Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor is one of the more underrated great fighters of the 1980s who would have finished higher on this list if not for late career drug problems.
One of a handful of great fighters born in Cincinnati, Pryor was a celebrated amateur fighter who missed out on the 1976 Olympics when he lost to Howard Davis Jr. So unlike Davis and fellow '76 Olympians Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks, Leon Spinks and John Tate, Pryor had to fight his way up without fanfare. His was paid just $400 for his first pro fight against Larry Smith.
One of a handful of great fighters born in Cincinnati, Pryor was a celebrated amateur fighter who missed out on the 1976 Olympics when he lost to Howard Davis Jr. So unlike Davis and fellow '76 Olympians Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks, Leon Spinks and John Tate, Pryor had to fight his way up without fanfare. His was paid just $400 for his first pro fight against Larry Smith.
An all-action, all-the-time fighter, Pryor piled up wins against nominal fighters. Wins over Al Ford (50-9) and Alfonso Frazer (42-13) earned him a shot at Antonio Cervantes' WBA super lightweight title. Pryor overwhelmed Cervantes in a fourth round knockout in August 1980.
Over the next couple of years, Pryor was involved in talks to fight both Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. Both would have made him the star he wanted to be, but he couldn't come to terms for either. Instead, in 1982, he fought Alexis Arguello, who had moved up from lightweight.
The Arguello fight is a classic that you'll find on YouTube with more than 1 million views. Ring Magazine named it the fight of the decade. Pryor won in a knockout in the 14th round, but not after some controversy. After the 13th round, Pryor's trainer, Panama Lewis told his cutman to "Give me the other bottle, the one I mixed."
The two fought again in September 1983 and Pryor left no doubt this time, knocking Arguello out in the 10th round.
After the Arguello fight, Pryor retired. It didn't last long. The WBA had pulled his title, but the IBF immediately recognized him. He defended that title two times. By then, he was 36-0, but a developing drug habit kept him out of the ring for 2 1/2 years.
When he came back, he fought journeyman Bobby Joe Young and wasn't the same. Young knocked him out in the third round. He fought three more times in between bouts of rehab, beating nominal fighters before finally retiring in 1990.
Pryor died in 2016 at the age of 60.
| Aaron Pryor | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Significant Fights | |||||||
| Opponent | Result | Fight Points |
Title Points |
HOF Points |
Total | x Win % | Final Total |
| Antonio Cervantes | KO | 100 | 60 | 100 | 260 | 89.69% | 233.2 |
| Gaetan Hart | KO | 100 | 60 | 160 | 68.75% | 110.0 | |
| Lennox Blackmore | KO | 100 | 60 | 160 | 92.00% | 147.2 | |
| Dujuan Johnson | KO | 100 | 60 | 160 | 100.00% | 160.0 | |
| Miguel Montilla | KO | 100 | 60 | 160 | 86.00% | 137.6 | |
| Akio Karneda | KO | 100 | 60 | 160 | 100.00% | 160.0 | |
| Alexis Arguello | KO | 100 | 60 | 100 | 260 | 93.51% | 243.1 |
| Sang Hyun Kim | KO | 100 | 45 | 145 | 93.18% | 135.1 | |
| Alexis Arguello | KO | 100 | 45 | 100 | 245 | 92.50% | 226.6 |
| Nick Furlano | W-UD | 90 | 45 | 135 | 80.00% | 108.0 | |
| Gary Hinton | W-SD | 75 | 45 | 120 | 92.00% | 110.4 | |
| Totals (11-0, 9 KOs) | 1,771.3 | ||||||
| Record in non-significant fights | |||||||
| 28-1, 26 KOs, 1 KOd | 2,680 | ||||||
| % of fights toward 50 (100%) | 2,680 | 2,680 | 56.10% | 1,503.5 | |||
| 10 fight adjustment to 50 | 92.4 | x10 | 924 | 75.00% | 693.0 | ||
| Totals | 2,196.5 | ||||||
| Peak 5 Fights | |||||||
| Alexis Arguello | 243.1 | ||||||
| Antonio Cervantes | 233.2 | ||||||
| Alexis Arguello | 226.6 | ||||||
| Akio Karneda | 160.0 | ||||||
| Dijuan Johnson | 160.0 | ||||||
| Peak 5 Totals | 1,022.9 | ||||||
| Final Totals (significant, non-significant, Peak 5) | 4,990.7 | ||||||
| Boxing's 100 Countdown | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Fighter | Significant Fights |
Non-Significant Fights |
Peak 5 | Final Total |
| 70. | Aaron Pryor | 1,771.3 | 2,196.5 | 1,022.9 | 4,999.7 |
| 71. | Bob Foster | 2,328.8 | 1,699.4 | 956.0 | 4,984.2 |
| 72. | Andre Ward | 1,681.0 | 2,513.8 | 774.0 | 4,968.9 |
| 73. | Gene Tunney | 1,578.0 | 2,260.9 | 1,114.9 | 4,953.8 |
| 74. | Terry Norris | 2,777.9 | 1,327.0 | 847.2 | 4,952.2 |
| 75. | Ike Williams | 2,209.4 | 1,667.5 | 1,055.3 | 4,932.2 |
| 76. | Vasiliy Lomachenko | 1,866.8 | 2,343.9 | 714.8 | 4,925.4 |
| 77. | Mike McCallum | 1,998.4 | 2,124.3 | 800.4 | 4,923.2 |
| 78. | Billy Conn | 1,937.3 | 1,936.1 | 1,031.5 | 4,905.0 |
| 79. | Benny Leonard | 1,729.8 | 2,089.5 | 1,040.1 | 4,859.4 |
| 80. | Sugar Shane Mosley | 2,479.9 | 1,512.3 | 858.7 | 4,850.9 |
| 81. | Lou Ambers | 1,589.2 | 2,098.7 | 1,158.2 | 4,846.1 |
| 82. | Harry Wills | 2,564.4 | 1,355.7 | 923.7 | 4,843.8 |
| 83. | Mickey Walker | 1,987.8 | 1,775.7 | 1,075.4 | 4,838.8 |
| 84. | Joe Gans | 2,314.9 | 1,639.8 | 883.0 | 4,837.6 |
| 85. | Sven Ottke | 2,824.5 | 1,317.7 | 687.5 | 4,829.7 |
| 86. | Ronald "Winky" Wright | 2,243.3 | 1,658.3 | 922.5 | 4,824.1 |
| 87. | Fighting Harada | 1,259.6 | 2,409.2 | 1,105.9 | 4,774.7 |
| 88. | Humberto Gonzalez | 1,866.7 | 1,952.3 | 907.3 | 4,726.4 |
| 89. | Ricardo Lopez | 2,830.5 | 1,188.1 | 702.7 | 4,721.3 |
| 90. | Carmen Basilio | 1,723.3 | 1,804.7 | 1,184.1 | 4,712.2 |
| 91. | Orlando Canizales | 2,529.3 | 1,510.3 | 669.3 | 4,708.9 |
| 92. | Jeff Fenech | 2,103.9 | 1,728.7 | 844.8 | 4,677.4 |
| 93. | Michael Carbajal | 2,333.7 | 1,519.2 | 817.0 | 4,669.9 |
| 94. | Marcel Thil | 2,579.8 | 1,170.9 | 900.9 | 4,651.6 |
| 95. | Nicolino Locche | 1,858.0 | 1,946.8 | 820.3 | 4,625.1 |
| 96. | Ricky Hatton | 3,458.8 | 449.1 | 708.9 | 4,616.8 |
| 97. | Ismael Laguna | 1,059.5 | 2,659.4 | 889.9 | 4,608.7 |
| 98. | Ramon "Chocalatito" Gonzalez | 2,187.1 | 1,771.9 | 638.6 | 4,597.5 |
| 99. | Wilfredo Benitez | 1,439.4 | 2,223.0 | 914.4 | 4,586.8 |
| 100. | Carlos Zarate | 1,124.2 | 2,707.1 | 751.5 | 4,582.8 |
