Mythical Pacquiao-Pryor dream match-up

Reigning world best boxer Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao and the legendary welterweight Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor of the 1980s have many things in common.

Both came from humble begin­ning and used the tough sport of boxing as their passport to fame, riches and glory. Almost the same height, both are explosive heavy punchers who fought some of the very best in the squared ring, including fighters bigger than them.

In fact, PacMan and The Hawk were so good they were compared to all-time great Henry Armstrong, who is considered by some ring pundits as the best fighter in boxing history.

Pryor, who beat fellow Hall of Fame standouts like Tommy Hearns (as amateurs) and Alexis Arguello in two classic fights when both were in their prime, amassed an impressive record of 40 fights, winning 39 bouts, 35 of them by knockout.

Regarded as one of the finest fighters of the talent-rich 80s, Pryor is generally considered one of the top three junior welterweights of all time.

Unbeaten in his prime, Pryor terrorized the junior welterweight ranks from 1976 to 1985, retired when he failed to land big fights with the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, and attempted three comebacks with little success until he was stopped from fighting for good because of an injury.

Pryor’s only loss, a shocking 7th round knockout at the hands of little known Bobby Joe Young, came after his second retirement. By this time, Pryor was over the hill and was struggling with his much publicized struggle with substance abuse.

How would Pacquiao and Pryor figure in a mythical “Battle of the Legends” between today’s finest boxer and the best of the past generation?

Veteran boxing scribe William Detloff tackled such an intriguing match-up in the April issue of the Ring magazine, considered “the Bible of boxing,” and came up with very interesting insights into two of the best prizefighters of their respective generations.

For his article, Detloff asked three respected boxing experts rate the chances of PacMan and The Hawk in the imaginary match-up, much like the theoretical of Muhammad Ali and Rocky of the movie series.

Detloff’s panel of experts consisted of boxing commentator Max Kellerman of HBO, former world champion-turned-com­men­­tator Kevin Kelley, and featherweight fighter-turned trainer Ronnie Shields.

Kellerman picked the Filipino icon winning on points “in a brutal fight” because he thinks Pacquiao is the more disciplined of the two equally strong and talented fighters.

Kelley, however, picked Pryor by knockout in a frenetic, explosive match because The Hawk is a natural junior welterweight

Shields, who was Pryor’s room­mate during the 1976 Olympic Trials, said Pacquiao does not have the energy to throw hard punches for 15 rounds like the hard-slugging Pryor, plus the fact that the American brawler was natu­rally bigger. He saw a good fight, with Pryor eventually stopping Pacman by the sixth. Experts comment on mythical Pacquiao-Pryor dream match-up