Pernell Whitaker v Mark Breland

[Unforgiven]

At welterweight. 12 rounds.
How does this go ?

[Stevie G]

Whitaker scores a shutout. Breland would have his moments early on,but would lose virtually every round.

[The Funny Man 7]

Breland had a chin of pure styrophom and he as tall as he was he really didn't have the skills to compete with Sweet Pea.

[gattiwarrior]

whitaker far too good for breland , will probably go the same way as whitaker vs azuma nelson

[ThinBlack]

Whitaker takes 10 out of 12 rounds from Breland, who never did get to the stardom predicted for him.

[greynotsoold]

I see this fight unfolding differently than most, it seems. With his tremendous height and reach advantages Breland could just jab and poke at Whitaker with long jabs and straight right hands and thus outpoint Whitaker.
To win this fight Whitaker would have to close the distance against a taller, hard punching opponent with decided physical advantages and that just is not his game.

[Flea Man]

But Breland always unravelled, and when he 'boxed' he was just uber negative. Pea would beat him up.

[greynotsoold]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

But Breland always unravelled, and when he 'boxed' he was just uber negative. Pea would beat him up.

That could very well be true. But I honestly cannot see Whitaker pushing him enough to make him unravel. It just wasn't his nature to push a fight like that, to come forward.
Now, if Breland made the mistake of pushing forward, and let Whitaker stand in one place and counter, maybe it would be different.
My problem with Pernell has always been that he wasn't offensive enough in his game to really compete with the greats.

[sweet_scientist]

I think Whitaker would fight him like he did Trinidad, trying to get in close and using his superior inside skills to hurt Breland.

If he fights him on the outside, he'd struggle.

Stylistically this is not an easy fight for Whitaker, but I don't think he'd lose it.

[TBomb 25]

I like Breland in this...but i do think he could fade down the stretch...i dont see Pea being as physical like Starling did against Mark. I also think Breland is a superior boxer than Tito was and he had just as much power with faster hands,i think he can hit pea often and hurt him...the biggest ? of course is can Mark keep it together for 12 rounds if he cant get Pea out of there 15 would be really tough for Breland but i think Peas offense is in question with a offensive fighter like Mark with his kind of physical advantages...

[Flea Man]

Originally Posted by greynotsoold

That could very well be true. But I honestly cannot see Whitaker pushing him enough to make him unravel. It just wasn't his nature to push a fight like that, to come forward.
Now, if Breland made the mistake of pushing forward, and let Whitaker stand in one place and counter, maybe it would be different.
My problem with Pernell has always been that he wasn't offensive enough in his game to really compete with the greats.

Two things: watch more of Pea, he could be very offensive minded.

And Breland is nowhere near great so shouldnt matter here

[MagnaNasakki]

Pea got inside and outfought guys in there all the time. Like, literally all the time, I can think of atleast a round in every major fight he's had where he got in and wrecked a guy from close range.

Dude outfought Chavez, for chrissakes.

Closing in and banging to the body, mixing in big uppercuts, was as much Pea's game as boxing off the jab moving backwards. Saying he wasn't a good offensive fighter or that it wasn't in his game to come forward and bang means you need to watch more Pea. Period. Rivera, McGirt II, Chavez, Ramirez 2, Nelson, Bojorquez, Haugen...There are so many fights where Pea's offense is as dynamite and sharp as just about any fighter ever. He really only lacked the power of a guy like Duran to end these performances early, though in the Rivera rematch he came damn close.

He tears Breland up to the body and then comes upstairs. I'd pick a wide win, but he could score a stoppage considering how damn fragile the guy he's fighting is.

Also, Pea was far faded and past his best when he fought Tito. Of course a peak Breland probably beats that Pernell. The Pernell who beat McGirt twice stands Mark on his head.

[greynotsoold]

Originally Posted by MagnaNasakki

Pea got inside and outfought guys in there all the time. Like, literally all the time, I can think of atleast a round in every major fight he's had where he got in and wrecked a guy from close range.

Dude outfought Chavez, for chrissakes.

Closing in and banging to the body, mixing in big uppercuts, was as much Pea's game as boxing off the jab moving backwards. Saying he wasn't a good offensive fighter or that it wasn't in his game to come forward and bang means you need to watch more Pea. Period. Rivera, McGirt II, Chavez, Ramirez 2, Nelson, Bojorquez, Haugen...There are so many fights where Pea's offense is as dynamite and sharp as just about any fighter ever. He really only lacked the power of a guy like Duran to end these performances early, though in the Rivera rematch he came damn close.

He tears Breland up to the body and then comes upstairs. I'd pick a wide win, but he could score a stoppage considering how damn fragile the guy he's fighting is.

Also, Pea was far faded and past his best when he fought Tito. Of course a peak Breland probably beats that Pernell. The Pernell who beat McGirt twice stands Mark on his head.

I don't think you understand. Everybody you named above was trying to get close to Whitaker. A 6'3" Breland would not be trying to get close; therefore Whitaker would have to close the distance himself, not slip in land a punch and get out on a guy trying to be on his chest.
Maybe I'm thinking for Breland but he should be able to jab and poke from a distance and pile up points, then step back and look to drop something hard when Whitaker takes the steps to get close.

[Flea Man]

Originally Posted by MagnaNasakki

Pea got inside and outfought guys in there all the time. Like, literally all the time, I can think of atleast a round in every major fight he's had where he got in and wrecked a guy from close range.

Dude outfought Chavez, for chrissakes.

Closing in and banging to the body, mixing in big uppercuts, was as much Pea's game as boxing off the jab moving backwards. Saying he wasn't a good offensive fighter or that it wasn't in his game to come forward and bang means you need to watch more Pea. Period. Rivera, McGirt II, Chavez, Ramirez 2, Nelson, Bojorquez, Haugen...There are so many fights where Pea's offense is as dynamite and sharp as just about any fighter ever. He really only lacked the power of a guy like Duran to end these performances early, though in the Rivera rematch he came damn close.

He tears Breland up to the body and then comes upstairs. I'd pick a wide win, but he could score a stoppage considering how damn fragile the guy he's fighting is.

Also, Pea was far faded and past his best when he fought Tito. Of course a peak Breland probably beats that Pernell. The Pernell who beat McGirt twice stands Mark on his head.

I understand what the gentleman below is trying to say, but Breland wasn't always super negative. The Breland ofStarling I would get beat up, and as Pea's output was generally higher than Moochy's I wouldn't be surprised if he forced a stoppage as well.

[MagnaNasakki]

Originally Posted by greynotsoold

I don't think you understand. Everybody you named above was trying to get close to Whitaker. A 6'3" Breland would not be trying to get close; therefore Whitaker would have to close the distance himself, not slip in land a punch and get out on a guy trying to be on his chest.
Maybe I'm thinking for Breland but he should be able to jab and poke from a distance and pile up points, then step back and look to drop something hard when Whitaker takes the steps to get close.

Its very hard to pot shot an opponent with as good a defense as Pea. The guy was damn near impossible to hit from any range. I think you rate Brelands jab too highly if you think Pea couldn't pass it. Hearns' out game, I think Pea would struggle getting around, but Breland's was pretty basic, and his jab was even a bit telegraphed.

McGirt tried to poke around and counter Pea at times in both their fights to very little success.


Oscar tried to flurry and blast from distance, and couldn't piece together any sustained stretches of offense(Faster hands, bigger punch, comparable skilsl to Breland)

One one of the 10 or 20 greatest defensive stylists ever, its not simply as easy and piling up points behind your jab and dropping in hard counters in response to a aggression. If it were that easy, somebody before Tito would have managed it. And even if Breland did, he's not immune to getting the Hurtado treatment late in the fight- In fact, if a past-prime Pea could blast out Hurtado, I'm betting a peak Pea is in with a great chance of doing it to Breland. Hurtado was doing an alright job of remaining outside and pecking away, but the fight was very close when Pea stopped him-Mainly because Hurtado was getting wrecked on the inside and resorting to fouling. Hurtado was quite fast, and a pretty darn good boxer, and he was trying to back up and keep Pernell away, and was only moderately successful in spots of doing that.