No, he's particularly right about that. A black hole of mass M has equal gravitational pull as a star of mass M. If you create a black hole out of a star, it will start with mass no greater than that of the star from which it was created.Disaster Button said:Not about the Star having equal pull of a Black Hole cos Black Holes have a lot more effect.
Now, over time, the black hole can become more massive than the star ever could have, but the relatively short span of an extra 200 years of "black hole-ness" (since their plan is to turn it into a black hole anyway) would not likely have any significant impact on what they were trying to achieve.