Just like that, Harry Arroyo retired from boxing.
Exactly 20 days after Arroyo suffered his most inglorious knockout and announced his retirement, he reluctantly spoke to KO Magazine. (Adviser Don Hill had urged the fighter to grant the magazine an interview but, at first, Arroyo had said no.) “I’ve been off for 2 1/2 weeks now, and I’ve decided that I’m ready to get back into it,” he said. “You’re the first to know. I haven’t even told the Youngstown papers yet.” When informed that this issue of KO wouldn’t hit the newsstands until New Year’s Eve, Arroyo responded, “Oh, I’d like to be fighting again by December.”
Arroyo’s retirement was hardly the briefest in boxing history. In fact, it wasn’t even the briefest this year. After losing his WBC super lightweight crown via kayo to Lonnie Smith in August, Bill Costello retired—and predictably announced his return less than a week later. Then there’s Gerry Cooney, of course.
But one cannot compare Harry Arroyo to other fighters and expect to find too many similarities. Arroyo is different.
“I don’t think Harry will ever come close to being categorized as a great fighter, ” Hill said, “but he’s one of the few fighters in a tough sport who succeeded despite the fact that he never liked what he was doing. In that sense, he’s unique.”
Before Hill knew of Arroyo’s plans to return, he pointed to a 15-month period between January 1984 and April 1985 and said, “Within a little bit over a year, Harry went from a virtual unknown to the world title. Harry fought Robin Blake, Choo Choo Brown, White Lightning Brown, Terrence Alli, and Jimmy Paul. It was a helluva pace that no other lightweight has ever set. He shouldn’t have to apologize for the way he left boxing.”
It was during that 15-month span that boxing observers grew to respect Harry Arroyo and appreciate his immense boxing skills. Some even believed him to be the finest 135-pounder in the world. Arroyo often accepted more than his share of punishment, but it was usually early in his bouts, and he almost always came back to dominate and then win. But that didn’t happen in his third defense, against Kronk’s Paul, who was a replacement for an injured Robin Blake.
“After beating Terrence Alli, I felt the way a lot of people did,” Arroyo said. “That Alli was one of the best fighters in the world today, and that that’s why no one had given him a title shot. I didn’t see anyone out there who was better. I felt that if I could beat him, I could beat anyone else. I was training for Robin Blake, working with tall lefthanders, and I had a short time to prepare for Paul. I accepted him as a substitute right away, even though my handlers advised me not to. There was overconfidence involved.”
Paul, a portrait of patience and pinpoint punching, repeatedly slipped Arroyo’s right and countered again and again with his own cross over the champion’s low left hand. Arroyo heard the final bell, but, for the champion, the 15 rounds had been a study in futility. boxing videos, boxing videos
The Downfall of Harry Arroyo 