The Battle of the Champions
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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 Arguello.
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.
Before the fight, a man with a weapon tried to gain access to Arguello's dressing room, but he was stopped by members of the public. Arguello was rushed by his handlers into a shower and shielded. The man later was arrested.
The fight began without further incidents. Pryor took on the attack to Arguello in the first four rounds, setting the stage for the rounds that followed, in which it was unclear which boxer would win.
Pryor, however, had taken a slight advantage on the judge's cards. By round eleven it looked as if Arguello would go out soon. In the twelfth, however, he reacted vigorously, and had Pryor shaking from various right hands and lefts to the head.
At the end of the round, at Pryor's corner, Panama Lewis (who was later convicted for removing padding from another one of his boxer's gloves in a fight and ultimately leading to the death of that boxer's rival) introduced a mysterious bottle which seemed to re-invigorate Pryor when he came back for round 13. When somebody noticed that the bottle had been brought from outside the ring into Pryor's corner in between rounds, a controversy broke out and lasted for months, after which the WBA issued an order for a rematch, which was fought September 15th, 1983.
Whatever that bottle contained will always remain a mystery, but in the thirteenth round Pryor punished Arguello with rights and lefts from all angles. Arguello wasn't going to give up, however, and came out for the 14th trying to overcome the odds. Pryor buckled his knees in the ring center and Arguello backpedaled, with Pryor in hot pursuit. When Pryor caught Arguello against the ropes, he launched a frightening 19 punch combination that left Arguello helpless and almost falling out of the ring. Referee Stanley Christodoulou of South Africa had no choice but to stop the fight. The fight became known as the "fight of the decade" by Ring Magazine and one of the greatest battles of all time.
Pryor and Arguello fought 10 months later in another match in Las Vegas, Pryor winning again by a knockout in ten rounds. Both men retired after the second match.
Both Arguello and Pryor are members of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
