By Jim Dower: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor (39-1, 35 KOs) passed away on Sunday at the age of 61 in Cincinnati, Ohio. According to Fight News, Pryor died of heart ailment. Boxingnews24 gives our condolences to the family of Mr. Pryor. He was a great fighter, and he’ll surely be missed.
Pryor ruled the 140lb division for a five-year period from 1980 to 1985. Pryor beat boxing great Alexis Arguello twice by knockout in stopping him in 1982 and 1983. Those were grueling battles for both fighters.
(Photo credit: Boxing Hall of Fame)
After beating Arguello for the second time in 1983, Pryor’s career slowed with him winning his next two fights against lesser opponents Nick Furlano and Gary Hinto before getting stopped by little known Bobby Joe Young in the 7th round in 1987. There’s little chance that Young would have been able to handle Pryor in his prime when he was at his best. The loss signaled that Pryor’s career was nearing its end. Pryor won his last three fights against Hermino Morales, Darryl Jones and Roger Choate before walking away from the sport in 1990.
“Without question Aaron Pryor was one of the most thrilling fighters to ever lace up a pair of boxing gloves. His aggressive style made him a fan favorite and whenever he stepped into the ring it was surely ‘Hawk Time,’” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy.
Besides his two wins over Arguello, Pryor defeated the following fighters: Alfonso Frazer, Gaetan Hart, Lennox Blackmoore and Miguel Montilla.
It would have been interesting to see how Pryor would have stood up to the welterweight greats Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns. Those would have been great fights. The fighters competed in the same era, but they never faced each other. It’s too bad because it would have been thrilling fights.
Pryor was known for his nonstop punching style and the heavy pressure that he would put on his opponents. Pryor never stopped throwing punches for an instant. While Pryor wasn’t as powerful a puncher as the like of Arguello, his nonstop punching and heavy pressure style made up for his lack of power. Pryor would jump on his opponents in the same way that middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin jumps on his opponents today, and he would bury them with shots. Pryor would literally force his opponents into a war whether they wanted to or not.
Few fighters were able to handle the immediate high intensity pressure that Pryor would put on them. Some of them would hang with Pryor for three or four rounds, but eventually the nonstop punching from Pryor would wear them down to the point where they would be stopped. Pryor wasn’t tall at 5’6”, and his arm length wasn’t long. Pryor didn’t need to be tall because he was always smothering his opponents with his pressure and high work rate in close. Pryor was a nightmare for anyone who faced him during the prime of his career.
Pryor was unbeatable when he was his best. There was no one in boxing that could keep up with Pryor’s fast pace style of fighting. He wouldn’t let the taller fighters get room to throw their shots, as he would get in close and stay there for the entire fight. Pryor was excellent at cutting off the ring on his opponents. He was like glue with the way he stayed close to his opposition and buried them with punches until they succumbed. Pryor’s 88% knockout percentage tells the whole story of how dangerous he was in the ring.