Aaron Pryor was a spirited junior welterweight from Cincinnati, Ohio who had failed to make the 1976 USA Olympic team that went to Montreal. He had turned pro in November of 1976, and built up an impressive number of victories. Aaron was very familiar to both Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, who knew of his vast talents as an amateur boxer.
Aaron won the WBA junior welterweight championship on August 2, 1980 against tough veteran Antonio Cervantes in
Detroit, Michigan on the undercard of the Hearns-Cuevas title fight. Aaron suffered a brief first round knockdown, but recovered quickly and knocked the veteran out in round 3. There was an exciting new champion on the boxing scene, and he went by the nickname of the ‘Hawk’!
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