Aaron Pryor (October 20, 1955 – October 9, 2016) was an American boxer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He was World Junior Welterweight Champion from 1980 to 1985 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996. Pryor was voted by the Associated Press as the number 1 junior welterweight of the 20th century in 1999. He died on October 9, 2016 after from heart disease.
Pryor, nicknamed The Hawk, had a record of 204 wins and 16 losses as an amateur. He won the National AAU Lightweight Championship in 1973. In 1975, Pryor again won the National AAU Lightweight Championship and a silver medal at the Pan American Games, losing in the final to Canadian Chris Clarke. He beat future great Thomas Hearns in the lightweight finals of the 1976 National Golden Gloves but lost to Howard Davis Jr. at the 1976 Olympic Trials. Pryor participated as an alternate in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Pryor turned professional on November 11, 1976 with a second-round knockout of Larry Smith, for which he made $400. A few days later, Pryor signed a managerial contract with Buddy LaRosa, owner of LaRosa’s Pizzeria. He was also trained by Raymond Cartier.
Pryor fought eight times in 1977, winning all but two by knockout. The only two fighters who heard the final bell versus Pryor that year were Jose Resto and Johnny Summerhayes, each losing by an eight-round unanimous decision. After the fight with Summerhayes, Pryor won 26 fights in a row by knockout. It was one of the longest knockout streaks in the history of boxing.
In his last fight of 1979, Pryor was pitted for the first time ever against a former or future world champion when he faced former WBA junior welterweight champion Alfonso “Peppermint” Frazer of Panama. Pryor knocked him out in the fifth round, advancing his record to 20-0 with 18 knockouts. After defeating Fraser, Pryor entered the WBA rankings.
On August 2, 1980, Pryor faced two-time world champion Antonio Cervantes of Colombia for the WBA junior welterweight championship. His purse was $50,000. The fight took place in Pryor’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio and was nationally televised by CBS. Pryor was dropped in round one, but he rose and knocked out Cervantes in round four to become champion. He made his first title defense on November 22, 1980, knocking out Gaetan Hart in the sixth round. Pryor made $100,000 for the fight.
In December 1980, Pryor rejected an offer of $500,000 to fight Sugar Ray Leonard for the WBC welterweight championship because he wanted more money. When the offer was increased to $750,000, he rejected that as well.
Pryor signed to face Sugar Ray Leonard for the undisputed welterweight championship in the fall of 1982 for $750,000. But before fighting Pryor, Leonard first had to defend his title against Roger Stafford in Buffalo, New York on May 14, 1982. The Sunday before that bout, Pryor was driving to Buffalo from his Cincinnati home to taunt Leonard, to hype their planned bout, when he heard on his car radio the news that Leonard had suffered a detached retina in his left eye and the fight was off. “I pulled off to the side of the road and I cried,” Pryor said. Leonard retired six months later.
On November 12, 1982, Pryor defended his title with a fourteenth-round TKO of Alexis Arguello before a crowd of 23,800 at Miami’s Orange Bowl and a live HBO audience. The fight, dubbed The Battle of The Champions by promoter Bob Arum, was eventually named the Fight of the Decade by The Ring.
Pryor made $1.6 million while Arguello was paid $1.5 million. Arguello, a 12-5 favorite, was attempting to become the first boxer to win world titles in four weight divisions.
On April 2, 1983, Pryor knocked out former WBC super lightweight champion Sang-Hyun Kim in the third round.
Pryor had a rematch with Arguello at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 9, 1983. Pryor made a career high $2.25 million and Arguello made $1.75 million.
The rematch was not as competitive as their first one. Pryor dropped Arguello with a right cross in the first round and again with a left hook in the fourth. Pryor put Arguello down for the count in the tenth round.
Pryor’s last fight was on December 4, 1990 in Norman, Oklahoma. He knocked out unheralded Roger Choate in the seventh round. Pryor’s career ended with a record of 39-1 with 35 knockouts.
Pryor was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1996.
Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor was voted as the Greatest Junior Welterweight in boxing history by the Houston Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2014. The HBHOF is a voting body composed entirely of current and former fighters. Aaron Pryor was also voted into the “WBHOF” WORLD BOXING HALL OF FAME, Los Angeles CA, 2001 Inductee.
Pryor lived in his hometown of Cincinnati with his wife, Frankie Pryor, and their three children – Aaron, Jr., Antwan and Elizabeth. The Pryor boxing legacy continues today with Aaron, Jr. following in his dad’s footsteps.
Aaron Pryor has been used as a motivational speaker for the 2006 New York Jets. Former Jets Coach Eric Mangini is a huge Aaron Pryor fan and has used Aaron Pryor’s attitude and career as a source of motivation for his team. Aaron filmed a short clip saying it was “New York Jets time.”
Aaron “The Hawk”Pryor way is the ceremonial sub-designation of Wolper Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio.
AARON PRYOR WROTE THIS STATEMENT WHEN ALEXIS ARGUELLO PASSED AWAY:
