Post by Admin on Oct 6, 2016 16:00:57 GMT -5
Aaron Pryor
My Universe with Aaron Pryor as the main Focus!
Most Bouts will be fought at JWW his main Division and LW where he started but soon left after being ranked in the top 5, he never returned to fight in a Stacked LW Division, in my Universe, he does return to LW & also fights a handful of bouts at Catch weights.
LightWeight 131-135
Junior WelterWeight 136-140
WelterWeight 141-147
Final Career Record 54-15 50 KO
Just a note for additional reference, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, I was in my late teens when Pryor began his Pro career and I had followed him from the beginning, I got to see many of his amateur bouts, and I only missed one of his Pro fights in person, at that time I was heavily into boxing, also boxing myself just for fun and learning the game, and I spent many hours at his training Gym in town, I got to talk to him on many occasions and to just about everyone of his Trainers, handlers, and all the Leeches that hung around him, sucking him dry of his money, time and in the end, his career and life, a few things I learned from talking to everyone in his camp over the years, they really were worried about putting him in against the big power punchers in the game, or anyone with real power, as they knew, and admitted in conversations with them, Pryor of course in his own words & thoughts, was not afraid of anyone, but he did not realize his people kept him from the Power guys, from what I learned, from my own personal opinion, 98% of his people in his camp, were there to get all they could from him and out of him, before he lost any fights, again, he never realized this, now he does, but it's too late, Aaron was a nice kid even back then, but he was not educated, and lacked some common sense, all he had was street smarts, and they all took advantage of this, even then I felt bad for him and worried about his future, and now it's all clear, that feeling was correct, he thought his people had his best interests in mind, but they pxed up many deals for him and fights he most likely would have won, just to take on the lesser guys, they knew he could beat for less, but guaranteed money and in fights, he would not lose and keep up his undefeated record, which they knew was all that would help him keep getting those fights, he was one of my favorite fighters and I loved watching him fight and being around his gym, it was the coolest place to be back then, but they controlled him and took advantage of him)
This is Aaron Pryor's final Career Record in my Title Bout 2.5 Boxing Universe, a bit similar to his real life record, except for the 14 additional Losses, but that is easily explained, as in my Universe, his Handlers did not keep him away from the top competition of his time, and they did not hire Panama Lewis, who definitely contributed to his downfall, so his Career lasted longer in my Universe, for that reason, He also stuck with the LightWeight Division from the beginning and continued to battle the excellent Lightweights throughout this time, that he never faced in real life, just check out all the very solid names below that he could have fought, and compare them to the list he did fight, that I will post now.These are the best he fought in real life, 2 Fights against an Alexis Arguello at JWW who was well above his best weight, and who was at the least, in Post-Prime and getting closer by the year to the end of his great career, and in the 1st fight, it's clear, Panama Lewis helped Pryor to cheat him of victory, lets see who else Pryor fought, an at the end of his Career Antonio Cervantes, who still put him down in the fight, now lets see that's 3 Decent but not great or even very good fights or fighters at that point in their careers, but we will give him those 3 bouts, now who else, um, well, wait a minute he did get offers from Leonard & Duran that him and his people screwed up, oh wait, Dujuan Johnson a Kronk Gym guy, of course, way, way down on the Kronk totem pole, and he put Pryor on the Canvas with just decent power, but not good enough to put in, as a really good bout or fighter, lets see, he had to fight someone good, KIM, well maybe, possibly, he also put Pryor on the canvas, but no, he was not that good, um, well, HEY, that's it, no one else, so at best 3 decent fights in his career, so why is he considered so awesome, he beat No one, wait, he beat a young, skinny, and way before he reached any physical maturity and very young Tommy Hearns in the amateurs and beat him, but that does not count in the Pros, he took the title from an at the end of his Career Champ, who I believe at that time, Cervantes, that even Arguello would have beaten Antonio, and if they had not used some type of illegal Drugs in his fight with Arguello, Alexis would have beaten him still at JWW, and we would not be discussing Pryor here in this manor right now, Aaron Pryor could not take a big Punch, from a big Puncher, even Kim, Johnson and an aging Cervantes and others put him down, and most of them except Cervantes were not known for much power, that's why I believe his Camp ran as far from the LW division as they could to an easy picking at JWW, he missed out on a chance with Duran because they knew Duran would destroy him, again just check out my Pryor's career below and all the very solid contenders and champs he could have faced and you will see why he had 15 losses in my Universe but he also had 42 very solid and many excellent Victories, in my Universe, even with 15 losses, he had one of the greatest careers in history with all the top contenders and champs and name fighters he faced, he ran from no one in my Universe and beat most of them, what a great Career that was wasted by his Handlers, his entourage, his friends or so called friends, only Buddy Larosa cared and Pryor mostly ignored him and his advice, mainly all the bad people Pryor kept around him, pushed Larosa away, after Pryor's real career ended abruptly, these Leeches all,every single one of them,disappeared never to be seen again.
This is Aaron Pryor in my Universe and what he could have done, even if he had done half of what I have him doing in my Universe, he would be looked at as a much more respected ALL TIME GREAT, and even with 15 Losses, would have been one of the best ever.
Starting off as he did in 1977 again, this is My Plan & my Universe
Pryor's Handlers were extremely Confident in him, coming out of the Amateurs, feeling he was already, mentally & Physically Matured & ready to take on top competition from the start, so they went right for a top 10 guy in Andy Ganigan, who had tremendous KO Power, then 3 Veterans in Dejesus, Viruet & Watt before he won the LW Title\
, possibly the 3 toughest in the top 10 at the time in the LW Division, he finished 3-1 against them, as all 4 were in their Prime.
After these 4 Bouts, Pryor was ready to move to Pre-Prime and while not being able to acquire a Title Fight after Losing to Watt, he moved up to JWW, he fought 4 more extremely tough Veterans and Cervantes, this was after Cervantes had lost his Title to Wilfred Benitez, as Cervantes entered Post-Prime, Pryor blew through the 3 Top contenders to garner a fight against Cervantes, the winner getting a shot at Benitez's Title at JWW.
But Pryor's quest for a Title was derailed as Cervantes put him down twice in the 8th and the Ref had to stop the fight, if you remember in their Real fight, with Cervantes at the End of his Career and Pryor Prime, Cervantes did put him down, but being at the end of his career was unable to keep him down, but being Post-Prime and Pryor Pre-Prime, he was able to finish the win via TKO in 8 to get a another shot at getting his Title back, but Benitez decided to take other fights at this time for his own unknown reasons, so Cervantes easily won his Title back from another world body.
1977 age 22 - 4 Bouts, Beginning
Andy Ganigan TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 2 LW
Esteban Dejesus TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won,KO Round 1 LW
Edwin Viruet TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 3 LW
Jim Watt TBB Rating 7 - Watt Won, TKO ROUND 11 LW I was surprised myself that he beat Dejesus and lost to Watt.
1977 age 22 - 4 Bouts, Pre-Prime
Dave Green TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won, KO Round 2 JWW
Suang Muangsurin TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won, KO Round 7 JWW
Joe Kimpuani TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won, KO Round 5 JWW
Antonio Cervantes TBB Rating 12 - Cervantes Won, KO Round 8 JWW, Cervantes is in Post-Prime
Record 6-2 6 KO No Title Fights yet, due to his 2 Losses, but they were good loses to 2 Champs.
Again, he lost to Cervantes, because in my Universe, they fight while Aaron is Pre-Prime and Cervantes is still Post-Prime, when they fought in real life, Pryor was Prime and he was at the end.
To begin 1978 Pryor wanted to get on the fast track to garnering his 1st Title shot, so they looked to continue taking on anyone in the top 10 in the LW & JWW Divisions, starting with Sean O'Grady who also moved up and down between LW & JWW, Pryor won a war via TKO in 6, next was Giancarlo Usai, a Tough European & Italian LW Champ, but Usai was just completely outclxed and overwhelmed by Pryor & knocked out in Round 2, he then entered his Prime after that bout in 1978, he then fought another top 10 contender in V. Fernandez, another excellent veteran, winning easily by TKO in one, Roberto Duran then gave him a shot at his Unified WBA & WBC LW Titles, Duran and Pryor were both in their Prime, Duran was Pound for Pound the Best fighter in the game at this time and everyone thought him unbeatable, from the opening Bell, Pryor charged across the ring after Duran, they went toe to toe with the 1st round, going back and forth, Pryor was put down twice in the 1st, as round 2 began, they went right to ring center again, Pryor tried to box from Range, but Duran, felt like he had him hurt from the 1st round, so went after him, Pryor went down 2 more times, and then the Ref stopped the fight with Duran winning via TKO in round 2, if you have checked out Pryor' career, you will see, he was put on the Canvas in several fights, by several fighters, and none of the ones that put him down in Real life, had what would be considered real power, or 1 punch KO power, yet he was down many times, so it makes sense that when facing someone of Durans Caliber & Power, that he would also go down and most likely be finished by an All-Time Great like Duran. this one went, just as I expected.
Later in the year, he fought the #1 contender in Sweet Saul Mamby, and excellent Boxer and another great veteran, whom Pryor originally never fought as Mamby was ranked #1 at JWW almost during Pryor's entire reign as Champ, how they were never made to fight, I have no clue, Pryor won an excellent fight via TKO in 7, his people offered Benitez a big Deal to fight him at the end of the year after this victory, with Benitez looking for 1 more big Payday at JWW before moving up to WW, and knowing no one else at this weight could give it to him, they signed to fight for the JWW Title, this one was another battle for Pryor, he fought his best fight to date, looked awesome, Boxing and slugging throughout, Benitez also fought a masterful Boxing match, using great boxing skill and Defense to edge out a Split Decision to Retain his Title and then move on to WW, it was Ring Magazines, Fight of the Year.
1978 23 - 2 Bouts, Pre-Prime 6 Total Bouts Total - in Pre-Prime
S. 0'Grady TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 6 LW
Giancarlo Usai TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won KO Round 5 LW
1978 23 - 4 Bouts, Prime
V. Fernandez TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 1 LW
Roberto Duran TBB Rating 15 - Duran Won TKO Round 2 in a War - for Duran's LW Title - Duran & Pryor both are in their Prime
S. Mamby TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 7 JWW
Wilfred Benitez TBB Rating 12 - Benitez Won SD Round 15 for Benitez's JWW Title,
Record 4-2 4 KO Overall Record after 2 Years as a Pro 10-4 10 KO
even though 4-2 on the year, he did get 2 Title fights, but they were in 2 Seperate Divisions, losing both in great fights, to 2 ATG champs.
Pryor entered 1979 hungrier than ever to win a Title, he knew after putting up such a great fight against Benitez, he belonged in the same talk with Duran, Benitez, Leonard & Hearns.
This year was the same as his 1st 2 years, he took on the very best competition and top fighters, at LW he beat Howard Davis Jr. an Olympic Champ and ranked 6th, Davis had outpointed him Twice in the Olympic Trials by 3-2 each time, so this was redemption for him, then another great veteran in Claude Noel, who was ranked 3rd, knocking him out in 4, he was given another shot at the LightWeight Title, against WBA Champ Ernesto Espana, who won the title after Duran moved up to WelterWeight. Espana fought a Galiant battle for 6 rounds, until he was Knocked out by Pryor, he now had his 1st World Title, He is now The WBA LightWeight Champ. He then Challenged Jim Watt for his WBC LW Title to unify the crowns, Watt accepted beleiving he could beat Pryor again after doing it in 1977, and for his biggest payday also, it would be held in Ireland, this one, also was another War for both, Watt fought galiantly and withstood Pryor's onslaught for 12 rounds, when he went down twice in that round, and his 3rd time in the fight, hitting the Canvas, the Ref finally stopped it in the 12th Round, Pryor had now unified the Titles, and is now the WBA & WBC LW champ. He then moved back up to JWW and fought 2 of the top 5 contenders in Bruce Curry and Sang Hyun Kim, Knocking out Curry and getting a Tko against Kim in 7, he beat him via TKO in real life in 3, after beating 2 of the top 5 JWW Contenders, he was given a Title shot against The Great JWW Champ Antonio Cervantes, a Rematch he had wanted for awhile since losing to him, for his WBA JWW Title, We've been saying this a lot lately, but another great fight and another War for Pryor, Cervantes fought brilliantly in his Post-Prime of his career, getting near the end, but still having enough left for at least 1 Great Bout, he put Pryor down twice in the fight and went down twice himself, finally after 9 awesome rounds, the Ref stepped in to stop it via TKO in round 9, Pryor adds his 2nd Title to his resume and a Title in his 2nd weight clx, he is now the LightWeight & Junior WelterWeight Champ of the world, carrying the unified Title in both weight clxes as the undisputed Champ, and after having one of the greatest years in history for any fighter or Champion.
1979 Age 24 - 7 Bouts, Prime
H. Davis Jr. TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won TKO Round 2 LW
C. Noel TBB Rating 4 - Pryor Won KO Round 4 LW
Ernesto Espana TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won TKO Round 6, For the WBA LW Title
Jim Watt TBB Rating 7 - A Rematch - Pryor Won, TKO Round 12, For the WBC LW Title
B. Curry TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won KO Round 6 JWW
Sang Hyun kim TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Antonio Cervantes TBB Rating 12 - Pryor Won TKO Round 9, For the WBA JWW Title, Post-Prime
Record in 1979 7-0 7 KO Overall Record: 17-4 17 KO after 3 Years as a Pro
Having Beaten all the best at JWW, he now focused 1980 on Defending his LW Crown against some awesome competition, starting with Hilmer Kenty, who in real life at this Time was the WBA LW Champ & whom had defeated Pryor in Olympic Trials yearsa go, but in this Universe, with Pryor winning and holding both Titles in 1979, this is Kenty's 1st shot at a Title. Many Thought Kenty would box a good match for half the fight, before Pryor would catch up, but Kenty surprisingly put up a great fight against Pryor, hitting the Canvas twice in the fight as Pryor hurt him in 2 rounds, finally after battling it out for 12 hard fought rounds and the 1st candiate for Fight of the Year, Pryor Knocks Kenty out in the 12th Round to defend his LW Belts. Next one of the most anticipated bouts of the year, Alexis Arguello moved up after dominating the JLW Divison, has recently gone through the LW division with ease, he now challenges Pryor for the WBA & WBC Crowns, in a rare bout with both Titles on the Line, Arguello is the Unanimous #1 LW Contender, both are in their Prime, as usual it's one of the best fights of the year,& Declared by Ring Magazine as the Fight of the Year & Eventually Fight of the Decade, another War, a word that is becoming synonymous with Pryor, as he loses a battle, Arguello Knocks him out in the 11th Round, in real Life Pryor stopped Arguello Via TKO in 14 in another great battle, but at that weight and time, Arguello was a bit past his Prime over 2 years from now, and Arguello is much better at LW than JWW, and with Pryor & his Manager, & Owner of his Contract Buddy Larosa, pxing on signing Panama Lewis as a Trainer, he is not there to help Pryor Cheat victory from Arguello or anyone else, with his Secret & Illegal Magic Bottle of elixir which he brought out between the 13th & 14th round of their real 1st fight, it also helps him stay clear of the Drugs that eventually ruined his real life and career, in their real bout, Arguello threw an awesome right hand that bent Pryor's head straight back and he just blew it off, something Pryor was not capable of doing, as he was put down many times by much lesser punchers, to me that punch proved he was definitely on something that allowed him to blow that punch off, as if he never felt it, and in my opinion at LW, this fight ended the way it most likely would have in real life if they had fought at LW in 1980.having beaten all the top JWW contenders, Pryor stayed at LW to fight other top contenders to try an garner another LW Title shot.
Next was Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez, one of Ring Magazines, previous picks as an excellent up and coming fighter, Gonzalez had excellent power and was dominating the division to this point, as he moved up the ranks, him and Pryor went back & forth for 6 grueling rounds, with Gato absorbing a ton of punishment from Pryor, finally in round 6, he caught Pryor with a hook that floored him, he got up, but Gato swarmed him and Knocked him out, as he could not recover, a Tremendous upset, as it's thought Pryor was overlooking the up an coming Gato in this fight, but to me not so much an upset, I always believed if Pryor had stayed at LW, 'Gato" was one of the guys with enough Power & Skills to beat him.
A Tremendous setback for the former Champ, that set up Gato for a Title shot at Arguello, in Gonazalez's title match against Arguello, he stood no chance, as he was put down twice in round one as the Ref stopped it and lost by TKO, Pryor now faced Sean O'Grady in a rematch as Sean was moving up the ranks at LW again,
O'Grady put up an awesome battle, in a great fight, Pryor Knocks him out in round 7, Sean would have had a Title shot if he had won. With no one else to challenge him at LW, he had beaten everyone and along with Pryor beating everyone else.
After Gonzalez got his shot, and before Arguello, Aaron had signed a deal after beating Cervantes to unify the JWW titles by fighting WBA JWW Champ Sweet Saul Mamby, something Pryor failed to do in real life, why he never fought the next best JWW at the time, I have no clue, Pryor Won by UD in 15 for Mamby's WBA Title and he now has unified the Titles, he has the WBA & WBC JWW TITLES, Mamby boxed superbly, but so did Pryor, and Mamby just has no Power and could not hurt Pryor or keep him off of him,, but did well enough to avoid being knocked out, in an excellent overall fight for both of them, it's clear now, why Pryor avoided him, Next, Arguello gave Pryor a rematch at the end of the year, as agreed upon after their 1st match, this one went the same rout as their 1st awesome fight, they fought like the Champs they are for 9 grueling rounds, going back and forth, with Arguello hitting the Canvas in round 5, and Pryor in rounds 7 & 9, only in round 9 Pryor could not get up by the count of 10, a KO win for Arguello. Pryor's worst year to date ends on a terrible note. I grew up watching Boxing in the 70s and 80s until now, I started getting intersted with the Ali-Frazier 1st fight, and the LW division at this time was just about my favorite Division and time in History, I watched every LW & JWW and most other bouts at this time, that I could find on TV, and being from Cincinnati, Ohio, both were a Hotbed of Boxing at the time with Pryor & Ayers from Cincinnati and others coming up, and Harry Arroyo and Ray Mancini both from Ohio, I was deep into boxing then, and I thought that Gato Gonzalez had the ability and especially the Power to have beaten Pryor if they had fought and I have always believed after spending much time at Pryor's training gym in Cinci, and talking to his People on many occasions, that they did there best to keep him from Fighters with real Power, and Gato was one of them, so to me this was not that much of an upset, as Pryor had issues taking a big punch from even much lesser punchers, like Kim, Johnson and others that put him down, even Cervantes at the end of his Career put him down in their real life fight, That's why I believe at LW great Punchers like Duran & Arguello would have Koed him and others good punchers, like Ganigan and Gonzalez and Mancini & Rosario would have had an excellent shot at knocking him out or TKOing him. This was the worst year of Pryor's Career to this point, losing 3x Twice to Arguello. But still with 2 Huge Victories over Kenty & Mamby, but the thing is, neither had much Power, & ZERO 1 PUNCH KO Power, & Pryor lost to both guys he fought that possessed such Power, so it's becoming clear, Pryor's deficienies as a Fighter, his CHIN is Suspect & his DEFENSE has many holes.
1980 Age 25 - 6 Bouts, Prime
H. Kenty TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 12, for Pryor's WBA/WBC LW Title -
Alexis Arguello TBB Rating 11 - Arguello Won by KO Round 11, both in Prime LW, Arguello's 1st attempt at the LW Title
R. Gonzalez TBB Rating 7 - Gonzalez Won KO Round 6 LW - S. O'Grady TBB Rating 7 another re-match JWW - Pryor Won KO Round 7
Saul Mamby TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won UD Round 15 for Mamby's WBA Title & has unified the Titles in the WBA & WBC JWW TITLES
Alexis Arguello TBB Rating 11 - Arguello Won KO Round 9 rematch at LW
Record: 3-3 2 KO Overall Record: 20-7 19 KO
Pryor entered 1981 with an excellent attitude despite the many setbacks of the previous year, he had promised his Fans he would fight Art Frias at LW, a battle many had called for, so before moving back up to work on holding his 1 remaining Title at JWW, he fought Frias, a fight most knew would last less than 3 rounds, Frias surprised by lasting 4 rounds,in a great battle where both stood toe to toe in the center of the ring for most every round.
Now Pryor moves up to defend his JWW Title, against 3 excellent top contenders, Johnny Bumphus put up a valiant effort and had several good rounds before getting Knocked out in 9, Leroy Haley did his best, but against a Prime Pryor, he was TKOed in round 1, Pryor appears to be back on track with 3 Knockouts to start the year, at this point, he has fought nearly everyone in the top 10 at LW & JWW, except for 3 or 4 lower ranked top 10 guys, that are just not ready yet, like Ray Mancini just entering LW at #10, so his People campaigned for him for a big fight against Hearns, since Pryor had beaten him in the Amateurs, they used that as a spark to get Hearns in the ring, they offered him 1 Million Dollars to fight at a Catch weight with no titles on the line, since Hearns was at WW and Pryor JWW, it would be too much for Pryor to move up, so instead of fighting Kenny Bogner, he chose Hearns in a Huge fight, In one of the greatest fights in History in any division, this one was a battle from the opening bell as Pryor pointed at Hearns and yelled it's Hawk time, and then at the bell, charged across the Ring to attack Hearns, he had him backing up from the opening minute, it was reminiscent of the Hagler/Hearns fight, except that Pryor was quicker, faster and threw many more punches than Hagler did, and he took less punches from Hearns than Hagler, due to his non stop xault and his non stop pressure, Hearns, was constantly back peddling, and could not get off a big shot, Hearns was hurt at the end of round 1, round 2 started the same way, and in the 1st minute Pryor landed a hard combination and dropped Hearns for a 10 count as he barely made it up, round 3 saw Hearns running, boxing and fighting a defensive battle as he did against Leonard, only Leonard was looking for 1 big punch, Pryor was just looking to land Dozens of punches, round was more of the same, as Pryor chased him and outpunched the entire round,untile 2 minutes into the round, Pryor Landed a great right hand and staggered Hearns, as he fell back into the ropes, Pryor, litterally xaulted him, and landed dozens of Punches, until Hearns crumbled to the canvas out cold, Pryor shocks the world by KO in Round 4, he is now along with Leonard & Duran, an Argueelo, 4 of the top 10 fighters in the world, P4P. After Hearns, Pryor was offered a fight against Top 10 JWW Contender Steve Hearon, a Tough Philadelphia product that fought 5 tough rounds against Pryor, but was finally knocked out in 5.
1981 26 - 5 Bouts, Prime
Art Frias TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 LW
Johnny Bumphus TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won KO Round 9 JWW
Leroy Haley TBB Rating 4 - Pryror Won TKO Round 4 JWW
Thomas Hearns TBB Rating 14 - Pryor Won KO Round 4 Catchweight
Steve Hearon TBB Rating 4 - Pryor Won KO Round 5 JWW
Record: 5-0 5 KO Overall Record: 25-7 25 KO
1982 Starts off with Pryor on top of the Boxing World, Leonard and other top WWs have other plans to start the year, so Pryor concentrates on the LW divison, He wants his LW Title back before leaving that division for good, so he takes on 3 of the top new LW Challengers and 3 excellent Champs in real life, 1st up Jose Luis Ramirez, it went as expected, Ramirez put up 9 tough, hard fought rounds, only to get Knocked out in 9, but it was another excellent fight, next is Ray Boom Boom Mancini, everyone thought this would be a slugfest, but Pryor chose to box him and it worked as he wins via TKO in 4, his next bout is against 32-0 Greg Coverson, this was a fairly anticipated fight due to Coverson's big undefeated record, but it did not live up to the Hype, Greg was overwhelmed and overmatched and Knocked out in 6 rounds, next the excellent & Powerful Edwin Rosario, Wow, fight of the Year candiate, Rosario comes out as advertised, in shape, with a Powerful punch and tough, he had been cleaning up the JLW division and now worked his way up the LW ranks looking for a bout against Arguello, the winner of this bout would get him next, but Pryor ran into a Buzzsaw in Rosario, he boxed and slugged with Pryor, taking his best shots and dishing out even more, he had Pryor down 5 times in this fight, until he knocked him out in round 5, to shock the Boxing world, Rosario showed extremely fast, quick and Powerful Hands, Pryor's inability to handle a guy with Power haunts him once again, anyone with a big Punch, always has that chance against Pryor, that's why his People kept him away from Power guys in real life. a huge setback now for him. he must now defend his JWW Title against mandatory top contender Ubaldo Sacco who defeated top 10 guy Willie Rodriguez to earn that shot, Pryor had to take this one, or lose his title, so he decides to defend it, Sacco fought bravely for 4 rounds, as he is a very solid fighter, but he was overwhelmed and lost via TKO Round 4.
1982 Age 27 - 5 Bouts, Prime
J.L. Ramirez TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 12 LW
Ray Mancini TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 LW
Greg Coverson TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won KO Round 6 LW
Edwin Rosario TBB Rating 10 - Rosario Won KO Round 5 LW
Ubaldo Sacco TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 JWW
Record: 4-1 3 KO Overall Record: 29-8 28 KO
1983 Pryor Can't find anyone to defend against, that he has not already beaten at JWW, or anyone he feels deserves a shot, or even a 2nd shot at his Title, so he stays at LW to start the year, as there is more name fighters to make more money against, up 1st is the undefeated and Popular and exciting fighter Rockin "Robin" Blake, A Wide Wide world of Sports favorite, Pryor is expecting to take out at least some of the top LW's to get a shot at either Mancini or Rosario's titles, as Boom Boom won a Title while Aaron defended his JWW Title the year before, but in another shocking upset with Pryor, whether he is beating someone like Hearns or losing to Gato Gonzalez and now Blake, he is apart of a shocking upset again, Blake comes out and boxes Pryor superbly, showing the toughness and grit that has propelled him up the LW Ranks and to his undefeated record, he lands a straight Left and catches Pryor flush on the Chin and puts him down and out in 6, Blake, should now get a shot at Mancini, as Pryor had already signed to fight Harry Arroyo, so he is next, Harry fights a very good fight against Pryor, but just gets overwhelmed in a storm in round 4 as he loses by TKO. Now the tough Livingstone Bramble, as Blake gets the shot at Mancini instead of him, Pryor is trying to get way up for this fight, after beating Arroyo, he comes out like gangbusters against Bramble and his brash talk before the fight, he swarms all over Bramble from the opening bell and puts him down once in round one, then twice in round 2, the 2nd one, he does not does get Psyched again and it's a KO in 2 for Pryor. He closes out the year with a Mandatory defense at JWW of his title there against top contender, Ronnie Shields, who put up a much better fight than expected as he lasts 7 tough, hard fought rounds against Pryor before he gets him by TKO in 7.
This is Pryors last fight in his Prime.
1983 28 - 4 Bouts, Prime
Robin Blake TBB Rating 6 - Blake Won Ko Round 6 LW
Harry Arroyo TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 LW
Livingstone Bramble TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won Ko Round 2 LW
Ronnie Shields TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Record: 3-1 3 KO Overall Record: 32-9 31 KO
Pryor now moves to Post-Prime in 1984 as he looks for the most lucrative bouts to plan for his future, with Buddy Larosa taking care of him and his finances, he looks to be in great shape for a nice retirement after Boxing ends, but he still wants to fight a few more years, he starts 1984 off with a Mandatory Bout against top ranked Gene Hatcher to defend his JWW Title, Hatcher is a tough fighter and he shows it here by putting up 10 tough rounds against Pryor before being knocked out in the 10th. Pryor now concentrates on attempting to move back up the LW ranks to get another shot at that Title, Harry Arroyo is the IBF Champ in his absence, and he has already beaten him and Livingstone Bramble is the WBC Champ and he has beaten him, so he believes he can do it again and win both Titles, Rosario is the WBA Champ, and Pryor wants to redeem himself after that loss,He shows he still has something left in the tank as he outlasts a very excellent fighter in Camacho, winning by Majority Decision in 12,next he TKO's another future LW Champ and hard hitter in Jimmy Paul, in a 3 round slugfest, next he secures a fight against #1 Contender Tyrone Crawley as he was being put off by the champs for a Title shot, this one was a tough fight for Pryor, Tyrone was very ackward with his style and put up a tough match for him before winning a Decision, now Pryor finally is awarded a Title shot as the #1 Contender at LW, he will now fight for the LW Title against Bramble and his WBC Belt, from the opening Bell, Pryor was all over Bramble, after the 3rd round, it appeared that Bramble knew he could not win and just fought to stay alive and tried to stay away from Pryor, then in round 9, Pryor knocks him out, and beats him for the 2nd time and again is now a LW & JWW Champ, he now wants to unify the title against Rosario and avenge his loss to him, but Rosario is hot and on a streak and in his Prime, it will be tough for Pryor to beat him, many feel he should be happy to have a LW Title and thinks he should go for Arroyo's IBF LW Title and be content with that, but he thinks he can take Rosario in a re-match, this one is one of the most anticipated bouts of the year, Pryor comes out throwing everything he has from the opening bell, Rosario goes down once in the 1st round as Pryor wins round one easily, he does the same in round 2 as Rosario is constantly backing up and just can't seem to get off against Pryor's swarming attack, hitting him hard with both hands, he looks like the old Pryor here, round 3, both fighters hit the Canvas but recover, until Rosario hits him with a crushing right hand and Knocks Pryor out, Rosario is now the WBA & WBC Champ.
1984 29 - 6 Bouts, Post-Prime
Gene Hatcher TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won KO Round 10 JWW
Hector Camacho TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won MD Round 12 LW
Jimmy Paul TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won TKO Round 3 LW
Tyrone Crawley TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won UD Round 12 LW
Livingstone Bramble TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won KO Round 9 LW
Edwin Rosario TBB Rating 10 - Rosario Wins KO Round 3 LW for the WBA & WBC LW Titles.
Record: 5-1 3 KO Overall Record: 37-10 34 KO
Pryor begins 1985 in a not so good mood, knowing he is not quite the fighter he use to be and maybe a handful of years left, even less if he loses too many fights, he plans to Concentrate on his JWW Title this year, but an offer comes in to fight Cornelious Boza-Edwards, who had been wanting to challeng a top LW before he decided to move up to that weight, so they decided on Pryor, thinking he was beginning to lose his Prime, Boza put up a very tough fight, but Aaron was too much for him, winning all but 2 rounds in a 9-2 rout as he KO's Edwards in round 11, then he goes back up to JWW, against tough Lonnie Smith, the new #1 Contender and a mandatory defense, Smith comes out battling him, but Pryor is in great shape and TKO's him in 4, next up Rene Arendondo, he fought a tough fight, but lost on TKO in 3 at LW, at this point in the year, Pryor's only opponents left at LW & JWW are the ones he has already beaten or have beaten him, so he feels no urge or point in fighting anyone at this time in either division, as he comtemplates his next move, his People get a surprise call from Milton McCrory and he wants to fight Pryor and put his WBC WelterWeight Title on the line if Pryor will move up for the fight and do it at WW, they have already contacted the WBC and with a little cash in hand, they've agreed to rank pryor the #1 WBC WW Contender, with J. Bumphus moving up to WW, and Pryor having beaten him, they say that's good enough for them, Money talks, this one was not the fight everyone was hoping for, Pryor looked to be in good shape, but after 2 rounds of going all out against the Champ, by mid 3rd round he began to tire quickly, it was apparent, he was having trouble with the extra weight of being a WW, and round 4 saw Milton take charge, and by mid round 5, he caught Pryor with a solid combination and put him down, and although he beat the count, after Milt began to let it all go, his corner jumped in to save Pryor from a beating and it was a TKO in 5 for McCrory, and it was also clear, he did not bring his hard punching power up to WW with him, he had definitely lost something by moving up, all the way around, maybe in his Prime he could have done it, but not now, and Milton looked to be in Prime form for this fight, he will be looking to Challenge Donald Curry next for a big payday, something he was also hoping for if he had won this one.
1985 Age 30 - 4 Bouts, Post-Prime
Cornelious Boza-Edwards TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won KO Round 11 at a Catchweight, Pryor came in at 135 Edwards 130 Edwards was rated
in his Prime an 8 at JLW & a 5 at LW - But for this Fight I fought Boza-Edwards in his Prime at an 8 Rating.
Lonnie Smith TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 JWW
Rene Arendondo TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 3 JWW
Milton McCrory TBB Rating 9 - McCrory Won TKO Round 5 for McCrory's WW WBC Title at a Catchweight
Record: 3-1 3 KO Overall Record: 40-11 37 KO
This is another year, that Pryor seems to be starting out depressed a bit, knowing now that he most likely will have trouble beating any of the top new fighters in the game, but he still thinks he can give anyone a good fight on any given night, so they continue lining up top Competition for him in 86, his 1st fight of the year is against a very tough newcomer to the top 10 at JWW in James Buddy McGirt, it's starting to sound like a broken record for Pryor's fights, but this one was another War for 10 rounds, with both hitting the Canvas once, then in Round 10 he rocked Buddy and and swarmed him and the Ref stopped it. Next up is Frankie Warren, another tough newcomer to the top 10, Warren puts up a very tough fight for Aaron, but he pulls it out with a hard fought TKO In 10, Pryor still held a top 10 ranking at LW and secured a fight against Greg Haugen for his IBF LW Title, Pryor was correct, on any given night, he could be anyone, as again, he appeared to be the Pryor of old, and was just too powerful and quick for Haugen to handle, he knocked Greg out in 2, in an awesome 2 rounds, round 2 will qualify for a round of the year, Aaron Pryor has once again won a LW Title, but has yet to ever unify it.
For his last fight of 1986, he wanted to continue to add to his awesome resume by fighting as many Champs or top contenders as he could, Rocky Lockridge had decided to try the LW Division, so they offered him a fight, Rocky could not make the LW Limit, so the LW Title was not on the line here, but it was a great fight, but Aaron even though in Post-Prime was much bigger and stronger and faster than a PRime JLW Lockridge, Pryor Knocked him out in round 9 of a tough hard fought battle.
1986 31 - 3 Bouts, Post-Prime
James Buddy McGirt TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won TKO Round 10 JWW
Frankie Warren TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won TKO Round 10 JWW
Greg Haugen TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 2 LW
Rocky Lockridge TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 9 at a Catchweight, Pryor was 135, Rocky 129
Record: 4-0 4 KO Overall Record: 44-11 41 KO
Pryor Now has 2 title in 2 Weight Clxes again, and controls his own fate, and with the emergence of J.C. Chavez at LW as Champ and Pernell Whitaker, and Meldrick Taylor and other big names, he has several opportunities for big paydays ahead if he can win. his 1st fight of 87 is against up and coming Meldrick Taylor, putting his IBF LW Title on the Line, who had just moved into the top 10 at LW, Everyone waited for this one, and most picked Taylor, Pryor came out again looking like the old Pryor, and took the fight to Taylor, he was clearly the harder Puncher and hurt Taylor several times as he won via TKO in round 5, a great win for Pryor, next was Vinny Pazienza the #1 contender and Mandatory defense for his IBF LW TITLE, The Winner gets Julio Cesar Chavez as he had agreed to fight the winner of the bout, and put his WBC LW Title on the line against Pryor's IBF LW Title, Many hope that Pryor still has another Prime night left in him if he gets past the PazMan and gets to fight Chavez, but he has been through a ton of wars to date,and this one is the most highly anticipated bout of the year, but 1st he must dispatch Paziena or that dream fight disappears.
Against the Pazman, Pryor had his hands full as Vinny Charged right after him from the opening bell, beating Pryor to the attack at ring center, both men were down 3x in the 1st 6 rounds, finally in round 7, Pryor landed a Left Hook that caught him flush on the Chin and backed him into the ropes and pounded him until the Ref stopped it, TKO 7.
Now another Great Bout that everyone had wanted and been waiting & Hoping for, Julio Cesar Chavez. Aaron is now 31.
Pryor came out against Chavez continuing to look like the old Pryor in his Prime, him and Chavez battled back & forth every round, Pryor was on the canvas in rounds 3 & 8, but that's nothing new, round 10 began with Pryor ahead on all cards 6 rounds to 3, he was Boxing and moving and slugging in old form, as Chavez was also putting forth a tremendous effort, but Pryor was just a bit faster and quicker, but Chavez won rounds 8 & 9 and going into 10, Pryor's face was swelling, and he was slowing down, he charged out in round 10 and they went toe to toe for half the round, until Chavez caught him with a devastating Left Hook, Pryor never saw it coming and he never got up for the count, Chavez by KO in 10, in an All Time great fight, this one will go down in the books as one of the best ever at LW. it was reminiscent of the Taylor/Chavez fight in real life, only Pryor had more power in both hands than Taylor and was able to mark up and hurt Chavez several times, but in the end, the same result, Pryor's body and face were badly beaten up by round 10 and he finally got hit with a solid shot. Pryor loses his LW Title, and now must contemplate his future from here as the Winner had a title matchup with Whitaker. Pryor decides to retreat back to JWW where has remained unbeatable, to face a mandatory bout with #1 Contender Patrizio Oliva, this was a pretty good fight, Oliva lasted longer than expected, but he was Knocked out in 11.
1987 32 - 4 Bouts, Post-Prime
Meldrick Taylor TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won TKO Round 5 LW
Vinny Pazienza TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 LW
Julio Cesar Chavez TBB Rating 11 - Chavez Won KO Round 10 LW
Patrizio Olivia TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won KO Round 11 JWW
Record: 3-1 3 KO Overall Record: 47-12 44 KO
As he enters 1988 he is going into the end mode of his career, he decides to stay in his bread & butter division at JWW, his 1st bout is against J. Coggi, The tough, hard hitting & future Champ in real life, Juan Martin Coggi, who is his Prime, beats a Post-Prime Pryor in his last Post bout, via TKO in 9, it was a tough and good fight for both, but Pryor is beginning to look a bit worn after all his wars, next he will face Loreto Garza, another up and coming tough JWW, Pryor puts up a valiant effort, but it's clear, he has lost speed and some power, and quickness, and although still looking in shape, he clearly is worn out and at the end of a great career, will he continue with having straight losses in 1988, Against another top 5 JWW Contender and excellent fighter, Roger Mayweather is next, Pryor shows he still has some power left as he Knocks out Roger in round 7.
1988 33 - 3 Bouts, End
Juan Coggi TBB Rating 8 - Coggi Won TKO Round 9 JWW for Pryor's JWW Title, he is beaten as Champ at JWW for the 1st time.
Loreto Garza TBB Rating 7 - Garza Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Roger Mayweather TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won Ko Round 7 JWW
Record: 1-2 1 KO Overall Record: 48-14 45 KO
Pryor Decides to continue to fight in 1989, after beating Mayweather, who was going to fight the New JWW WBC Champ in J.C. Chavez if he beat Pryor, but Roger lost, now Chavez decides to go for another big money payday against Pryor after beating him previously at LW, even though Pryor is nearly at the end, many still look forward to this rematch, as their previous fight was fight of the year, Pryor said if he wins, he will defend his title 2 times in 1990 then retire, if he loses he may consider retirement now, this one from the opening Bell was similar to their first fight, the only difference was, Pryor clearly was a bit slower, and not quite as quick as before, he still had some good power in both hands, and still had the Hawk Heart, he gave Chavez everything he had for 9 rounds, he was on the Canvas in rounds 2, 4, 7 & then finaly he was Knocked out by a devastating, Chavez Combo in round 9, Aaron Pryor after a great Career, decides to retire after this fight. UPDATE! After sitting around for a couple of months, Pryor gets back into the Gym and starts sparring and getting in shape, he says he does not want to end his career on such a losing note, he asks his People to find either and up and coming young fighter with promise or a a decent top 10 contender, that they believe he has a chance to beat at this point in his Career, they choose Veteran Sammy Fuentes, who is ranked in the top 10 at JWW in 1989, he is only rated a 3 in the game and deservidly so, how he was in the top 10 in any weight clx, I don't know, but he agrees to fight Pryor, trying to up his value in the rankings, Pryor gets in great shape for this one,
Even at the end of his Career, an in shape Pryor is still too much for a weak Fuentes, Pryor Knocks him out in 6, fueled by this win, he wants another, they find and up an comer that wants to also make a name for himself as he moves up, in Ike Quartey, he is in the begiing of his Career, but believes he can beat an end of his Career Pryor, even though Quartey is only a 5 in the game, he still was a tough fighter and being young and in awesome shape, he was thought to give Pryor a battle and he did, but Aaron still has some Power left in both hands, and won via TKO in 7, Pryor finally hits 50 Wins in his Career.
1989 Age 34 - 3 Bouts, End
Julio Cesar Chavez TBB Rating 11 - Chavez Won KO Round 9, to retain his WBC JWW Title and send Aaron Pryor into retirement.
Sammy Fuentes TBB Rating 3 - Pryor Won KO Round 6 JWW
Ike Quartey TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Record: 2-1 2 Ko Overall Record: 50-15 47 KO
Going into 1990 Pryor has some renewed vigor, he is only 34 very soon 35, his career plan was to fight until at least 1990, something he had decided years ago, and he now vows to stick to that commitment to himself, and now with 50 Wins, he has hit a Career Milestone he always had in his own mind to accomplish, so from here on out, he is fighting for the Love of Boxing, he wants to retire either by years end, or maybe at the end of the year, decide if he goes 1 more into 1991 he will decide after the next 2 fights this year, so his People look for 2 more fighters, Pryor still wants either a solid up and coming young fighter with promise or someone in the top 10, that he has a good chance to beat, 1st up in 90 is Pat Barrett from England, the European JWW Champ, no title on the line here, he is ranked 8th at JWW, he fights well but in the game he is rated a 3 at WW but it looks like most of his Career and Prime were at JWW, so not sure why they chose to rate him at WW, I gave him a new JWW rating of 4 overall, better than his WW, Pryor knocks him out in round 6, he is 1 win away from his coveted 50 Victories.
Next is 7th ranked John Meekins at JWW, a former NY Golden Gloves Champ, many are hoping this is Aaron Pryor's Last fight, even with his 3 straight wins, he is still fighting Top fighters, Meekins put up a very good fight, but he has always had a suspect chin, and not a lot of power, but he is a solid boxer, but comes right at you, straight up, so he was an easy target, even for an at the end of his career Pryor, who caught up with him in the 7th to Ko him, John looked respectable for most of the bout, but took a lot of punches.
1990 Age 35 - 2 Bouts, End
Pat Barrett TBB Rating 7 - Pryor WON KO Round 9 JWW
John Meekins TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won Ko Round 7 JWW
Record: 2-0 2 KO 52-15 49 KO
Aaron Pryor while still feeling good and in very good shape at age 36 again put off retirement, he wanted to hit 50 Knockouts in his career, needing only 1 more to go, and although he knew even if given a shot at any of the Champs, he would not win, as Chavez and others had already beaten him earlier in his career, but he did not want to pad his Winnings with bums, so he went for 2 Young Fighters in their Primes, both of which would eventually win their own World Titles at LW, 1st up was Jorge Paez, it was a good fight, but Pryor maintained control most of the Fight, choosing to Box most of it, and he won a clear UD in 12, the 2nd fight of the year, was against an undefeated and very tough Rafael Ruelas, a KO artist in his own right, this one was a war for 8 rounds,
1991 Age 36 - 2 Bouts
Jorge Paez TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won UD Round 12 LW
Rafael Ruelas TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won KO Round 8 LW
Record: 2-0 1 KO 54-15 50 KO
OVERALL CAREER Record: 54-15 50 KO
My Universe with Aaron Pryor as the main Focus!
Most Bouts will be fought at JWW his main Division and LW where he started but soon left after being ranked in the top 5, he never returned to fight in a Stacked LW Division, in my Universe, he does return to LW & also fights a handful of bouts at Catch weights.
LightWeight 131-135
Junior WelterWeight 136-140
WelterWeight 141-147
Final Career Record 54-15 50 KO
Just a note for additional reference, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, I was in my late teens when Pryor began his Pro career and I had followed him from the beginning, I got to see many of his amateur bouts, and I only missed one of his Pro fights in person, at that time I was heavily into boxing, also boxing myself just for fun and learning the game, and I spent many hours at his training Gym in town, I got to talk to him on many occasions and to just about everyone of his Trainers, handlers, and all the Leeches that hung around him, sucking him dry of his money, time and in the end, his career and life, a few things I learned from talking to everyone in his camp over the years, they really were worried about putting him in against the big power punchers in the game, or anyone with real power, as they knew, and admitted in conversations with them, Pryor of course in his own words & thoughts, was not afraid of anyone, but he did not realize his people kept him from the Power guys, from what I learned, from my own personal opinion, 98% of his people in his camp, were there to get all they could from him and out of him, before he lost any fights, again, he never realized this, now he does, but it's too late, Aaron was a nice kid even back then, but he was not educated, and lacked some common sense, all he had was street smarts, and they all took advantage of this, even then I felt bad for him and worried about his future, and now it's all clear, that feeling was correct, he thought his people had his best interests in mind, but they pxed up many deals for him and fights he most likely would have won, just to take on the lesser guys, they knew he could beat for less, but guaranteed money and in fights, he would not lose and keep up his undefeated record, which they knew was all that would help him keep getting those fights, he was one of my favorite fighters and I loved watching him fight and being around his gym, it was the coolest place to be back then, but they controlled him and took advantage of him)
This is Aaron Pryor's final Career Record in my Title Bout 2.5 Boxing Universe, a bit similar to his real life record, except for the 14 additional Losses, but that is easily explained, as in my Universe, his Handlers did not keep him away from the top competition of his time, and they did not hire Panama Lewis, who definitely contributed to his downfall, so his Career lasted longer in my Universe, for that reason, He also stuck with the LightWeight Division from the beginning and continued to battle the excellent Lightweights throughout this time, that he never faced in real life, just check out all the very solid names below that he could have fought, and compare them to the list he did fight, that I will post now.These are the best he fought in real life, 2 Fights against an Alexis Arguello at JWW who was well above his best weight, and who was at the least, in Post-Prime and getting closer by the year to the end of his great career, and in the 1st fight, it's clear, Panama Lewis helped Pryor to cheat him of victory, lets see who else Pryor fought, an at the end of his Career Antonio Cervantes, who still put him down in the fight, now lets see that's 3 Decent but not great or even very good fights or fighters at that point in their careers, but we will give him those 3 bouts, now who else, um, well, wait a minute he did get offers from Leonard & Duran that him and his people screwed up, oh wait, Dujuan Johnson a Kronk Gym guy, of course, way, way down on the Kronk totem pole, and he put Pryor on the Canvas with just decent power, but not good enough to put in, as a really good bout or fighter, lets see, he had to fight someone good, KIM, well maybe, possibly, he also put Pryor on the canvas, but no, he was not that good, um, well, HEY, that's it, no one else, so at best 3 decent fights in his career, so why is he considered so awesome, he beat No one, wait, he beat a young, skinny, and way before he reached any physical maturity and very young Tommy Hearns in the amateurs and beat him, but that does not count in the Pros, he took the title from an at the end of his Career Champ, who I believe at that time, Cervantes, that even Arguello would have beaten Antonio, and if they had not used some type of illegal Drugs in his fight with Arguello, Alexis would have beaten him still at JWW, and we would not be discussing Pryor here in this manor right now, Aaron Pryor could not take a big Punch, from a big Puncher, even Kim, Johnson and an aging Cervantes and others put him down, and most of them except Cervantes were not known for much power, that's why I believe his Camp ran as far from the LW division as they could to an easy picking at JWW, he missed out on a chance with Duran because they knew Duran would destroy him, again just check out my Pryor's career below and all the very solid contenders and champs he could have faced and you will see why he had 15 losses in my Universe but he also had 42 very solid and many excellent Victories, in my Universe, even with 15 losses, he had one of the greatest careers in history with all the top contenders and champs and name fighters he faced, he ran from no one in my Universe and beat most of them, what a great Career that was wasted by his Handlers, his entourage, his friends or so called friends, only Buddy Larosa cared and Pryor mostly ignored him and his advice, mainly all the bad people Pryor kept around him, pushed Larosa away, after Pryor's real career ended abruptly, these Leeches all,every single one of them,disappeared never to be seen again.
This is Aaron Pryor in my Universe and what he could have done, even if he had done half of what I have him doing in my Universe, he would be looked at as a much more respected ALL TIME GREAT, and even with 15 Losses, would have been one of the best ever.
Starting off as he did in 1977 again, this is My Plan & my Universe
Pryor's Handlers were extremely Confident in him, coming out of the Amateurs, feeling he was already, mentally & Physically Matured & ready to take on top competition from the start, so they went right for a top 10 guy in Andy Ganigan, who had tremendous KO Power, then 3 Veterans in Dejesus, Viruet & Watt before he won the LW Title\
, possibly the 3 toughest in the top 10 at the time in the LW Division, he finished 3-1 against them, as all 4 were in their Prime.
After these 4 Bouts, Pryor was ready to move to Pre-Prime and while not being able to acquire a Title Fight after Losing to Watt, he moved up to JWW, he fought 4 more extremely tough Veterans and Cervantes, this was after Cervantes had lost his Title to Wilfred Benitez, as Cervantes entered Post-Prime, Pryor blew through the 3 Top contenders to garner a fight against Cervantes, the winner getting a shot at Benitez's Title at JWW.
But Pryor's quest for a Title was derailed as Cervantes put him down twice in the 8th and the Ref had to stop the fight, if you remember in their Real fight, with Cervantes at the End of his Career and Pryor Prime, Cervantes did put him down, but being at the end of his career was unable to keep him down, but being Post-Prime and Pryor Pre-Prime, he was able to finish the win via TKO in 8 to get a another shot at getting his Title back, but Benitez decided to take other fights at this time for his own unknown reasons, so Cervantes easily won his Title back from another world body.
1977 age 22 - 4 Bouts, Beginning
Andy Ganigan TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 2 LW
Esteban Dejesus TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won,KO Round 1 LW
Edwin Viruet TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 3 LW
Jim Watt TBB Rating 7 - Watt Won, TKO ROUND 11 LW I was surprised myself that he beat Dejesus and lost to Watt.
1977 age 22 - 4 Bouts, Pre-Prime
Dave Green TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won, KO Round 2 JWW
Suang Muangsurin TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won, KO Round 7 JWW
Joe Kimpuani TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won, KO Round 5 JWW
Antonio Cervantes TBB Rating 12 - Cervantes Won, KO Round 8 JWW, Cervantes is in Post-Prime
Record 6-2 6 KO No Title Fights yet, due to his 2 Losses, but they were good loses to 2 Champs.
Again, he lost to Cervantes, because in my Universe, they fight while Aaron is Pre-Prime and Cervantes is still Post-Prime, when they fought in real life, Pryor was Prime and he was at the end.
To begin 1978 Pryor wanted to get on the fast track to garnering his 1st Title shot, so they looked to continue taking on anyone in the top 10 in the LW & JWW Divisions, starting with Sean O'Grady who also moved up and down between LW & JWW, Pryor won a war via TKO in 6, next was Giancarlo Usai, a Tough European & Italian LW Champ, but Usai was just completely outclxed and overwhelmed by Pryor & knocked out in Round 2, he then entered his Prime after that bout in 1978, he then fought another top 10 contender in V. Fernandez, another excellent veteran, winning easily by TKO in one, Roberto Duran then gave him a shot at his Unified WBA & WBC LW Titles, Duran and Pryor were both in their Prime, Duran was Pound for Pound the Best fighter in the game at this time and everyone thought him unbeatable, from the opening Bell, Pryor charged across the ring after Duran, they went toe to toe with the 1st round, going back and forth, Pryor was put down twice in the 1st, as round 2 began, they went right to ring center again, Pryor tried to box from Range, but Duran, felt like he had him hurt from the 1st round, so went after him, Pryor went down 2 more times, and then the Ref stopped the fight with Duran winning via TKO in round 2, if you have checked out Pryor' career, you will see, he was put on the Canvas in several fights, by several fighters, and none of the ones that put him down in Real life, had what would be considered real power, or 1 punch KO power, yet he was down many times, so it makes sense that when facing someone of Durans Caliber & Power, that he would also go down and most likely be finished by an All-Time Great like Duran. this one went, just as I expected.
Later in the year, he fought the #1 contender in Sweet Saul Mamby, and excellent Boxer and another great veteran, whom Pryor originally never fought as Mamby was ranked #1 at JWW almost during Pryor's entire reign as Champ, how they were never made to fight, I have no clue, Pryor won an excellent fight via TKO in 7, his people offered Benitez a big Deal to fight him at the end of the year after this victory, with Benitez looking for 1 more big Payday at JWW before moving up to WW, and knowing no one else at this weight could give it to him, they signed to fight for the JWW Title, this one was another battle for Pryor, he fought his best fight to date, looked awesome, Boxing and slugging throughout, Benitez also fought a masterful Boxing match, using great boxing skill and Defense to edge out a Split Decision to Retain his Title and then move on to WW, it was Ring Magazines, Fight of the Year.
1978 23 - 2 Bouts, Pre-Prime 6 Total Bouts Total - in Pre-Prime
S. 0'Grady TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 6 LW
Giancarlo Usai TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won KO Round 5 LW
1978 23 - 4 Bouts, Prime
V. Fernandez TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 1 LW
Roberto Duran TBB Rating 15 - Duran Won TKO Round 2 in a War - for Duran's LW Title - Duran & Pryor both are in their Prime
S. Mamby TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won, TKO Round 7 JWW
Wilfred Benitez TBB Rating 12 - Benitez Won SD Round 15 for Benitez's JWW Title,
Record 4-2 4 KO Overall Record after 2 Years as a Pro 10-4 10 KO
even though 4-2 on the year, he did get 2 Title fights, but they were in 2 Seperate Divisions, losing both in great fights, to 2 ATG champs.
Pryor entered 1979 hungrier than ever to win a Title, he knew after putting up such a great fight against Benitez, he belonged in the same talk with Duran, Benitez, Leonard & Hearns.
This year was the same as his 1st 2 years, he took on the very best competition and top fighters, at LW he beat Howard Davis Jr. an Olympic Champ and ranked 6th, Davis had outpointed him Twice in the Olympic Trials by 3-2 each time, so this was redemption for him, then another great veteran in Claude Noel, who was ranked 3rd, knocking him out in 4, he was given another shot at the LightWeight Title, against WBA Champ Ernesto Espana, who won the title after Duran moved up to WelterWeight. Espana fought a Galiant battle for 6 rounds, until he was Knocked out by Pryor, he now had his 1st World Title, He is now The WBA LightWeight Champ. He then Challenged Jim Watt for his WBC LW Title to unify the crowns, Watt accepted beleiving he could beat Pryor again after doing it in 1977, and for his biggest payday also, it would be held in Ireland, this one, also was another War for both, Watt fought galiantly and withstood Pryor's onslaught for 12 rounds, when he went down twice in that round, and his 3rd time in the fight, hitting the Canvas, the Ref finally stopped it in the 12th Round, Pryor had now unified the Titles, and is now the WBA & WBC LW champ. He then moved back up to JWW and fought 2 of the top 5 contenders in Bruce Curry and Sang Hyun Kim, Knocking out Curry and getting a Tko against Kim in 7, he beat him via TKO in real life in 3, after beating 2 of the top 5 JWW Contenders, he was given a Title shot against The Great JWW Champ Antonio Cervantes, a Rematch he had wanted for awhile since losing to him, for his WBA JWW Title, We've been saying this a lot lately, but another great fight and another War for Pryor, Cervantes fought brilliantly in his Post-Prime of his career, getting near the end, but still having enough left for at least 1 Great Bout, he put Pryor down twice in the fight and went down twice himself, finally after 9 awesome rounds, the Ref stepped in to stop it via TKO in round 9, Pryor adds his 2nd Title to his resume and a Title in his 2nd weight clx, he is now the LightWeight & Junior WelterWeight Champ of the world, carrying the unified Title in both weight clxes as the undisputed Champ, and after having one of the greatest years in history for any fighter or Champion.
1979 Age 24 - 7 Bouts, Prime
H. Davis Jr. TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won TKO Round 2 LW
C. Noel TBB Rating 4 - Pryor Won KO Round 4 LW
Ernesto Espana TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won TKO Round 6, For the WBA LW Title
Jim Watt TBB Rating 7 - A Rematch - Pryor Won, TKO Round 12, For the WBC LW Title
B. Curry TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won KO Round 6 JWW
Sang Hyun kim TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Antonio Cervantes TBB Rating 12 - Pryor Won TKO Round 9, For the WBA JWW Title, Post-Prime
Record in 1979 7-0 7 KO Overall Record: 17-4 17 KO after 3 Years as a Pro
Having Beaten all the best at JWW, he now focused 1980 on Defending his LW Crown against some awesome competition, starting with Hilmer Kenty, who in real life at this Time was the WBA LW Champ & whom had defeated Pryor in Olympic Trials yearsa go, but in this Universe, with Pryor winning and holding both Titles in 1979, this is Kenty's 1st shot at a Title. Many Thought Kenty would box a good match for half the fight, before Pryor would catch up, but Kenty surprisingly put up a great fight against Pryor, hitting the Canvas twice in the fight as Pryor hurt him in 2 rounds, finally after battling it out for 12 hard fought rounds and the 1st candiate for Fight of the Year, Pryor Knocks Kenty out in the 12th Round to defend his LW Belts. Next one of the most anticipated bouts of the year, Alexis Arguello moved up after dominating the JLW Divison, has recently gone through the LW division with ease, he now challenges Pryor for the WBA & WBC Crowns, in a rare bout with both Titles on the Line, Arguello is the Unanimous #1 LW Contender, both are in their Prime, as usual it's one of the best fights of the year,& Declared by Ring Magazine as the Fight of the Year & Eventually Fight of the Decade, another War, a word that is becoming synonymous with Pryor, as he loses a battle, Arguello Knocks him out in the 11th Round, in real Life Pryor stopped Arguello Via TKO in 14 in another great battle, but at that weight and time, Arguello was a bit past his Prime over 2 years from now, and Arguello is much better at LW than JWW, and with Pryor & his Manager, & Owner of his Contract Buddy Larosa, pxing on signing Panama Lewis as a Trainer, he is not there to help Pryor Cheat victory from Arguello or anyone else, with his Secret & Illegal Magic Bottle of elixir which he brought out between the 13th & 14th round of their real 1st fight, it also helps him stay clear of the Drugs that eventually ruined his real life and career, in their real bout, Arguello threw an awesome right hand that bent Pryor's head straight back and he just blew it off, something Pryor was not capable of doing, as he was put down many times by much lesser punchers, to me that punch proved he was definitely on something that allowed him to blow that punch off, as if he never felt it, and in my opinion at LW, this fight ended the way it most likely would have in real life if they had fought at LW in 1980.having beaten all the top JWW contenders, Pryor stayed at LW to fight other top contenders to try an garner another LW Title shot.
Next was Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez, one of Ring Magazines, previous picks as an excellent up and coming fighter, Gonzalez had excellent power and was dominating the division to this point, as he moved up the ranks, him and Pryor went back & forth for 6 grueling rounds, with Gato absorbing a ton of punishment from Pryor, finally in round 6, he caught Pryor with a hook that floored him, he got up, but Gato swarmed him and Knocked him out, as he could not recover, a Tremendous upset, as it's thought Pryor was overlooking the up an coming Gato in this fight, but to me not so much an upset, I always believed if Pryor had stayed at LW, 'Gato" was one of the guys with enough Power & Skills to beat him.
A Tremendous setback for the former Champ, that set up Gato for a Title shot at Arguello, in Gonazalez's title match against Arguello, he stood no chance, as he was put down twice in round one as the Ref stopped it and lost by TKO, Pryor now faced Sean O'Grady in a rematch as Sean was moving up the ranks at LW again,
O'Grady put up an awesome battle, in a great fight, Pryor Knocks him out in round 7, Sean would have had a Title shot if he had won. With no one else to challenge him at LW, he had beaten everyone and along with Pryor beating everyone else.
After Gonzalez got his shot, and before Arguello, Aaron had signed a deal after beating Cervantes to unify the JWW titles by fighting WBA JWW Champ Sweet Saul Mamby, something Pryor failed to do in real life, why he never fought the next best JWW at the time, I have no clue, Pryor Won by UD in 15 for Mamby's WBA Title and he now has unified the Titles, he has the WBA & WBC JWW TITLES, Mamby boxed superbly, but so did Pryor, and Mamby just has no Power and could not hurt Pryor or keep him off of him,, but did well enough to avoid being knocked out, in an excellent overall fight for both of them, it's clear now, why Pryor avoided him, Next, Arguello gave Pryor a rematch at the end of the year, as agreed upon after their 1st match, this one went the same rout as their 1st awesome fight, they fought like the Champs they are for 9 grueling rounds, going back and forth, with Arguello hitting the Canvas in round 5, and Pryor in rounds 7 & 9, only in round 9 Pryor could not get up by the count of 10, a KO win for Arguello. Pryor's worst year to date ends on a terrible note. I grew up watching Boxing in the 70s and 80s until now, I started getting intersted with the Ali-Frazier 1st fight, and the LW division at this time was just about my favorite Division and time in History, I watched every LW & JWW and most other bouts at this time, that I could find on TV, and being from Cincinnati, Ohio, both were a Hotbed of Boxing at the time with Pryor & Ayers from Cincinnati and others coming up, and Harry Arroyo and Ray Mancini both from Ohio, I was deep into boxing then, and I thought that Gato Gonzalez had the ability and especially the Power to have beaten Pryor if they had fought and I have always believed after spending much time at Pryor's training gym in Cinci, and talking to his People on many occasions, that they did there best to keep him from Fighters with real Power, and Gato was one of them, so to me this was not that much of an upset, as Pryor had issues taking a big punch from even much lesser punchers, like Kim, Johnson and others that put him down, even Cervantes at the end of his Career put him down in their real life fight, That's why I believe at LW great Punchers like Duran & Arguello would have Koed him and others good punchers, like Ganigan and Gonzalez and Mancini & Rosario would have had an excellent shot at knocking him out or TKOing him. This was the worst year of Pryor's Career to this point, losing 3x Twice to Arguello. But still with 2 Huge Victories over Kenty & Mamby, but the thing is, neither had much Power, & ZERO 1 PUNCH KO Power, & Pryor lost to both guys he fought that possessed such Power, so it's becoming clear, Pryor's deficienies as a Fighter, his CHIN is Suspect & his DEFENSE has many holes.
1980 Age 25 - 6 Bouts, Prime
H. Kenty TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 12, for Pryor's WBA/WBC LW Title -
Alexis Arguello TBB Rating 11 - Arguello Won by KO Round 11, both in Prime LW, Arguello's 1st attempt at the LW Title
R. Gonzalez TBB Rating 7 - Gonzalez Won KO Round 6 LW - S. O'Grady TBB Rating 7 another re-match JWW - Pryor Won KO Round 7
Saul Mamby TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won UD Round 15 for Mamby's WBA Title & has unified the Titles in the WBA & WBC JWW TITLES
Alexis Arguello TBB Rating 11 - Arguello Won KO Round 9 rematch at LW
Record: 3-3 2 KO Overall Record: 20-7 19 KO
Pryor entered 1981 with an excellent attitude despite the many setbacks of the previous year, he had promised his Fans he would fight Art Frias at LW, a battle many had called for, so before moving back up to work on holding his 1 remaining Title at JWW, he fought Frias, a fight most knew would last less than 3 rounds, Frias surprised by lasting 4 rounds,in a great battle where both stood toe to toe in the center of the ring for most every round.
Now Pryor moves up to defend his JWW Title, against 3 excellent top contenders, Johnny Bumphus put up a valiant effort and had several good rounds before getting Knocked out in 9, Leroy Haley did his best, but against a Prime Pryor, he was TKOed in round 1, Pryor appears to be back on track with 3 Knockouts to start the year, at this point, he has fought nearly everyone in the top 10 at LW & JWW, except for 3 or 4 lower ranked top 10 guys, that are just not ready yet, like Ray Mancini just entering LW at #10, so his People campaigned for him for a big fight against Hearns, since Pryor had beaten him in the Amateurs, they used that as a spark to get Hearns in the ring, they offered him 1 Million Dollars to fight at a Catch weight with no titles on the line, since Hearns was at WW and Pryor JWW, it would be too much for Pryor to move up, so instead of fighting Kenny Bogner, he chose Hearns in a Huge fight, In one of the greatest fights in History in any division, this one was a battle from the opening bell as Pryor pointed at Hearns and yelled it's Hawk time, and then at the bell, charged across the Ring to attack Hearns, he had him backing up from the opening minute, it was reminiscent of the Hagler/Hearns fight, except that Pryor was quicker, faster and threw many more punches than Hagler did, and he took less punches from Hearns than Hagler, due to his non stop xault and his non stop pressure, Hearns, was constantly back peddling, and could not get off a big shot, Hearns was hurt at the end of round 1, round 2 started the same way, and in the 1st minute Pryor landed a hard combination and dropped Hearns for a 10 count as he barely made it up, round 3 saw Hearns running, boxing and fighting a defensive battle as he did against Leonard, only Leonard was looking for 1 big punch, Pryor was just looking to land Dozens of punches, round was more of the same, as Pryor chased him and outpunched the entire round,untile 2 minutes into the round, Pryor Landed a great right hand and staggered Hearns, as he fell back into the ropes, Pryor, litterally xaulted him, and landed dozens of Punches, until Hearns crumbled to the canvas out cold, Pryor shocks the world by KO in Round 4, he is now along with Leonard & Duran, an Argueelo, 4 of the top 10 fighters in the world, P4P. After Hearns, Pryor was offered a fight against Top 10 JWW Contender Steve Hearon, a Tough Philadelphia product that fought 5 tough rounds against Pryor, but was finally knocked out in 5.
1981 26 - 5 Bouts, Prime
Art Frias TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 LW
Johnny Bumphus TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won KO Round 9 JWW
Leroy Haley TBB Rating 4 - Pryror Won TKO Round 4 JWW
Thomas Hearns TBB Rating 14 - Pryor Won KO Round 4 Catchweight
Steve Hearon TBB Rating 4 - Pryor Won KO Round 5 JWW
Record: 5-0 5 KO Overall Record: 25-7 25 KO
1982 Starts off with Pryor on top of the Boxing World, Leonard and other top WWs have other plans to start the year, so Pryor concentrates on the LW divison, He wants his LW Title back before leaving that division for good, so he takes on 3 of the top new LW Challengers and 3 excellent Champs in real life, 1st up Jose Luis Ramirez, it went as expected, Ramirez put up 9 tough, hard fought rounds, only to get Knocked out in 9, but it was another excellent fight, next is Ray Boom Boom Mancini, everyone thought this would be a slugfest, but Pryor chose to box him and it worked as he wins via TKO in 4, his next bout is against 32-0 Greg Coverson, this was a fairly anticipated fight due to Coverson's big undefeated record, but it did not live up to the Hype, Greg was overwhelmed and overmatched and Knocked out in 6 rounds, next the excellent & Powerful Edwin Rosario, Wow, fight of the Year candiate, Rosario comes out as advertised, in shape, with a Powerful punch and tough, he had been cleaning up the JLW division and now worked his way up the LW ranks looking for a bout against Arguello, the winner of this bout would get him next, but Pryor ran into a Buzzsaw in Rosario, he boxed and slugged with Pryor, taking his best shots and dishing out even more, he had Pryor down 5 times in this fight, until he knocked him out in round 5, to shock the Boxing world, Rosario showed extremely fast, quick and Powerful Hands, Pryor's inability to handle a guy with Power haunts him once again, anyone with a big Punch, always has that chance against Pryor, that's why his People kept him away from Power guys in real life. a huge setback now for him. he must now defend his JWW Title against mandatory top contender Ubaldo Sacco who defeated top 10 guy Willie Rodriguez to earn that shot, Pryor had to take this one, or lose his title, so he decides to defend it, Sacco fought bravely for 4 rounds, as he is a very solid fighter, but he was overwhelmed and lost via TKO Round 4.
1982 Age 27 - 5 Bouts, Prime
J.L. Ramirez TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 12 LW
Ray Mancini TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 LW
Greg Coverson TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won KO Round 6 LW
Edwin Rosario TBB Rating 10 - Rosario Won KO Round 5 LW
Ubaldo Sacco TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 JWW
Record: 4-1 3 KO Overall Record: 29-8 28 KO
1983 Pryor Can't find anyone to defend against, that he has not already beaten at JWW, or anyone he feels deserves a shot, or even a 2nd shot at his Title, so he stays at LW to start the year, as there is more name fighters to make more money against, up 1st is the undefeated and Popular and exciting fighter Rockin "Robin" Blake, A Wide Wide world of Sports favorite, Pryor is expecting to take out at least some of the top LW's to get a shot at either Mancini or Rosario's titles, as Boom Boom won a Title while Aaron defended his JWW Title the year before, but in another shocking upset with Pryor, whether he is beating someone like Hearns or losing to Gato Gonzalez and now Blake, he is apart of a shocking upset again, Blake comes out and boxes Pryor superbly, showing the toughness and grit that has propelled him up the LW Ranks and to his undefeated record, he lands a straight Left and catches Pryor flush on the Chin and puts him down and out in 6, Blake, should now get a shot at Mancini, as Pryor had already signed to fight Harry Arroyo, so he is next, Harry fights a very good fight against Pryor, but just gets overwhelmed in a storm in round 4 as he loses by TKO. Now the tough Livingstone Bramble, as Blake gets the shot at Mancini instead of him, Pryor is trying to get way up for this fight, after beating Arroyo, he comes out like gangbusters against Bramble and his brash talk before the fight, he swarms all over Bramble from the opening bell and puts him down once in round one, then twice in round 2, the 2nd one, he does not does get Psyched again and it's a KO in 2 for Pryor. He closes out the year with a Mandatory defense at JWW of his title there against top contender, Ronnie Shields, who put up a much better fight than expected as he lasts 7 tough, hard fought rounds against Pryor before he gets him by TKO in 7.
This is Pryors last fight in his Prime.
1983 28 - 4 Bouts, Prime
Robin Blake TBB Rating 6 - Blake Won Ko Round 6 LW
Harry Arroyo TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 LW
Livingstone Bramble TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won Ko Round 2 LW
Ronnie Shields TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Record: 3-1 3 KO Overall Record: 32-9 31 KO
Pryor now moves to Post-Prime in 1984 as he looks for the most lucrative bouts to plan for his future, with Buddy Larosa taking care of him and his finances, he looks to be in great shape for a nice retirement after Boxing ends, but he still wants to fight a few more years, he starts 1984 off with a Mandatory Bout against top ranked Gene Hatcher to defend his JWW Title, Hatcher is a tough fighter and he shows it here by putting up 10 tough rounds against Pryor before being knocked out in the 10th. Pryor now concentrates on attempting to move back up the LW ranks to get another shot at that Title, Harry Arroyo is the IBF Champ in his absence, and he has already beaten him and Livingstone Bramble is the WBC Champ and he has beaten him, so he believes he can do it again and win both Titles, Rosario is the WBA Champ, and Pryor wants to redeem himself after that loss,He shows he still has something left in the tank as he outlasts a very excellent fighter in Camacho, winning by Majority Decision in 12,next he TKO's another future LW Champ and hard hitter in Jimmy Paul, in a 3 round slugfest, next he secures a fight against #1 Contender Tyrone Crawley as he was being put off by the champs for a Title shot, this one was a tough fight for Pryor, Tyrone was very ackward with his style and put up a tough match for him before winning a Decision, now Pryor finally is awarded a Title shot as the #1 Contender at LW, he will now fight for the LW Title against Bramble and his WBC Belt, from the opening Bell, Pryor was all over Bramble, after the 3rd round, it appeared that Bramble knew he could not win and just fought to stay alive and tried to stay away from Pryor, then in round 9, Pryor knocks him out, and beats him for the 2nd time and again is now a LW & JWW Champ, he now wants to unify the title against Rosario and avenge his loss to him, but Rosario is hot and on a streak and in his Prime, it will be tough for Pryor to beat him, many feel he should be happy to have a LW Title and thinks he should go for Arroyo's IBF LW Title and be content with that, but he thinks he can take Rosario in a re-match, this one is one of the most anticipated bouts of the year, Pryor comes out throwing everything he has from the opening bell, Rosario goes down once in the 1st round as Pryor wins round one easily, he does the same in round 2 as Rosario is constantly backing up and just can't seem to get off against Pryor's swarming attack, hitting him hard with both hands, he looks like the old Pryor here, round 3, both fighters hit the Canvas but recover, until Rosario hits him with a crushing right hand and Knocks Pryor out, Rosario is now the WBA & WBC Champ.
1984 29 - 6 Bouts, Post-Prime
Gene Hatcher TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won KO Round 10 JWW
Hector Camacho TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won MD Round 12 LW
Jimmy Paul TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won TKO Round 3 LW
Tyrone Crawley TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won UD Round 12 LW
Livingstone Bramble TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won KO Round 9 LW
Edwin Rosario TBB Rating 10 - Rosario Wins KO Round 3 LW for the WBA & WBC LW Titles.
Record: 5-1 3 KO Overall Record: 37-10 34 KO
Pryor begins 1985 in a not so good mood, knowing he is not quite the fighter he use to be and maybe a handful of years left, even less if he loses too many fights, he plans to Concentrate on his JWW Title this year, but an offer comes in to fight Cornelious Boza-Edwards, who had been wanting to challeng a top LW before he decided to move up to that weight, so they decided on Pryor, thinking he was beginning to lose his Prime, Boza put up a very tough fight, but Aaron was too much for him, winning all but 2 rounds in a 9-2 rout as he KO's Edwards in round 11, then he goes back up to JWW, against tough Lonnie Smith, the new #1 Contender and a mandatory defense, Smith comes out battling him, but Pryor is in great shape and TKO's him in 4, next up Rene Arendondo, he fought a tough fight, but lost on TKO in 3 at LW, at this point in the year, Pryor's only opponents left at LW & JWW are the ones he has already beaten or have beaten him, so he feels no urge or point in fighting anyone at this time in either division, as he comtemplates his next move, his People get a surprise call from Milton McCrory and he wants to fight Pryor and put his WBC WelterWeight Title on the line if Pryor will move up for the fight and do it at WW, they have already contacted the WBC and with a little cash in hand, they've agreed to rank pryor the #1 WBC WW Contender, with J. Bumphus moving up to WW, and Pryor having beaten him, they say that's good enough for them, Money talks, this one was not the fight everyone was hoping for, Pryor looked to be in good shape, but after 2 rounds of going all out against the Champ, by mid 3rd round he began to tire quickly, it was apparent, he was having trouble with the extra weight of being a WW, and round 4 saw Milton take charge, and by mid round 5, he caught Pryor with a solid combination and put him down, and although he beat the count, after Milt began to let it all go, his corner jumped in to save Pryor from a beating and it was a TKO in 5 for McCrory, and it was also clear, he did not bring his hard punching power up to WW with him, he had definitely lost something by moving up, all the way around, maybe in his Prime he could have done it, but not now, and Milton looked to be in Prime form for this fight, he will be looking to Challenge Donald Curry next for a big payday, something he was also hoping for if he had won this one.
1985 Age 30 - 4 Bouts, Post-Prime
Cornelious Boza-Edwards TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won KO Round 11 at a Catchweight, Pryor came in at 135 Edwards 130 Edwards was rated
in his Prime an 8 at JLW & a 5 at LW - But for this Fight I fought Boza-Edwards in his Prime at an 8 Rating.
Lonnie Smith TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won TKO Round 4 JWW
Rene Arendondo TBB Rating 6 - Pryor Won TKO Round 3 JWW
Milton McCrory TBB Rating 9 - McCrory Won TKO Round 5 for McCrory's WW WBC Title at a Catchweight
Record: 3-1 3 KO Overall Record: 40-11 37 KO
This is another year, that Pryor seems to be starting out depressed a bit, knowing now that he most likely will have trouble beating any of the top new fighters in the game, but he still thinks he can give anyone a good fight on any given night, so they continue lining up top Competition for him in 86, his 1st fight of the year is against a very tough newcomer to the top 10 at JWW in James Buddy McGirt, it's starting to sound like a broken record for Pryor's fights, but this one was another War for 10 rounds, with both hitting the Canvas once, then in Round 10 he rocked Buddy and and swarmed him and the Ref stopped it. Next up is Frankie Warren, another tough newcomer to the top 10, Warren puts up a very tough fight for Aaron, but he pulls it out with a hard fought TKO In 10, Pryor still held a top 10 ranking at LW and secured a fight against Greg Haugen for his IBF LW Title, Pryor was correct, on any given night, he could be anyone, as again, he appeared to be the Pryor of old, and was just too powerful and quick for Haugen to handle, he knocked Greg out in 2, in an awesome 2 rounds, round 2 will qualify for a round of the year, Aaron Pryor has once again won a LW Title, but has yet to ever unify it.
For his last fight of 1986, he wanted to continue to add to his awesome resume by fighting as many Champs or top contenders as he could, Rocky Lockridge had decided to try the LW Division, so they offered him a fight, Rocky could not make the LW Limit, so the LW Title was not on the line here, but it was a great fight, but Aaron even though in Post-Prime was much bigger and stronger and faster than a PRime JLW Lockridge, Pryor Knocked him out in round 9 of a tough hard fought battle.
1986 31 - 3 Bouts, Post-Prime
James Buddy McGirt TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won TKO Round 10 JWW
Frankie Warren TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won TKO Round 10 JWW
Greg Haugen TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 2 LW
Rocky Lockridge TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won KO Round 9 at a Catchweight, Pryor was 135, Rocky 129
Record: 4-0 4 KO Overall Record: 44-11 41 KO
Pryor Now has 2 title in 2 Weight Clxes again, and controls his own fate, and with the emergence of J.C. Chavez at LW as Champ and Pernell Whitaker, and Meldrick Taylor and other big names, he has several opportunities for big paydays ahead if he can win. his 1st fight of 87 is against up and coming Meldrick Taylor, putting his IBF LW Title on the Line, who had just moved into the top 10 at LW, Everyone waited for this one, and most picked Taylor, Pryor came out again looking like the old Pryor, and took the fight to Taylor, he was clearly the harder Puncher and hurt Taylor several times as he won via TKO in round 5, a great win for Pryor, next was Vinny Pazienza the #1 contender and Mandatory defense for his IBF LW TITLE, The Winner gets Julio Cesar Chavez as he had agreed to fight the winner of the bout, and put his WBC LW Title on the line against Pryor's IBF LW Title, Many hope that Pryor still has another Prime night left in him if he gets past the PazMan and gets to fight Chavez, but he has been through a ton of wars to date,and this one is the most highly anticipated bout of the year, but 1st he must dispatch Paziena or that dream fight disappears.
Against the Pazman, Pryor had his hands full as Vinny Charged right after him from the opening bell, beating Pryor to the attack at ring center, both men were down 3x in the 1st 6 rounds, finally in round 7, Pryor landed a Left Hook that caught him flush on the Chin and backed him into the ropes and pounded him until the Ref stopped it, TKO 7.
Now another Great Bout that everyone had wanted and been waiting & Hoping for, Julio Cesar Chavez. Aaron is now 31.
Pryor came out against Chavez continuing to look like the old Pryor in his Prime, him and Chavez battled back & forth every round, Pryor was on the canvas in rounds 3 & 8, but that's nothing new, round 10 began with Pryor ahead on all cards 6 rounds to 3, he was Boxing and moving and slugging in old form, as Chavez was also putting forth a tremendous effort, but Pryor was just a bit faster and quicker, but Chavez won rounds 8 & 9 and going into 10, Pryor's face was swelling, and he was slowing down, he charged out in round 10 and they went toe to toe for half the round, until Chavez caught him with a devastating Left Hook, Pryor never saw it coming and he never got up for the count, Chavez by KO in 10, in an All Time great fight, this one will go down in the books as one of the best ever at LW. it was reminiscent of the Taylor/Chavez fight in real life, only Pryor had more power in both hands than Taylor and was able to mark up and hurt Chavez several times, but in the end, the same result, Pryor's body and face were badly beaten up by round 10 and he finally got hit with a solid shot. Pryor loses his LW Title, and now must contemplate his future from here as the Winner had a title matchup with Whitaker. Pryor decides to retreat back to JWW where has remained unbeatable, to face a mandatory bout with #1 Contender Patrizio Oliva, this was a pretty good fight, Oliva lasted longer than expected, but he was Knocked out in 11.
1987 32 - 4 Bouts, Post-Prime
Meldrick Taylor TBB Rating 10 - Pryor Won TKO Round 5 LW
Vinny Pazienza TBB Rating 8 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 LW
Julio Cesar Chavez TBB Rating 11 - Chavez Won KO Round 10 LW
Patrizio Olivia TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won KO Round 11 JWW
Record: 3-1 3 KO Overall Record: 47-12 44 KO
As he enters 1988 he is going into the end mode of his career, he decides to stay in his bread & butter division at JWW, his 1st bout is against J. Coggi, The tough, hard hitting & future Champ in real life, Juan Martin Coggi, who is his Prime, beats a Post-Prime Pryor in his last Post bout, via TKO in 9, it was a tough and good fight for both, but Pryor is beginning to look a bit worn after all his wars, next he will face Loreto Garza, another up and coming tough JWW, Pryor puts up a valiant effort, but it's clear, he has lost speed and some power, and quickness, and although still looking in shape, he clearly is worn out and at the end of a great career, will he continue with having straight losses in 1988, Against another top 5 JWW Contender and excellent fighter, Roger Mayweather is next, Pryor shows he still has some power left as he Knocks out Roger in round 7.
1988 33 - 3 Bouts, End
Juan Coggi TBB Rating 8 - Coggi Won TKO Round 9 JWW for Pryor's JWW Title, he is beaten as Champ at JWW for the 1st time.
Loreto Garza TBB Rating 7 - Garza Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Roger Mayweather TBB Rating 9 - Pryor Won Ko Round 7 JWW
Record: 1-2 1 KO Overall Record: 48-14 45 KO
Pryor Decides to continue to fight in 1989, after beating Mayweather, who was going to fight the New JWW WBC Champ in J.C. Chavez if he beat Pryor, but Roger lost, now Chavez decides to go for another big money payday against Pryor after beating him previously at LW, even though Pryor is nearly at the end, many still look forward to this rematch, as their previous fight was fight of the year, Pryor said if he wins, he will defend his title 2 times in 1990 then retire, if he loses he may consider retirement now, this one from the opening Bell was similar to their first fight, the only difference was, Pryor clearly was a bit slower, and not quite as quick as before, he still had some good power in both hands, and still had the Hawk Heart, he gave Chavez everything he had for 9 rounds, he was on the Canvas in rounds 2, 4, 7 & then finaly he was Knocked out by a devastating, Chavez Combo in round 9, Aaron Pryor after a great Career, decides to retire after this fight. UPDATE! After sitting around for a couple of months, Pryor gets back into the Gym and starts sparring and getting in shape, he says he does not want to end his career on such a losing note, he asks his People to find either and up and coming young fighter with promise or a a decent top 10 contender, that they believe he has a chance to beat at this point in his Career, they choose Veteran Sammy Fuentes, who is ranked in the top 10 at JWW in 1989, he is only rated a 3 in the game and deservidly so, how he was in the top 10 in any weight clx, I don't know, but he agrees to fight Pryor, trying to up his value in the rankings, Pryor gets in great shape for this one,
Even at the end of his Career, an in shape Pryor is still too much for a weak Fuentes, Pryor Knocks him out in 6, fueled by this win, he wants another, they find and up an comer that wants to also make a name for himself as he moves up, in Ike Quartey, he is in the begiing of his Career, but believes he can beat an end of his Career Pryor, even though Quartey is only a 5 in the game, he still was a tough fighter and being young and in awesome shape, he was thought to give Pryor a battle and he did, but Aaron still has some Power left in both hands, and won via TKO in 7, Pryor finally hits 50 Wins in his Career.
1989 Age 34 - 3 Bouts, End
Julio Cesar Chavez TBB Rating 11 - Chavez Won KO Round 9, to retain his WBC JWW Title and send Aaron Pryor into retirement.
Sammy Fuentes TBB Rating 3 - Pryor Won KO Round 6 JWW
Ike Quartey TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won TKO Round 7 JWW
Record: 2-1 2 Ko Overall Record: 50-15 47 KO
Going into 1990 Pryor has some renewed vigor, he is only 34 very soon 35, his career plan was to fight until at least 1990, something he had decided years ago, and he now vows to stick to that commitment to himself, and now with 50 Wins, he has hit a Career Milestone he always had in his own mind to accomplish, so from here on out, he is fighting for the Love of Boxing, he wants to retire either by years end, or maybe at the end of the year, decide if he goes 1 more into 1991 he will decide after the next 2 fights this year, so his People look for 2 more fighters, Pryor still wants either a solid up and coming young fighter with promise or someone in the top 10, that he has a good chance to beat, 1st up in 90 is Pat Barrett from England, the European JWW Champ, no title on the line here, he is ranked 8th at JWW, he fights well but in the game he is rated a 3 at WW but it looks like most of his Career and Prime were at JWW, so not sure why they chose to rate him at WW, I gave him a new JWW rating of 4 overall, better than his WW, Pryor knocks him out in round 6, he is 1 win away from his coveted 50 Victories.
Next is 7th ranked John Meekins at JWW, a former NY Golden Gloves Champ, many are hoping this is Aaron Pryor's Last fight, even with his 3 straight wins, he is still fighting Top fighters, Meekins put up a very good fight, but he has always had a suspect chin, and not a lot of power, but he is a solid boxer, but comes right at you, straight up, so he was an easy target, even for an at the end of his career Pryor, who caught up with him in the 7th to Ko him, John looked respectable for most of the bout, but took a lot of punches.
1990 Age 35 - 2 Bouts, End
Pat Barrett TBB Rating 7 - Pryor WON KO Round 9 JWW
John Meekins TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won Ko Round 7 JWW
Record: 2-0 2 KO 52-15 49 KO
Aaron Pryor while still feeling good and in very good shape at age 36 again put off retirement, he wanted to hit 50 Knockouts in his career, needing only 1 more to go, and although he knew even if given a shot at any of the Champs, he would not win, as Chavez and others had already beaten him earlier in his career, but he did not want to pad his Winnings with bums, so he went for 2 Young Fighters in their Primes, both of which would eventually win their own World Titles at LW, 1st up was Jorge Paez, it was a good fight, but Pryor maintained control most of the Fight, choosing to Box most of it, and he won a clear UD in 12, the 2nd fight of the year, was against an undefeated and very tough Rafael Ruelas, a KO artist in his own right, this one was a war for 8 rounds,
1991 Age 36 - 2 Bouts
Jorge Paez TBB Rating 7 - Pryor Won UD Round 12 LW
Rafael Ruelas TBB Rating 5 - Pryor Won KO Round 8 LW
Record: 2-0 1 KO 54-15 50 KO
OVERALL CAREER Record: 54-15 50 KO