Judging Aaron Pryor?

Question

What is your opinion of Aaron Pryor? Does he deserved to be mentioned in any "best of all-time/pound-per-pound" conversations?

Answer 1

If pryor wasn,t coked to the eyeballs against Arguello, do you think he would have beaten him? I don,t think so! He should never be mentioned in boxing circles at all! He cheated through his whole career and all he had left from it was his coke addiction. Thats how he should be remembered!

Answer 2

Oh yes definitely.  The guy was the best at 140 (junior welterweight) during his time and probably of all time.  Arguello couldn't touch him.  Leonard didn't want to meet him.  If not for his drug problem, he could've reigned as the best pound-for-pound for a long time and secured his place among the all-time greats.  But then again, in judging a boxer his private life should be set aside and focus should be on his ring exploits.

Answer 3

Pryor was on the juice against Arguello.  Who else did he fight while on it?  My opinion of him---He is a cheater.  I don't include him often in p4p talk/ very rarely.

Answer 4

Gman beat me to it.  Pryor fought while coked up.  Alexis Arguello deserved better than he got.  The coked up Pryor, used stimulants to batter Arguello in such a way that Arguello was never the same afterwards.

These men come into the ring trained and skilled as it is.  Boxing is plenty dangerous enough.  Coking up a fighter in the late rounds is attempted murder in my mind.  Boxing is beautiful in the way that it's 2 men and 4 fists in the ring.  What Pryor did was an abomination to the sport, and should forever be a pariah to boxing fans.

Answer 5

Yes, Aaron earned a place among the upper echelon of boxing's best 140 lb. fighters.  Without a doubt Aaron can be considered one of boxing's greats.  His accomplishments in the ring speak louder than my words.  I rank Pryor above Ray Leonard historically, simply because Ray so obviously feared Aaron.  I think Pryor would have dismantled Leonard had they met.  If you consider Ray Leonard an elite historical boxer, you must also consider Aaron Pryor in the same category.  

As for allegations of drug abuse and performance enhancing illegal substances being used in Pryor's corner during his fights, Panama Lewis was banned for life from boxing for a reason, and Pryor was clearly no angel.  That said, he still performed at a level few in history ever reached, so I say Pryor belongs in any P4P discussion.  Then again I think Barry Bonds and Pete Rose belong in the baseball hall of fame too, and that opinion catches a lot of flack as well, so I can at least see the validity in the anti-Pryor arguments even while disagreeing with them.

The deciding factor for me in the argument is that Ray Leonard feared Aaron Pryor more than he did Duran, Hagler, Hearns, Camacho or Norris.  That alone in one respect elevates Pryor to a status equal to or even above the greats Ray did fight in his career.  Hector Camacho's record reads like a wall at the boxing hall of fame, but even Hector ducked Aaron.  I think Pryor would have humiliated guys like Julio Cesar Chavez or Floyd Mayweather, he was that good.  Pryor was one of the most feared and respected little men of his era and he is in my opinion worthy of the highest consideration.

That said, Aaron Pryor will never equal the likes of boxing's immortals.  Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong and even modern greats like Hagler or Pernell Whitaker will rate higher P4P than Pryor.  Aaron deserves to be mentioned, but would find it difficult to crack the top ten of boxing's all time best on anyone's list.  Old timers like Bob Fitzsimmons or Willie Pep will always rate higher than Aaron, and even Leonard, Duran and Chavez will always out rank him in most discussions.  Such is boxing opinion, we all have our favorites, and the argument will never really end.

Answer 6

The last time I checked Cocaine was not a performance enhancer. I never like to take a persons greatness away Aaron Pryor is with out any dought one of the greatest fighters who has ever lived that is why he is in the HOF of boxing. Sugar Ray Leonard would not fight him and he made Sugar change weight classes in the armatures if he did not Sugar Ray would not have gone to the Olympics