By Peter Silkov
When
people talk about the greatest fighters of the 1980s, the names
usually mentioned are those of Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard,
Roberto Duran, or Thomas Hearns. However, there were many other great
fighters who were active during what may well have been one of the
last ‘golden eras’ that the sport of boxing will experience. One
fighter, whose name was mentioned in the same breath as those of
Leonard, Duran, and Hearns during the early 1980s, and who for a
while looked as if he had the ability to eclipse the success and fame
of all three previously mentioned men, was Arron “The Hawk”
Pryor.
Aaron
Pryor came from a difficult and often traumatic childhood, and
discovered boxing as a teenager. Pryor used his talent as a boxer to
achieve wealth, fame, and success, only to then self-destruct, and
see everything he had built and achieve collapse around him. He ended
up back on the streets of his childhood with nothing except a bad eye
and a life threatening drug addiction.
Pryor
was one of the most charismatic, and controversial boxers of his
time. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 20, 1955, into a
dysfunctional family that struggled with poverty and various abuse
issues. Pryor was a fighter who seemed to have talent to burn, and
burn it he did. Style-wise he was a fast, free swinging,
boxer-fighter. He fought with the kind of pace and aggression which
provoked comparisons with the legendary Henry Armstrong. He would
come forward, throwing punches with both hands from all directions,
and as a fight went on, he only seemed to get stronger and faster. In
addition to this, Pryor could also box with great skill. Along with
these attributes, Pryor had a swashbuckling attitude, he didn’t
just want to win his fights, and he wanted to entertain. He would
disdain his boxing skills and go toe-to-toe with his opponents, often
taking punches he didn’t need to in order to underline his
superiority. Fans quickly took up his chant, ‘Hawk Time’, at his
fights, with every contest, he became more popular.
 |
| Photo: howarddavisjrfoundation.org |
Some
purists frowned at Pryor’s approach in the ring. The fans, however,
loved it. After
a great amateur career, which saw him just miss out on a place in the
1976 Olympic Games, and compile an amateur record of (204-16, Pryor
turned pro in late 1976, and started demolishing opponents with
impressive ease. Although he was climbing up the lightweight division
with every fight, Pryor found that the top men in the 135 division
were not eager to meet him in the ring. So, Pryor moved up to the
light-welterweight division and on August 2, 1980, he knocked out
Antonio Cervantes, who had been a great world champion in his own
right in the 4th round, to win the WBA world
light-welterweight championship.
What
followed would be 5 years of brilliance, chaos, and ultimately self-
destruction. Pryor would never lose his world title in the ring,
instead he was gradually stripped of recognition as world champion by
the various world boxing bodies, as his life spiralled out of
control.
In
all, Pryor made 10 defences of his world title, with his crowning
moment being in his 6th defence in November 1982, when he
defended the title against the legendary Alexis Arguello. In a fight
that has been recognized as one of the greatest fights of that decade
or any decade in fact, Pryor displayed the true extent of his ability
for perhaps the first and only time of his professional career. In
this fight, Pryor showed clearly that he had the possibility of
greatness.
After
he had bludgeoned Arguello into a 14th round knockout
defeat, the talk was of Pryor fighting the likes of Duran, or
Leonard, in what would have been huge fights. Yet, just as he had
truly arrived, and was at last gaining the recognition that his
talent and hard work deserved, Pryor’s world started to crumble.
Although he would make 4 more defences of his world title, including
beating Arguello for a second time, in reality, it was all down hill
for Pryor after the first fight with Alexis.
With
Marshall Terrill, Pryor details his climb to the top, and then the
devastating fall back down to earth. His story is an often harrowing
one, which shows the true ravages and dehumanization that comes with
drug addiction. But, what might have been a great tragedy, in the
end, turns into an uplifting story of redemption. As Pryor shows that
the strength and will power, which made him a success in the first
place, could also lead to his recovery from his addictions.
Aaron
Pryor is an example of the human spirit, and all the conflicting
facets that make human beings so complicated. We see once more how
one man can be so talented and dedicated, and yet at the same time,
how that same single-mindedness that took him to success, could also
undo everything he had achieved. Aaron Pryor’s final professional
record is (39-1, 35koes).
During
his peak years as a fighter, Pryor was often compared with one of the
greatest fighters of all time, ‘Hammerin’ Henry Armstrong, due to
his frenetic, nonstop, all-action aggressive fighting style. There
were similarities in their lives outside of the ring as well, with
Armstrong also having some hard times with addiction after his boxing
career ended, but eventually finding redemption through a new faith
in God.
Armstrong became an ordained minister after recovering from
alcoholism, and Pryor himself became an ordained deacon at the New
Frendship Baptist Church, and dedicated himself to good causes and
spreading the anti-drug message. Pryor also kept his ties with
boxing, training both amateur and professional boxers, and touring
the world giving personal appearances where he would discuss his
career and life in and out of the ring. Living in his hometown of
Cincinnati, Pryor made a new life with wife Frankie, and their
children Aaron Jr, Antwan, Stephan, and Elizabeth. Both Stephan and
Aaron Jr. have had solid professional boxing careers of their own,
and were trained by their father.
 |
| Photo: boxingnewsonline.net |
Aaron
Pryor died on October 9, 2016, after a brave struggle with heart
disease.
The Boxing Glove book review of Aaron Pryor's authorized biography, "The Flight of the Hawk"
http://www.theboxingglove.com/2015/08/tbg-book-review-flight-of-hawk-aaron.html
Follow us on Twitter: @TheBoxingGlove and
Facebook: www.facebook.com/theboxingglove
If you are an boxer, amateur or professional, and want us to follow you or tell your story, contact petersilkov@yahoo.com or theboxingglove@yahoo.com
If you are an author and you would like your book reviewed, contact Peter Silkov at petersilkov@yahoo.com or theboxingglove@yahoo.com
