ALIVE AND WELL : PRYOR SURVIVES ADDICTION TO SEE INDUCTION.

Byline: Terry Kinney Associated Press 

Aaron Pryor speaks softly now. He has been shot, sued and imprisoned. He has had ruptured ulcers and detached retinas. He has blown more money than most people will ever see.

Emaciated and humiliated by his addiction to crack cocaine, he asked God to let him die four years ago. Today, he is to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame at Canastota, N.Y.

``I know I have been chosen . . . to magnify the Lord and magnify boxing at the same time,'' Pryor said.

``I put all I had into boxing. And I really, really needed boxing at this time in my life, after being on drugs and losing all my money and my health.''

Pryor started boxing at age 13. He was, coaches said, a natural. It was at life, not boxing, that he failed.

``I had no problems in the ring. I had 11 title fights and I won them all. I retired undefeated,'' Pryor said. ``I have no reason to think I did something wrong in boxing. I was good in my field. But I do have a lot to prove in my personal life.''

Whatever good has come to Pryor, the bad has not been far behind. His mother died of cancer a week before his induction.

``She really wanted to see the induction . . . she died in my arms,'' Pryor said. ``She was proud I was getting my life together. Because when you're a crack addict, most likely you're going to die.''

Pryor was 204-16 as an amateur and won 39 of 40 bouts as a pro, 35 by knockout. His only professional loss was in a comeback attempt against journeyman Bobby Joe Young in 1987. Finally, he couldn't get licensed anywhere because of vision problems, drug use and scrapes with the law.

During those years, he was shot by his wife and by Miami drug dealers, was charged with assaulting his mother, was arrested and jailed several times and was in and out of drug rehabilitation centers.

``It's a tragedy what happened to Aaron,'' said Pryor's mentor and manager, Buddy LaRosa, who owns pizza restaurants in Cincinnati.

He knows better than anyone that Pryor was headstrong and susceptible to flattery from the entourage he subsidized.

``He wouldn't listen to anybody,'' LaRosa said. ``People were pulling on him one way and the other. He didn't know which way was up.''

Pryor won the WBA junior welterweight title in 1980 by knocking out Antonio Cervantes. He surrendered the title in 1984, after becoming addicted to crack. He remained the IBF junior welterweight champ until 1985, when the organization withdrew its recognition after he refused to defend the title.

``He got wrapped up in all the hype. He wasn't equipped for that,'' Ken Hawk, a longtime adviser, told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1994. ``Boxing is full of crooks, thieves and scum, and they showed up and ran his life.''

Unlike baseball's Hall of Fame, which has barred career hits leader Pete Rose because of gambling, the boxing hall does not concern itself with life outside the ring.

Former middleweight champ Carlos Monzon, who died last year in a car crash in Argentina, had been convicted of killing a former girlfriend and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

``Each boxer is reviewed on achievements in the ring,'' said Ed Brophy, executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. ``His personal life doesn't hinder or enhance one's chances.

``There are some halls where personal life could be considered. Our board of directors is pleased to maintain it at achievements in the ring. It's a vehicle to tell boxing like it is, to have those who are elected on their achievements. We think it works very well.''

Brophy called Pryor ``an ideal candidate'' for the hall.

``He was a very aggressive, energetic type of fighter,'' Brophy said. ``Each of his fights was exciting. He had a unique style that was solely his own. He threw punches - sometimes awkwardly - but because of his speed and enormous amount of energy, the style worked for him.''

Pryor's style was to storm from his corner at the bell and flail away, overwhelming opponents with blows from every direction. Experts say whatever status Pryor achieved, it was primarily because of his two victories over Alexis Arguello, a popular and stylistic boxer who won titles in three weight divisions.

Pryor beat Arguello in November 1982, in front of 23,800 people at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Ten months later, he beat Arguello in a rematch.

``Alexis Arguello, who is one of the greats of all time, couldn't compete with Aaron,'' Brophy said.

Then Pryor slipped into drug addiction. His second wife, who once shot him in the arm, turned him on to crack, he said. After wasted years, Pryor was sure he was going to die in 1992.

``I know I was supposed to go before my mama, but God had a plan,'' Pryor told mourners at his mother's funeral Tuesday.

LaRosa estimated that Pryor ran through purses totaling $5 million.

``The Arguello fights were each $1 million fights,'' LaRosa said. ``We had opportunities to fight Sugar Ray Leonard, then Leonard got that detached retina. Then Ray Mancini, but Mancini lost to Livingston Bramble. If that hadn't fallen out, that would have been a $5 million fight.

``I never made any money with Aaron. When he won the title, I made a couple nice paydays. But since then I've put it all back into boxing.''

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Photo: After battling cocaine, Aaron Pryor feels he has fin ally turned his life around.

Daily News File Photo