Former Champ Aaron Pryor dies at age 60

A local guy who was widely seen as the best boxer in the world, pound for pound, during his ascendency. He died apparently of heart disease. He battled cocaine after he was the world champion. Too bad, he had got back on track.

TurtleDude said:

A local guy who was widely seen as the best boxer in the world, pound for pound, during his ascendency. He died apparently of heart disease. He battled cocaine after he was the world champion. Too bad, he had got back on track.

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One of the greats.
Non-stop puncher, who never went backwards.
A little ironic that a guy like Pryor, who relied on tremendous cardiovascular endurance died of heart disease.
I guess we all get old.
RIP champ.

radioman said:

One of the greats.
Non-stop puncher, who never went backwards.
A little ironic that a guy like Pryor, who relied on tremendous cardiovascular endurance died of heart disease.
I guess we all get old.
RIP champ.

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My late father was a boxer-not in that league obviously but he won the Navy Middleweight title and was a GG finalist in HS. He had seen lots of boxers and still followed the sport closely until he died. I was in Law school when AP won the Fight of the Decade against the very stylish Alexis Arguello. When i went home for Thanksgiving a couple weeks later, my dad who had seen it live (I saw it on HBO) told me he had never seen a guy who could hit so hard at so many different angles. He must have hit A2 15 times in a few seconds in that 14th round

A few years later, another Ohio fighter-Boom Boom Mancini was a commentator along with SR Leonard-might have been a fight Livingston Bramble was in and BBM said he wished he could have fought Pryor and Sugar Ray looked at him and said

BB you were a great fighter and had the best heart in boxing but Aaron Pryor would have killed you. Even you couldn't have taken the beating that guy dished out

TurtleDude said:

A local guy who was widely seen as the best boxer in the world, pound for pound, during his ascendency. He died apparently of heart disease. He battled cocaine after he was the world champion. Too bad, he had got back on track.

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He battled cocaine in the ring too. His fight with another great, Alexis Arguello, was the one where his corner man slipped cocaine or speed into his water bottle. It's why Pryor starts each round like its Rd 1 while Arguello gets tired.

truthatallcost said:

He battled cocaine in the ring too. His fight with another great, Alexis Arguello, was the one where his corner man slipped cocaine or speed into his water bottle. It's why Pryor starts each round like its Rd 1 while Arguello gets tired.

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that has been claimed for years and all I can tell you is that it was investigated here and no one ever proved anything though it was suspicious when the trainer said-give me the one I mixed- in terms of the bottle.

TurtleDude said:

that has been claimed for years and all I can tell you is that it was investigated here and no one ever proved anything though it was suspicious when the trainer said-give me the one I mixed- in terms of the bottle.

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I trust Luis Resto. He's the fighter that caused Billy Collins to go blind and eventually kill himself. Resto's trainer and cornerman was Panama Lewis, who also trained and cornered for Pryor.

In a 2009 documentary, former Lewis-trained boxer Luis Resto revealed that Panama Lewis would break apart antihistamine pills and pour the medicine into his water, giving him greater lung capacity in the later rounds of a fight. This revelation fueled further speculation as to whether Lewis had added an unsanctioned substance to Pryor's water in his bout with Arguello.

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_the_Champions_(boxing)

Resto seemed very sorry about what happened to Billy Collins. I trust him when he spills the beans on Lewis.
Have you seen that documentary? It's a great one man, I recommend it. It's called Assault in the Ring, produced by HBO.

TurtleDude said:

A local guy who was widely seen as the best boxer in the world, pound for pound, during his ascendency. He died apparently of heart disease. He battled cocaine after he was the world champion. Too bad, he had got back on track.

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Fast hands and power in both, something you don't see very often. Marvin Hagler reminded me a bit of him, though Hagler wasn't nearly as fast.

truthatallcost said:

I trust Luis Resto. He's the fighter that caused Billy Collins to go blind and eventually kill himself. Resto's trainer and cornerman was Panama Lewis, who also trained and cornered for Pryor.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_the_Champions_(boxing)

Resto seemed very sorry about what happened to Billy Collins. I trust him when he spills the beans on Lewis.
Have you seen that documentary? It's a great one man, I recommend it. It's called Assault in the Ring, produced by HBO.

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I saw it. Great documentary. I agree with you and with Resto. Lewis, correctly, has had his licence permanently revoked. I wouldn't have put it past him to cheat for Pryor.

CaptainCourtesy said:

I saw it. Great documentary. I agree with you and with Resto. Lewis, correctly, has had his licence permanently revoked. I wouldn't have put it past him to cheat for Pryor.

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I never knew that you are a fight fan CC. Cool.

It really was a great documentary. I felt like Resto was a victim of Lewis, just as Collins and Arguello were. He couldn't live with the guilt and turned to drugs, wound up homeless. I'd like to see some kind of update, as far as where he's at now.

truthatallcost said:

I never knew that you are a fight fan CC. Cool.

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Heck yeah. Been a boxing fan for ages. I used watch "Friday Night Fights" and check out the young talent... sometimes seeing then a few years later on HBO. I haven't followed boxing as closely over the past few years, though.

It really was a great documentary. I felt like Resto was a victim of Lewis, just as Collins and Arguello were. He couldn't live with the guilt and turned to drugs, wound up homeless. I'd like to see some kind of update, as far as where he's at now.

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I agree. Resto was a victim of Lewis, too. Shame. He seemed to truly regret what happened to Collins.

CaptainCourtesy said:

Heck yeah. Been a boxing fan for ages. I used watch "Friday Night Fights" and check out the young talent... sometimes seeing then a few years later on HBO. I haven't followed boxing as closely over the past few years, though.

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I've stopped watching too for some reason. I used to be obsessed with it, followed all the fights, even trained for a while at a boxing gym.

Mayweather vs Pacquio took place 5 years too late. The Klitchko bros were kinda boring.

Have you seen Tyson Fury? It's like they cloned an Irish pugilist from the 1800s and released him on society. I imagine that he drinks 2 bottles of whisky, eats a 3 pound steak, and then gets in the ring, like John L Sullivan.

truthatallcost said:

I've stopped watching too for some reason. I used to be obsessed with it, followed all the fights, even trained for a while at a boxing gym.

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Never trained, but watched it obsessively, too.

Mayweather vs Pacquio took place 5 years too late. The Klitchko bros were kinda boring.

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Agree with both. I was more interested during the Holyfeld era. Also, you had LOTS of good fighters in the lighter weights, then, too.

Have you seen Tyson Fury? It's like they cloned an Irish pugilist from the 1800s and released him on society. I imagine that he drinks 2 bottles of whisky, eats a 3 pound steak, and then gets in the ring, like John L Sullivan.

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Yeah, saw him fight once. He does remind me of an old school fighter.

I don't know if you know about it, but there's a pretty accurate Boxing game called Title Fight Boxing. It's more statistically based and you can pit boxers from different eras... and even different weight class, evening things out. It's pretty cool and does a good job with accuracy. If you're really into boxing, it's a cool investment.

truthatallcost said:

I've stopped watching too for some reason. I used to be obsessed with it, followed all the fights, even trained for a while at a boxing gym.

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CaptainCourtesy said:

Heck yeah. Been a boxing fan for ages. I used watch "Friday Night Fights" and check out the young talent... sometimes seeing then a few years later on HBO. I haven't followed boxing as closely over the past few years, though.

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Yeah......I watched ESPN's Thursday night fights for decades.
Went to closed-circuit fights in movie theaters, attended live matches at LA's Olympic Auditorium.
I still watch occasionally------Andre Ward vs Sergei Kovalev is coming soon----but I don't watch nearly as much anymore.
The visceral appeal of the sport is undeniable......two gladiators in combat.
Nowadays, there is something about strong, tough, young men beating each other's brains out that just seems wrong to me.:shrug:

Started watching boxing when Cassius Clay won the Olympic gold. I just had a feeling about him. Race played a major part in the media back then like when Floyd Patterson was disliked by Ali because Ali thought he was owing to the white race. Then came the Liston ordeal slanted with rumors of drugs, murder-suicide and mafia ties. The greatest of the middleweights followed soon after and I recall watching many of those epic battle on Wide World of Sports. Now I cannot name one fighter in any class and don't care about boxing or ultimate fighter.