The Battle of the Champions (boxing)
| Date | November 12, 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA Light Welterweight Title | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Pryor TKOd Arguello in round 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxer |
 Aaron Pryor |
 Alexis Argüello |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Hawk | El Flaco Explosivo (The Explosive Thin Man) | |
| Hometown | Cincinnati, OH, USA | Managua, Nicaragua | |
| Pre-fight record | 31-0 (29 KO) | 76-4 (62 KO) | |
| Recognition | WBA Light Welterweight Champion |
The Battle of the Champions, was a term used by promoter Bob Arum regarding the November 12, 1982 boxing match between Aaron Pryor and Alexis Argüello.
Arguello had previously won three boxing titles (at Featherweight, Junior Lightweight and Lightweight) and hoped to become the first boxer ever to win world titles in four divisions by adding the Jr. Welterweight title. The broadcaster, HBO, had televised two of Arguello's previous fights. Pryor had no previous telecasts on that network, despite a record of 31 wins and no losses, with 29 knockouts.
Both fighters had radically opposing public images. Arguello was suave, sophisticated, and extremely humble about his impressive accomplishments, which garnered him great admiration from both the boxing community and the media . Pryor, on the other hand, was fearsome, intimidating and, despite possessing great talent and having been a peer of greats Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, was the recipient of limited media coverage.
The fight was beset with a number of controversies and odd happenings, the first coming before the bout started, when a man with a weapon tried to gain access to Arguello's dressing room. He was stopped by members of the public, and Arguello was rushed by his handlers into a shower and shielded. The man later was arrested.
The fight began without further incident. A pattern quickly emerged, as right from the opening bell Pryor charged recklessly at Arguello with combinations, while Arguello stood still in the middle of the ring, parrying or blocking Pryor's punches while counterattacking with his trademark precise, hard, straight punches. Both fighters were hurt in the first round, and each took the opportunity to punish each other.
The tone was set for the fight. Pryor tried to increase the tempo, moving more, punching more, hitting Arguello with slashing combinations while Arguello stayed true to his strategy, summarized before the fight as "I don't have to hit him many times in each round, but I do have to make sure that every time I hit him it hurts", waited for counterpunching opportunities and used both his own strength and Pryor's momentum from coming forward to try to make every blow as explosive and painful as possible. In every round each fighter would have their high points, and every round became difficult to score.
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