Who is the greatest light welterweight boxer of all time?
08.06.2025 20:19
Pryor entered the top 10 as a lightweight in 1979:
Cervantes spoke in awe about the lightweight’s incredible power:
Alexis Arguello
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Years at the top:
“They must not know Aaron!”
On August 2, 1980, Pryor faced two-time world champion Antonio Cervantes of Colombia for the WBA light welterweight championship. His purse was $50,000. Cervantes was looking for an easy fight, and figured the lightweight Pryor was too inexperienced to pose a threat, or stand up to his power. He was wrong on both counts.
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Leonard signed to fight Pryor in 1982, until his first “retirement.”
Competition faced:
Aaron Pryor, known to boxing fans as “the Hawk”, was born on October 20, 1955, and who died on October 9, 2016, competed from 1976 to 1990.
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“He was pure class, both inside and outside the ring. He was intelligent. articulate, and a genuinely nice person. He was what any boxer would like to be.”
Frankie Sims, Pryor’s trainer at the time, was in the Queen City Gym that day, and suggested they call Aaron Pryor:
But from that day forward, Pryor was convinced he had Leonard’s number.
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Arguello and Pryor
The fight was a dirty one. Arguello was deducted a point in round eight for low blows. But in the end, it did not matter, Arguello had swelling under his right eye by the third round, and Pryor knocked down Arguello three times: once in round one, once in the fourth, and for the count in the tenth. Arguello was counted out while sitting on the canvas with his arms draped around his knees.
Arguello said simply:
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Pryor, nicknamed The Hawk, was a great amateur fighter, with an incredible record of 204 wins and 16 losses.
Arguello believed a poor fight plan by Eddie Futch had cost him the fight, and wanted a rematch with a different trainer.
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the National AAU Lightweight Championship in 1975
a silver medal at the Pan American Games, losing in the final to Canadian Chris Clarke in 1975.
1985 #5 Junior Welterweight
Pryor had also beaten the 1980 WBA lightweight champion Hilmer Kenty five times in the amateurs. Manny Steward - who would not consider a fight with Pryor for Tommy Hearns! - had no intention of putting Kenty in with the Hawk.
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Arguello would later note that changing trainers was:
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The two got together several times a year until Arguello's death, apparently by a self-inflicted gunshot, in 2009. Pryor died on October 9, 2016. He never stopped grieving for his friend…
Pryor beat future champion Thomas Hearns in the lightweight finals of the 1976 National Golden Gloves
1981 #1 at lightweight, WBA champion at Light Welterweight
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Pryor's purse was $1.6 million, while Arguello's was $1.5 million, both career highs for both men.
1980 #4 lightweight
Pryor struggled for years with drug addiction, but finally,"The Hawk" kicked his habit.
“No one could beat Aaron. He’d throw 200 punches per round and keep going.”
Pryor’s incredible power:
“Best puncher I ever faced was Aaron Pryor. I had 106 fights and was only stopped twice, once by Pryor. I felt his hands.”
Antonio Cervantes
In the years before his death. Pryor lived in his hometown of Cincinnati with his wife, Frankie Pryor, and his four children. Pryor became an ordained deacon at New Friendship Baptist Church and used to travel making personal appearances and spreading his message against drugs.
Arguello was trained by Lupe Sanchez for the Pryor rematch.
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Pryor vs Arguello Two
According to Sims, Leonard controlled the first round with his jab, and in the second, knocked Pryor down. But towards the end of the round, Pryor got warmed up, and started closing the distance. The third round, he dominated Leonard, beating him all over the ring.
(Pryor had been ranked by Ring for over a year, since late 1979)
Leonard did say of Pryor:
1979 #8 lightweight
Pryor dominated the light-welterweight division for six years. He made 11 defenses of his title, all mandatory defenses except the two against the great Alexis Arguello. He could not buy a discretionary defense or fight against another top fighter.
Peppermint Frazer
Beloved Warrior: The Rise and Fall of Alexis Argüello by Christian Giudice
But Pryor, also visibly stunned on at least two occasions, was never really hurt.
Pryor’s first fight as a pro was with Larry Smith, for which he made $400.
1984 #1 Junior Welterweight
Pryor, who could have made lightweight his entire career, moved to 140 to get a title shot
Pryor, when asked once why he fought so ferociously hard in the ring, said:
After boxing
though Pryor lost to Howard Davis Jr. at the 1976 Olympic Trials, Davis later pointedly refused to fight Pryor as a professional)
“Aaron beat Arguello’s ass like he stole something.”
Leonard did say of Pryor:
1982 #1 at lightweight, WBA champion at Light Welterweight
Flight of the Hawk: The Aaron Pryor Story by Aaron Pryor and Marshall Terrill
Till his death, Pryor remained active in the sport of boxing, training both professional and Golden Gloves amateur boxers.
The great Aaron Pryor was the greatest light welterweight who ever lived.
“Ray had been shadowboxing and he worked up a good sweat, we called Aaron and when he arrived, I told him to warm up, but he refused because he wanted to quickly get into the ring with Ray . . . Ray was warmed up and Aaron was still cold, but they went to war.”
Ring August 2020 Anson Wainwright
The International Boxing Research Organization has this one dead right.
At 140 pounds, Pryor had 20 fights, 19 wins, and 17 stoppages, for an almost as great 89.47% knockout percentage
Ring for ratings
Both Arguello and Pryor are members of the Hall of Fame, and the two formed a deep and abiding friendship in their retirement. When Arguello ran for office, Pryor went down to Nicaragua to support Arguello's political career, and travelled around the country advocating for him.
Arguello suffered a cut over his left eye in round six, and slowly but surely, the damage accumulated from Pryor’s unstop assault.
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Pryor was then offered a fight against rising lightweight champion Alexis Arguello. Arguello was attempting become the first boxer to win world titles in four weight divisions, and was a 12-5 favorite over Pryor. Ray Leonard- who had sparred with Pryor in a vicious exchange, remarked of the odds:
Both Jim Watt and Hilmer Kenty absolutely refused to even consider Pryor for a title shot at lightweight no matter what was offered.
Born into terrible poverty, the native of Cincinnati began boxing at 13, first to defend himself in the slums he grew up in, and then as a way to get out of poverty.
The early rounds were all Pryor, but by the half way stage, Arguello was right back in the fight with his precision counter-punching. Pryor had only boxed beyond 10 rounds once before, but Arguello had done so 10 times.
“We sparred on several occasions and we never thought we’d fight each other because of the difference in weight class. And when we did spar, once in a while I’d get him and once in a while he’d get me.
Larry Holmes once explained why no champion or contender ever wanted to fight Aaron Pryor:
Pryor won:
Ironically, Arguello and Pryor both found theirs greatest acclaim, greatest purses, and lifelong friendship, in each other
Pryor continued to fight for relative peanuts, forcing him to work other jobs to make ends meet. As more people in the boxing game became aware of his skills, the less able he was to get meaningful fights.
Arguello apologized publicly to Futch after he did worse in the second fight than the first.
“Aaron quickly got up from that knockdown and the tide turned in his favor. Aaron was getting the best of Ray in the third round and that’s when Ray’s trainer Janks Morton said the session was over.”
Nor was that all.
Although Pryor had risen to #4 in the lightweight rankings, none of the other top contenders would fight him except Alexis Arguello, who was #3 - and no promoter was willing to meet Arguello’s price for that fight.
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Pryor could only fight those who would fight him, and two of them are in the Hall of Fame, 5 were ranked #3 or higher at some point in their careers:
“You could run a bull into Aaron and couldn’t knock him out,”
for his career, Pryor had 40 fights, 39 wins, and 35 knockouts, for an incredible 89.74% knockout percentage
Aaron Pryor in the professional ranks, became one of the most avoided fighters ever.
“The first time I saw him I thought he was a crazy [expletive], Aaron was there among the top fighters during that time. I don’t care if Aaron was going to fight Joe Schmoe, he still had a kamikaze mentality. He had heart. He fought with conviction.”
At lightweight Pryor had a higher knockout rate than the great Roberto Duran…
140 pound Light welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes, an all time great light welterweight, was looking for a discretionary title defense, and he was willing to come to Cincinnati for the right price.
Sims would recall the incident after Pryor’s death, saying:
“The first time I saw him I thought he was a crazy [expletive], Aaron was there among the top fighters during that time. I don’t care if Aaron was going to fight Joe Schmoe, he still had a kamikaze mentality. He had heart. He fought with conviction.”
Perhaps Pryor summed up Arguello the best when he said:
Pryor had been trained by Panama Lewis for his first fight with Arguello. Lewis had his license revoked after he removed the padding from the gloves of Luis Resto before his match with Billy Collins. Pryor hired Larry Holmes trainer Richie Giachetti to train him, but they had a falling out and just two weeks before the Arguello rematch, Pryor turned to Manny Steward, who came in and saved the day.
Former Pryor trainer Frankie Sims said wryly:
Sugar Ray Leonard had shared a ring once with lightweight Aaron Pryor in 1979. Leonard, preparing to fight for the welterweight championship against Wildred Benitez, was in Cincinnati to promote the fight. Working out, he needed a sparring partner.
Janks Morton, Leonard’s trainer, stopped the sparring after the third round…
“Aaron was a great, great, fighter and more importantly, he is my friend.”
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Pryor chased Sugar Ray Leonard for years
Pryor participated as an alternate in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Leonard would only say:
Who was the Hawk, Aaron Pryor?
The fight took place in Pryor's hometown of Cincinnati and was televised nationally by CBS. Pryor was knocked down in round one, but he got right back up and knocked out Cervantes in round four to become light welterweight champion.
In 1979, he fought 6 times, but in his last match, Pryor was pitted for the first time ever against a once or future world champion when he faced former WBA light welterweight champion Alfonso "Peppermint" Frazer of Panama. Frazer, a legitimately great fighter, was the first prime great fighter faced by Pryor, who knocked out Frazer in the 5th round, advancing his fight record to 20-0 with 18 knockouts. After defeating Fraser, Pryor entered the World Boxing Association rankings.
“I didn’t want to risk my life. On the third knockdown, I was protecting myself. I thought about how good Pryor is and I said, ‘Jesus, I will stay here.'”
the National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Lightweight Championship in 1973.
The great Larry Holmes said it best, after watching Pryor knock out Arguello:
“I fight so hard to stay out of the streets I was born in.”
Alexis Arguello through tears after the fight said:
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“The worst mistake of my life,” said
At his natural weight class, lightweight, Pryor had 20 fights, and 18 stoppages for a mind boggling 90% knockout percentage
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Pryor, who believed he could beat any fighter remotely near his weight class, and who had yearned for a definitive career defining fight, had signed to fight Sugar Ray Leonard in the fall of 1982 for the Undisputed World Welterweight Championship, but Leonard suffered a detached retina and retired.
The fight started as a war, with Pryor roaring forward and throwing punches from every possible angle and some which were not possible, and with the counter-punching Arguello hitting him with shots which would have flattened any other living fighter.
Pryor went on to defeat Arguello after an entire barrage of punches ended the fight at the start of the 14th round. Ring Magazine named that battle the Fight of the Decade.
Pryor also fought contenders:
Amateur career
Both men earned career high purses over their career high payday for their first fight. Pryor's purse was $2.25 million and Arguello's was $1.75 million. This time however, Pryor was a 2½ to 1 favorite.