Pryor vs. Asprilla

Broncano · Post by **Broncano** » 26 Jun 2003, 00:55

Aaron Pryor has always said in interviews that his toughest opponent ever wasn’t Arguello, but rather Dujuan Johnson whom he TKOd in his 3rd defense. There was another thread on this fight recently and we all know how Johnson came out and knocked Pryor down in the first round and what a battle this bout turned out to be.

However, Johnson wasn’t the only one to knock him down (something Arguello couldn’t do in 24 rounds). Akio Kameda and Antonio Cervantes also put him down in the first rounds of their respective bouts.

But the same thing happened in all of those 3 knockdowns (Cevantes, Johnson, Kameda): They seemed to ignite Pryor’s killer instincts rather than intimidate him and he proceeded to overwhelm them in the same unorthodox fashion we’ve all seen. He never looked really hurt.

Now there was a fighter by the name of Leonidas Asprilla, a Colombian lightweight who fought Pryor in one his first outings on national TV in early 1980, who did hurt him and where Pryor was actually forced to step back and on several occasions simply run.
I had seen Asprilla later that same year against Orlando Romero from Peru and I remembered very well what kind of slugger and dangerous puncher he was. So I had been curious about that fight he ended up losing to Pryor by TKO in the last round and recently bought it.

And it truly proved something worth seeing.
Asprilla had a demolishing right hand and throughout the fight he let it fly wildly on several occasions. On every round he caught Pryor with those bombs, which every time stopped him from his typical initial flurry and overwhelming style and put him on his bycicle.

Now what was remarkable about it is that you can actually see the look of uttermost fear in Pryor’s eyes every time he gets caught. Forget about Arguello’s 13 th round straight right hand that had him looking at the Orange Bowl’s skyline for a second. Forget about rumours that he was afraid to face Duran. This was the authentic “how did I get into this mess” look.

In the end, his superb chin saved him, not to mention Asprilla’s poor condition, whose legs looked shot after the 8th round.

Tomato-Can · Post by **Tomato-Can** » 26 Jun 2003, 01:46

Thanks for another great post Broncano. I never saw Pryor v Asprilla. Sounds like I missed a good one.

Tantum · Post by **Tantum** » 26 Jun 2003, 10:50

Which one was the one who knocked him down, Pryor instantly side rolled up, and ran after the guy, but the ref stopped him from beating the shit out of the guy, and started counting? that was funny. :)

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 26 Jun 2003, 11:12

I saw Pryor's fight with Bobby Joe Young (I think that's what his name was), the only fight Pryor lost... it looked like Pryor quit in that one. He went down, got up, then as the ref was giving the mandatory 8-count he sat down again and stayed down for the remainder of the count.

Broncano · Post by **Broncano** » 26 Jun 2003, 11:20

Tantum wrote:Which one was the one who knocked him down, Pryor instantly side rolled up, and ran after the guy, but the ref stopped him from beating the shit out of the guy, and started counting? that was funny. :)

That was Akio Kameda. The poor Japanese had this look on his face of "S**t what did I just do, I'm sorry man"

Broncano · Post by **Broncano** » 26 Jun 2003, 11:27

The Cuban Hawk wrote:I saw Pryor's fight with Bobby Joe Young (I think that's what his name was), the only fight Pryor lost... it looked like Pryor quit in that one. He went down, got up, then as the ref was giving the mandatory 8-count he sat down again and stayed down for the remainder of the count.

Actually he got up and looked to his corner. It seems like they had told him to take the 8 count down, so he put one knee on the canvas and bizarrely did a cross sign with his right hand. And stayed there until the ref counted him out. I don't think he quit, he was just confused and out of it, you could tell by the way he was walking around the ring afterwards. It was like he didn't know what had just happened.

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 26 Jun 2003, 11:57

Broncano wrote:
The Cuban Hawk wrote:I saw Pryor's fight with Bobby Joe Young (I think that's what his name was), the only fight Pryor lost... it looked like Pryor quit in that one. He went down, got up, then as the ref was giving the mandatory 8-count he sat down again and stayed down for the remainder of the count.
Actually he got up and looked to his corner. It seems like they had told him to take the 8 count down, so he put one knee on the canvas and bizarrely did a cross sign with his right hand. And stayed there until the ref counted him out. I don't think he quit, he was just confused and out of it, you could tell by the way he was walking around the ring afterwards. It was like he didn't know what had just happened.

I have that on tape somewhere. I'll have to dig it up and watch it again.

saad · Post by **saad** » 27 Jun 2003, 00:31

Great post Broncano. I have about 10 Pryor fights, but I don't have that one. I'll have to hunt it down. Thanks.

Broncano · Post by **Broncano** » 27 Jun 2003, 01:05

Getting back to the title of this thread, I was eager to see the Pryor-Asprilla fight because, like I said before, I had seen the Colombian against Orlando Romero in Peru in 1980. That was Romero’s first serious test in a career that eventually saw him fight Mancini in Madison Sq Garden in 83.

The fight was for the Latin American lightweight title which was held by Asprilla at the time. He was not only advertised as the champion but also as the man who went 10 rounds with Aaron Pryor, the man who in turn had just beaten the legendary “Kid Pambele”.

Romero was a skillful southpaw and a counterpuncher and was successful for most of the 12 rounds against Asprilla’s aggressive style. But halfway through the fight he got caught on the temple with the very same right hand that had given Pryor such a hard time, and was sent spinning across the ring. Fortunately for him the bell rang and after an interval that transpired very much like the 4th-5th rounds of Ali-Henry Cooper, the Peruvian simply ran for a couple of rounds without bothering to even throw a jab. During all of this time, Asprilla had that right hand from hell cocked and ready to send Romero towards an early retirement, but he failed to catch him again. The Peruvian got the UD.

Although 23 years have passed and I’d never seen the Romero-Asprilla fight again (and it is unlikely that I will ever see it) I remembered Asprilla very vividly. A tall, strong fighter in these awfully tight maroon trunks with multicolor stripes and an Afro that would give forum user Rhialto serious convulsions just from the sight of it.

And, knowing about Pryor’s relentless style I knew that his fight with Asprilla had to be worth it. So a couple of weeks ago I bought it from a boxing videos site.
And it was all there, not only the great fight that I already talked about, but also Asprilla’s horrible trunks and of course, the overwhelming Afro. Furthermore, the setting was perfectly suited to go with my fondest boxing memories, early eighties, Sunday afternoon boxing on ABC, what more could you ask for…

I compare watching a fight for the first time 20 years after you have been hearing about it, to what you experience when your father has told you for years about that trip you took when you were little but you’ve never seen a picture of it, until one day you find out your grandma had kept one for all those years.

Sometimes you might be in for a disappointment, sometimes you get more than what you expected. Pryor vs. Asprilla was definitely an example of the latter.

Barney Ross' Neighbor · Post by **Barney Ross' Neighbor** » 27 Jun 2003, 02:26

Yes Broncano, thanks for reminding me of those wild Pryor bouts. He was only one of a herd of great fighters we could watch for free every weekend in those days. I've bought some fight tapes recently and I know what you mean about seeing the event for the first time in twenty something years. Funny how certain images stick in your head. I do agree that Asprilla and Johnson were the toughest bouts for Pryor. I don't think he could have beaten Arguello without these valuable learning experiences. I gotta see them again. Who is your video source?

Broncano · Post by **Broncano** » 27 Jun 2003, 13:48

Well I get them from a variety of places but the Pryor-Asprilla fight I got from these guys in Australia:

http://members.tripod.com/vhs-boxing/index.html

They have a good collection and the tapes are of great quality

I also very often get tapes from this guy in Canada:

http://members.rogers.com/netscore/figh ... ctions.htm

The guy's name is Andy and he sells his tapes as collections but if you ask him to make a compilation or you need a specific fight, he'll do it for you.