Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor: Gone, but Never Will We Forget the Man Who Earned the Title Champion!
By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart
“I read Aaron’s book many years ago and I still believe it’s the best boxing book I’ve ever read. A troubled soul was Pryor in his early days but still a truly formidable fighter and one of the fittest most driven fighters to ever grace our sport.” — WBC Cruiserweight Champion, Tony Bellew
Sometimes the loss of someone is hard to contemplate. If, like “Bad” Brad Berkwitt my Publisher here at Ringside Report, you are in the fortunate position that you get to meet the man who claims the title favorite in your favorite sport then you feel all the better for it. When meeting your idol, the maxim that they will disappoint you is one that is hard to escape as there are many examples spoken about, written with regards to and disappointments that are palpable.
Meeting Aaron Pryor, the greatest junior welterweight of the 20th Century, was no such cliché for “Bad” Brad. This was a former WBA and IBF world champion worthy of the belts and the title, champ.
Meeting Aaron Pryor in the ring was no disappointment either. Of course many have lauded his 2 classic fights with Alexis Arguello as the pinnacle of the fighting man but like many boxers their careers are more than those fights that defined them. The “Hawk” was a crowd pleaser – a man you looked forward to seeing on the bill because he kept coming forward without seeming to have a reverse gear.
Of those fights with Arguello, the first – 12th November 1982 – saw 14 rounds of pressure punching between the two of them. Arguello had to give up in that 14th round and Pryor got the stoppage win. Ring Magazine made it fight of the decade and there are few that could argue. The second, the following September, saw Arguello stopped in the 10th; it was an exceptional 24 rounds of premium boxing.
Of course there were some that claimed the first was lucky, a fluke and there was the controversy of Pryor perhaps sipping from a mysterious bottle in a mysterious bag but that second fight stopped any debate.
His victories also included wins against Antonio Cervantes, Alfonso “Peppermint” Fraser and an amateur win against Tommy Hearns. It was believed that professionally Hearns avoided him as did Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. A world champion for 5 years, this was the kind of guy you could be forgiven for avoiding.
Like many in the fighting game, his approach to life was almost as relentless as his boxing style. Addiction to cocaine blighted his personal and professional career and may have left less of a legacy – that is until you go look at how he fought! Of course in his first fight with Arguello there were doubts over what he was drinking in that bottle – his corner said it was peppermint schnapps though he threw major doubts on this in his biography!
His career did not pick up much after the second Arguello fight as his addiction took hold and he entered a ring professionally only 6 more times in the next 7 years. In 40 professional fights, he won 39, 35 by way of knockout. His only loss was against a pretty average Joe – Bobby Joe Young in 1987 but by then instead of shadow boxing in training he was a shadow of a boxer in training.
His addiction led him to rehab and then, having lost his career due to an eye injury, he rebuilt his life. Becoming a Deacon in the New Friendship Baptist Church he toured the country telling of the dangers of the very drugs that claimed his career. His generosity and humility knew no bounds and he even went to Nicaragua to help his old foe Arguello when Arguello became Mayor of Managua. Arguello also had a difficult time out of the ring and took his own life some years ago so it has been claimed, but many truly doubt it and blame it on the corrupt Nicaraguan Government.
Pryor has now lost his last fight – against heart disease, at a tender age – 60. It is no age really but he had a life lived that was full and thrilled us as fans. “Bad” Brad’s memories, augmented by his interview with the legend in his boxing book, Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime and favorite boxer of all time means he will not be forgotten here at Ringside Report; we mourn his loss collectively.
I may not be a believer in heaven but somewhere I have little doubt, there is a ring and someone is sounding the bell and as our memories have his highlights, he shall no doubt be displaying skills beyond our gasps and grasping the opportunity to dazzle a crowd once again.
I wonder what the result of the third fight was…
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