Comparing
Roberto Duran to Aaron Pryor (both were natural lightweights at the start of their careers and in their prime). Both would
be comfortable fighting at 135 or 140 pounds at their peak.
Even during his prime at 140 Pryor
was a lightweight (135 lbs):
Boxing Illustrated January 1983 page 12 :
"the week before the bout in
Miami's antiquated Orange Bowl, Pryor stepped on a scale. It balanced at 135 pounds. One-hundred-thirty-five pounds of lean,
well-honed pugilist. The odds began to drop, though not that much."
Lets look at the fighters
from the beginning of their pro careers to their prime. For Duran we will compare when he was a lightweight up to his 3rd
fight with Esteban De Jesus and for Pryor up to his second fight with Alexis Arguello. During those time frames Duran had
only one lost and Pryor was undefeated.
Pryor had a higher KO percentage 93.7% (30/32) than Duran
81.2% (52/64) and Pryor was the quicker finisher. Pryor's fights were finished in 5.1 rounds on average, and Duran's
fights were finished in 5.5 rounds on average.
Pryor got dropped 3 times in his prime all
in the first round. The knockdowns came from powerful punchers who caught him early when he was just getting warmed up. In
his prime Pryor was NEVER knocked down from rounds 2 -15, indicating once Pryor was warmed up there was no stopping or dropping
him. Even when he was dropped in the fist round, he IMMEDIATLY got up and came back to dominate the rest of the round and
to eventually KO his opponent within 7 rounds. Duran was dropped twice in the first round, the first time he lost the fight,
and the second time it took him 11 rounds to finish his opponent. Pryor never appeared wobbly, or dazed after those knockdowns.
In terms of aggression Duran was very aggressive, but the guy I always think of when I think aggression
in the ring was Henry Armstrong and since Henry Armstrong the guy who fought the most like him was Aaron Pryor.
Duran was dropped twice by Esteban De Jesus, and Esteban De Jesus was about as powerful a puncher as two of the guys
who dropped Pryor. His career KO percentage was 51.6% (32/62). At the time De Jesus fought Duran De Jesus had a KO percentage
of 57% (19/33). When Pryor was dropped by the Kronk Gym puncher Dujuan Johnson, Johnson had a KO percentage of 76.4% (13/17).
When Pryor was dropped by Japanese Welterweight and Light-Welterweight champion Akio Kameda, Kameda had a KO percentage of
82.3% (14/17). De Jesus had 14 KOs in his first 17 fights as did Kameda making his KO percentage at that time also 82.3%.
So you see Pryor was dropped in the first round twice by fighters who had the same or almost the same KO percentage as
Esteban De Jesus who dropped Duran twice in round one. Pryor was also dropped in round one by Antonio Cervantes, although
he did not go all the way down (his glove touched the canvas) it was counted as a knockdown. Cervantes had a KO percentage
of 42.4% which was lower than De Jesus's.
Duran's toughest opponent at lightweight was Esteban
De Jesus who had 1 victory and 2 losses against Duran. Esteban De Jesus and Aaron Pryor had at least 2 opponents in common,
Alfonso
Peppermint Fraser and Antonio Cervantes. In 1974 De Jesus KOed Alfonso
Peppermint Fraser in 10 rounds. In 1979 Aaron Pryor KOed
Alfonso Peppermint Fraser in
5 rounds. In 1975 De Jesus lost to Antonio Cerrvantes in 15 rounds by decision. In 1980 Pryor KOed Cervantes in 4 rounds.
The 5 years age difference though should be taken into account.__
On paper this is a very close match-up. Power and aggression goes to Pryor.
Finishing ability slight edge to Pryor but almost the same. In terms of chin about the same with maybe a slight edge to Duran
in the first round. After the first round both fighters would not be dropped. Defense goes to Duran. Basicly I see this a
close fight going the distance every time, and it could go either way.
