Aaron Pryor obit

He was not on the list.

Pryor was surrounded by family members when he died at his Cincinnati-area home early Sunday after a long battle with heart disease, his wife, Frankie, told The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Nicknamed the Hawk, Pryor began his professional boxing career in 1976. He finished with a 39-1 record. Pryor was the world junior welterweight champion from 1980 until 1985.

Pryor became champion when he knocked out Antonio Cervantes in the fourth round in 1980 in his hometown of Cincinnati. In 1982, Pryor defended his title against Alexis Arguello in a fight that was named the Fight of the Decade by Ring magazine. Pryor won the fight by stopping the loser in the 14th round.


Pryor beat future champion Thomas Hearns in the lightweight finals of the 1976 National Golden Gloves, but lost to Howard Davis Jr. at the 1976 Olympic Trials. Pryor participated as an alternate in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

Pryor finished his amateur career having 220 fights under his belt, with a record of 204 wins, 16 losses.


Pryor had drug problems in the mid-1980s, and he was stripped of his title for failure to defend. Pryor permanently beat his drug habit in 1993.

Pryor was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996. Frankie Pryor said, "Aaron was loved around the world by millions of fans. But to us, he was Aaron. He was a wonderful husband, dad, and grandpa."