Pryor, a Former Addict, Says He Let Fans Down

Former junior-welterweight champion Aaron Pryor said Friday he is ready to prove to the world that he can beat his debilitating cocaine addiction and get back to the top of the boxing world.

Since his last fight 28 months ago, the man known as the Hawk has been battling his toughest opponent--crack cocaine.

He frittered away most of the millions he earned in the ring and sank to his ultimate low when he was arrested for rape, kidnapping and assault. He allegedly bound the wrists and ankles of a woman and assaulted her after they argued about cocaine in his house.

He was released on $50,000 bond after the judge said the testimony of the woman who made the allegations against Pryor wasn’t very credible.

An Aug. 17 trial looms in Pryor’s future, but he insists the problems are behind him. Immediately ahead is an fight next Saturday against Bobby Joe Young at Sunrise Musical Theater, a bout which Pryor views as a forum to get his message across.

“I let the public down,” he said at a news conference Friday. “I’m not the only athlete that let the public down, but I’m going to come back and bring the public back up.

“I’m not only coming back to be a fighter again, I’m coming back to humanity and being a man again.”

Pryor, a Cincinnati native who has lived in Miami in recent years, is unbeaten in 36 pro fights. He was stripped of his title after going too long without defending it.

He has spent the last two months training in the Caribbean Island of St. Martin. Promoter Walter Alvarez said Pryor was sent away to put some distance between the fighter and his past problems.

Pryor returned to Florida this week in shape and practically bubbling with excitement.

“I didn’t think I’d made it back this far,” he said. “This is not just a fight. There’s a man’s life at stake.

“I feel like I made some mistakes and I apologize to my fans. But the best way I can apologize to them is to win this fight.”

Pryor said he has been surprised at the depth of the negative reaction to his drug problems. He said 85% of the people he meets don’t believe he can overcome his addiction.

“I didn’t know America was so tough on people who try drugs,” he said. “Ninety years from now, I’ll still be paying for something I did in my early 30s.

“If I knew this was going to happen to me, I never would have used this stuff. I’m proud to say I was a drug addict. Notice that I said was, as in past tense.”

Pryor said he is in great shape, and his new trainer, Craig Gibson, agrees. He weighed 150 pounds on Friday and hopes to be down to 146 for the fight.

Still, he is worried about Young, a promising welterweight with a 25-8-3 record.

“I’m very, very scared of this fight,” he said. “It’s an anything can happen fight.”

But after what he has gone through, nothing in the ring will seem all that bad.

“I gave up on myself when I went to the Dade County jail,” he said. “When I was in there and a guy (in another cell) asked for my autograph, that made me feel so bad. To be in jail and be a celebrity will make you get your act together.”