NEW YORK — Nearly three decades ago, a ferocious puncher and a brilliant ring tactician waged one of boxing’s epic brawls under the twinkling lights of the Orange Bowl in Miami, a fight so big few remember Roberto Duran was on the undercard.
After 14 back-and-forth rounds, Aaron Pryor brutally knocked out Alexis Arguello to retain his junior welterweight title. The fight on Nov. 12, 1982, left an indelible impression on the 23,000-plus who crowded near the ring in the aging football stadium in Little Havana.
“It was like a miniature of the ‘Thrilla of Manila.’ It went one way, then the other way,” promoter Bob Arum recalled.
Arguello landed a punch in the 13th round that seemed to stun Pryor, and despite trailing on two of three scorecards, the charismatic Nicaraguan had things tilting in his direction.
Pryor had never before been this deep in a fight, and trainer Panama Lewis seemed to realize things were slipping away. HBO was televising the bout and its microphones caught Lewis telling cutman Artie Curley, “Give me the bottle, the one I mixed.”
While it’s unclear what was in the special bottle, it seemed to revive Pryor. He landed at least 15 unanswered blows in the 14th before referee Stanley Christodoulou stopped it. Arguello collapsed to the canvas near the ropes, where he lay for several minutes.
