Page 30 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 46

30 September 2016 Please support our Advertisers, it’s a winning combination.

By Tony “The Fighting Writer” Luis at featherweight, junior lightweight, received little media coverage up to theory was simple economics.
and lightweight. Pryor, 27, at 31-0, this point. Here was a fi ghter who had Sugar Ray’s career was headed into
29 KO’s, was an undefeated young soundly beaten Thomas Hearns in the a different trajectory, one that was
champion looking to make his 6th amateurs, but whose career was being making him the highest paid boxer of
defence of his world title. overshadowed by the overwhelming his time and he was looking to garner
popularity of Sugar Ray Leonard and fi ghts that could make him the most
This fight is a tale of one man,

the rest of the ’76 Olympic team who money. Pryor, despite his ridiculous
Arguello, looking to make history
and put the final touches on an were also making their mark in the talent, didn’t have the popularity or

already hall of fame-worthy career. pros. financial upside to entice Leonard

to take the fight. This left Pryor, an
He was adored by the masses for One ’76 gold medalist in particular, undefeated young champion, with no
t was November 12, 1982 when his graciousness and humbleness the late Howard Davis, who was career defining fight on his resume,

Iboxing fans witnessed one of the outside the ring, a brilliant yet savage enjoying much praise and attention, and not one as far as the eye could
greatest fights of all time, between style inside the ring, and a hero and had earned his spot on the US Olympic see in the foreseeable future.

symbol of pride and freedom to his team by defeating one Aaron Pryor, in
reigning WBA Jr. Welterweight
champion, Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor people of Nicaragua. Before Juan a very controversial decision; hence In comes Arguello. A proven
and the late Nicaraguan great Alexis Manuel Marquez, before Ricardo where much of Pryor’s bitterness champion and future hall of famer,
Arguello. On paper, it read Champion Lopez… there was Alexis Arguello; stemmed from. Another not-so-well- announcing his plan to move up
Vs Challenger. But everyone knew a calm, calculating, and effectively kept secret in the boxing community, to the junior welterweight ranks to
brutal operator inside the ring, and a was that Pryor and Leonard had challenge the division’s best, Aaron
this was Champion Vs Champion,
which made this fight so compelling gentleman outside the ring. engaged in many gym wars and Pryor, in a bid to make history.

and an easy sell to the masses tuning While Arguello was fighting for rumour had it that there were some For Pryor, it was his long awaited

sessions in which Pryor was giving chance at proving he deserved to
in to HBO to watch it. Arguello, 30, history, in the other corner stood Pryor,
more then he got. If we want to feed be considered among the best in the
at 72-5, 59 KO’s, was coming into an angry young champion who was
into conspiracies, one could say this sport and fi nally get the respect he

this fight seeking to make history fi ghting for respect. He felt shunned
was the reason Pryor’s attempts at deserved.
by looking to win his fourth world by the boxing industry. Despite a
challenging Sugar Ray to a fight fell

title in as many divisions, after stellar record and fan-friendly style, In the lead-up to the fight, right to

on deaf ears.
already tearing through a who’s he had yet to be discovered by the the ring introductions, it was evident
who of contenders and champions casual fans of the sport and had But, perhaps a more accurate Continued on page 32

presents Sports Panel

Canada recently won 4 Gold, 3 Silver and 15 Bronze Medals, finishing 10th at the 2016 Olympics.

How do you think our countries Athletes performed on the world stage?

Gilles Gaudet - Sports Enthusiast -By all accounts Canada did OK at the Rio Games, the athletes represented us well,
and there were many great story lines to follow. Despite some excellent individual performances, we’re a long way from
being a Summer Olympics power. Notwithstanding that, we spent 200 million dollars over the last four years preparing for
this event. That’s about 9 million per medal, which seems like a totally ridiculous amount of money, because it is a totally
ridiculous amount of money. Money is now what the Olympics are primarily about: television rights, bids from countries,
lavish spending everywhere! It makes for great entertainment every four years, but it always leaves us a bit empty, wishing
that we had done a little better. It could be worse; Brazil is on the hook for 4.6 BILLION dollars for hosting this summer’s

event, not counting what they spent on fly swatters!
Jake Lapierre - Conditioning Coach - Going into the Rio Olympics, Team Canada’s Chef de Mission Curt Harnett predicted
Canadian athletes would come home with at least 19 medals. Athletes beat Mr Harnett’s prediction winning 22 medals equalling
its second best results at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Canadian athletes performed extremely well in high profile events

such as swimming, with Penny Oleksiak leading the way with 4 medals and Taylor Ruck with 2 medals; Meaghan Benfeito with 2
medals in diving; 2 individual gold medals in wrestling and trampoline and medals won in several other sports. In my opinion the
highest profile event at the Rio Olympics was the men’s 100m & 200m events and Andre De Grasse. But the Olympics are not merely

about the medals; it’s about the stories, the journeys, the athletes, and the memories. It’s easy to forget about the politics, issues, and
barriers leading up to the games however the great memories the athletes come home with, will last a lifetime. Our country’s athletes
performed very well on the world stage and provided a lot of thrills and excitement for Canadian fans across the country.

Jim Riddell - Seaway Karate Club - The 314 athletes that made up the Canadian team was one of the strongest groups to
ever represent our country at the summer games. The 22 medals that they won tied the total from Atlanta in 1996 as the

most won by Canada at a non-boycotted Olympic Games. The medal count and tenth place finish only tells part of the story
as to how strong the team was, as they had 43 “top 5” finishes. The team exceeded the goal set by the Canadian Olympic

Committee of getting into the top twelve with nineteen medals. Swimmers Penny Oleksiak (4 medals) and Taylor Ruck (2
medals) both 16 years old, became the first two medalists born in the 2000’s. Triple medalist, sprinter Andre De Grasse is

only 21 years of age. With Oleksiak, Ruck, and De Grasse having won a combined nine medals, expectations for Tokyo in
2020 may be a bit higher.