Sunday, October 9, 2016

Aaron Pryor, R.I.P.

Former WBA & IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Aaron Pryor passed away on Sunday following a long battle with heart disease. He was 60.

Pryor was my favorite boxer growing up naturally because the fact we shared the same first name. I saw many of his fights on CBS and there were his two great fights with Alexus Arguello (who sadly died too young himself).

Nicknamed "The Hawk", Pryor had a sterling 39-1 record with 35 knockouts. He should be more well known and would have been had he fought Sugar Ray Leonard, but Leonard's detached retina put those dreams to an end. His career also might have been even better if drug abuse hadn't taken its toll. Fortunately, he got clean in the early 1990's although his past use undoubtedly caught up with him.

Nevertheless, Pryor is certainly one of the five best fighters in any weight class during the 1980's as this video below demonstrates.


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