used to train for 30 round fights, great conditioning. He had a very good chin, great punch output, very aggressive. Most boxers can't handle that type of whirlwind fighter, however the very best technical boxers can, and that was Pryor's weakness. He was just lucky that the one technician he fought was smaller and somewhat over the hill when they met. Even then, Arguello showed how to fight Pryor - stay calm and collected, counter his wild shots, exploit the mediocre defence with crisp punching.

If it was Duran, Hearns, or SRL who caught Pryor flush like Alexis did, Pryor would have been stopped.

 

There have been numerous fighters who've had flaws but haven't had them exposed for a long time, because they had other intangibles and didn't come up against someone good enough to exploit their weaknesses.

But the moment they come up against a great technical fighter who knows the weakness and how to exploit it, bam they lose embarrassingly.

Whether it's Joe Louis with his lazy signalled jab getting beat down by Schmeling, Ali dropping his right for Frazier's hook, Liston's plodding footwork getting shown up by Ali, Hatton's chin-first unsophisticated brawling being humbled by Mayweather and Pacman, it's predictable and it leads to losses.

Pryor just got lucky because the first great opponent he faced was too small and old to put him away when he exploited the weaknesses. Arguello hit him cleanly several times with his best shots but the former featherweight didn't have enough power to put Aaron down or the stamina to keep it up for 15 rounds. Great bigger younger guy beats great smaller older guy, in a close fight. Would he get away with that against prime great fighters his own size and age? No he wouldn't.

 

Arguello didn't have enough POWER, JJ? He could fell an ox.

Pryor was just any fighter's worst nightmare.

 

Around about the same level as a Toney/Barrera/Holyfield. 8.7 - 9.2 range

 

without looking at anyone else's rating I give Pryor a 7. Arguello was great, but Pryor was hit clean with those right hands which should have knocked him out. Arguello could have very well had a knockout in the first fight.

 

Yeah, I think it was more Pryor's tremendous punch resistance than Arguello's not carrying his power up. Rooney thought he had one-punch knockout power at 140, probably. :blurp

 

Well, with a magical bottle in his corner he sure was.

Pryor vs Pac would be one fight I'd give an arm to watch. Man, would that be a war!

Against Duran or Leonard on the other hand, I think he'd only be competitive early on before copping some absolutely brutal punishment and getting stopped later. Well, against Duran at 140 it may well last the distance, but still evolve into a beat down.

 

I loved me some Aaron Pryor when he was active. Badass, frankly. And so fun to watch.

His resume is very thin for a great fighter. His talents were primarily physical: He had decent foundational boxing skills, but he was more of a savant, relying on tremendous athleticism and spatial awareness to swarm or leap. He threw to throw, and let the committment, speed, and ferocity with which he did it carry him.

Arguello I is forever tainted for me. Aaron might not be a cheater, but his trainer was, its well documented, and that was just too shady. Alexis wasn't at his best and was heavier than he'd ever been, but he gave a decent account of himself. I wish I could have seen Aaron against a prime great, young and at his favored weight, and beat him without 'help'.

But we'll never know. I still say, with all his obvious talent and what he actually accomplished, he's an even bigger what if then Tony Ayala. I dont think we ever really saw what he was truly, honestly, non-Panama Lewis assisted capable of against another stallion.

 

Pryor is one of the greatest fighters who ever lived. You can point out his technical flaws and his recklessness all you want but there was something special in him that made him win.

9.5

 

defense was his offense. defense 6, which is why a fight with Hearns would not have been good for him.