Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello 2

On September 9, 1983, Aaron Pryor made the eighth defence of his WBA junior-welterweight championship by knocking out Alexis Arguello in the tenth round at the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The return contest drew a capacity crowd reported at 13,000 and was arranged ten months after Pryor had stopped Arguello in the fourteenth round of their celebrated first meeting in Miami. Arguello was again attempting to become the first boxer to win recognised world championships in four weight divisions. Pryor entered unbeaten in 33 contests and scaled the championship limit of 140 pounds; Arguello weighed 139 and brought a record of 74 victories and six defeats. Their purses reflected the importance of the occasion, Pryor receiving $2.25 million and Arguello $1.75 million.

The circumstances of the first fight had followed both men into the rematch. Arguello had objected to the unidentified mixture supplied to Pryor by trainer Panama Lewis before the fourteenth round in Miami, although no prohibited substance was ever established. Lewis was no longer in Pryor’s corner, having subsequently lost his licence after the discovery that padding had been removed from Luis Resto’s gloves for his bout with Billy Collins Jr. Pryor employed Richie Giachetti during his preparations but dismissed him after a disagreement and brought in Emanuel Steward only two weeks before the contest. Arguello had also separated from Eddie Futch, whom he had blamed for overtraining him before the first fight, and was handled in Las Vegas by Lupe Sanchez. Between their meetings, Pryor had stopped Sang-Hyun Kim in three rounds, while Arguello had beaten Vilomar Fernandez on points and knocked out Claude Noel in the third.

Pryor opened with the same urgency that had troubled Arguello in Miami. He carried the fight to the taller challenger, moving his head as he came forward and throwing in quick bursts before Arguello could establish the long jab and measured right hand upon which his boxing depended. Only 38 seconds had passed when Pryor put two jabs in front of an overhand right. The right struck Arguello on the jaw and sent him backwards and down. Arguello rose without delay and, rather than retreat, met Pryor in close exchanges. He landed several solid right hands before the bell and recovered sufficiently to make a contest of the round, but the early knockdown had shown that Pryor could reach him more readily than in their first meeting.

Arguello boxed much better in the second and third rounds. He shortened his punches when Pryor rushed and began finding the body with the left hook and the head with his straight right and right uppercut. Late in the second, a heavy right caused Pryor’s legs to buckle and sent the champion stumbling away. Arguello followed him but could not obtain the clean finishing blow. In the third, the challenger continued to punch accurately in combination, working beneath Pryor’s elbows before bringing the right hand upstairs. Pryor smiled and shook his head after being struck, yet he was being forced back and was unable to maintain the pace of the opening round. All three judges gave Arguello the third, and two also favoured him in the second.

The position changed sharply in the fourth. Pryor closed the distance and released a rapid succession of hooks and crosses, finishing with a left hook that put Arguello down for the second time. The challenger again regained his feet quickly, but on this occasion he was plainly hurt. Pryor drove him around the ring for the remainder of the round, swinging from both hands and giving him little opportunity to set himself. Arguello survived through experience and determination, although at the bell he walked towards Pryor’s corner before recognising his mistake and turning towards his own. It was the clearest indication that the punishment had temporarily confused him.

Arguello recovered once more and resumed his deliberate work in the fifth. He used the jab to arrest Pryor’s advances and followed it with straight punches, while Pryor looked to spring forward from a crouch and overwhelm him with volume. The middle rounds were competitive. Pryor remained the busier man, but Arguello’s cleaner blows carried considerable force whenever he secured the necessary room. In the sixth, the judges differed, one favouring Pryor, one scoring it even and the other preferring Arguello. During the seventh, Arguello concentrated increasingly upon the body, landing hooks and uppercuts as Pryor came inside. The champion complained to referee Richard Steele that several were low, but Arguello continued to press and also connected with right hands to the head.

The same dispute continued into the eighth. Arguello was producing some of his best work, mixing punches between body and head and briefly checking Pryor’s advance, when Steele intervened after another low blow and deducted a point from the challenger. The penalty caused all three judges to score the round 9–9. More importantly, the interruption gave Pryor a respite at a stage when Arguello had been gaining ground. By the ninth the challenger’s exertions were beginning to show. His punches came less freely, swelling had developed beneath his right eye, and he was slower in withdrawing after delivering the right hand. Pryor, still able to summon repeated attacks, moved forward behind the jab and struck with hooks from both sides. All three judges gave him the ninth. After nine completed rounds, Pryor led by 86–83 on James Jen-Kin’s card, 87–82 on Jimmy Rondeau’s and 85–83 on Chuck Minker’s.

Pryor increased his pressure in the tenth against an opponent whose resistance was steadily weakening. He abandoned caution, crowded Arguello against the ropes and struck with a succession of rights and lefts to the head. Arguello attempted to answer but could no longer hold his position or discourage the champion. A final series of clean punches sent him to the floor for the third time. He came to rest in a seated position, drew his knees towards him and remained there while Steele completed the count. The official time was 1 minute 48 seconds of the tenth round. Arguello had been beaten conclusively, without the uncertainty that had surrounded the closing stages of the first contest. Pryor retained his championship and confirmed that his speed, stamina and relentless attacking style presented problems the older, naturally smaller Arguello could not solve. Both men announced their retirement afterwards, although each later returned to the ring.

I’ve always believed the second fight settled every argument left over from Miami. People talked about Panama Lewis and that mysterious bottle after the first contest, but there was nowhere for those excuses to hide in Las Vegas. Pryor dropped Arguello inside the opening minute, nearly finished him in the fourth and finally knocked him out in the tenth.

Arguello still showed why the public loved him. He recovered, hurt Pryor in the second and produced some beautiful body punching through the middle rounds. But he was a great featherweight and lightweight trying to master a younger, natural 140-pound champion at his peak. Pryor was quicker, physically stronger and able to keep producing attacks after Arguello’s legs had begun to empty.

The point deduction for low punches in the eighth did Arguello no favours, but it didn’t decide the contest. Pryor decided it. The first victory carried controversy; the rematch was conclusive. Aaron Pryor was simply the better man.