AARON PRYOR w ko 10 ALEXIS ARGUELLO
September 9, 1983; Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
ONLY 10 months had elapsed since their ferocious and somewhat controversial first fight but plenty had changed going into the eagerly-anticipated sequel between Aaron Pryor and Alexis Arguello. That 14th round victory for Pryor was indelibly tainted by the liquid that his trainer Panama Lewis “mixed” and applied to his charge moments before Arguello was stopped. Though no post-fight tests were carried out, Lewis had since been thrown out of the sport after removing padding from Luis Resto’s gloves prior to hammering poor Billy Collins. For this bout, Pryor’s cornerman was Emanuel Steward, who came in at two weeks’ notice after falling out with Lewis’ replacement, Richie Giachetti. Arguello, meanwhile, had sacked Eddie Futch and brought in Lupe Sanchez. What followed was another violent encounter but one that Arguello was perhaps always destined to lose.
DID YOU KNOW? Arguello later called his decision to sack Futch “the biggest mistake” of his life.
WATCH OUT FOR: The first three minutes, as Arguello dusts himself off from an early knockdown to take the fight to Pryor, is every bit as exciting as any round from their epic opening contest.
