After the tremendous win over Arguello in November of 1982, talks of a rematch immediately were in the works. However it’s rare that rematches take place immediately, and it was the same in this case. Pryor took a bout on April 2, 1983 at the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, and stopped Sang Hyun Kim in three rounds. Alexis Arguello took two fights in the interim period as well, defeating both Vilomar Fernandez in February and Claude Noel in April of 1983.
Both men agreed to meet again, this time on September 9 at the outdoor arena at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Pryor was the favorite going in, and personally had no means to see it live, so I had to watch the replay on ABC TV a few weeks later. I myself didn’t give Arguello much of a chance, and was not happy with the results after I read about them the next day in the sports pages, or when I actually saw the one-sided blowout on television.
Pryor knocked Alexis down forty seconds into the first round, again in the fourth, and for the third and final time in the ninth round. After the last knockdown, Arguello sat on the canvas with his hands over his knees, looking at the referee in resignation, accepting his defeat. He was gracious in losing as always, but Pryor was still the champion, and on top of the boxing world.
Unbeknown to most at the time, that is when he starting abusing cocaine, and it ruined what was left of his career. The great whirlwind of a fighter kept boxing, but the results were mediocre. He had one bout in 1984, a lackluster decision win over Nick Furlano on June 22, 1984 in Toronto. He then signed with Sylvester Stallone’s new boxing promotion venture, and fought for him on March 2, 1985 in Atlantic City again. He won a unanimous decision, but looked lousy, and it turned out to be the last fight of his career of any note.
Aaron attempted a foolish comeback two years later, but was knocked out by Bobby Joe Young in August of 1987. He would fight three more times against no-name opponents, and win all three, finally retiring after the last one on December 4, 1990.
‘The Hawk’ finished his professional career with a record of 39 wins and 1 loss. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996. He recovered from his addictions, and became a Christian minister later in his life, but sadly died of heart disease on October 9. 2016. Rest in peace, champ.
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