Would seem he had his hands full trying to prove himself the best just within his own time, first with Chavez from 89-93, then Jones 94-97.
Greatest of all time? As mentioned Whitaker was in a constant battle 'just' to show himself the best of his time. I think the obsession with rating people's greatness has grown with the Internet boxing forums. Whitaker was considered at the time excellent, but I do not think people rated him against those from other periods (with the exception of the odd article), until his career was winding down, and there was a fuller picture of his abilities.
No. If anything, though I rate them pretty closely, all-time, and at that time, closely together, RJJ was much more the man giving that kind of strong impression, at that time.
Yeah I've read probably 50 different articles from the time period in which he was prime and not one of them gave me the impression he was considered anything less than stellar, but most felt Chavez was the guy until proven otherwise. There were a couple writers here and there who felt he already took that over circa 1991. He nose dived (but held on) in 1996 and gave one last great performance against Oscar.
Quite a surprise that Whitaker ended up becoming a constant name in the Top 25 ATGs wheres Roy is nowhere to be found within that range. I will make some more of these threads for highly ranked and fairly modern greats like Leonard and Duran
I'm just being realistic. Posted this already but here's some insight into how he and his opposition was viewed at the time. Note the Cynic of all Cynics. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86t0tpUoCYg&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86t0tpUoCYg&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame] ^ 5:00 min [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3SV4CC4fdI&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3SV4CC4fdI&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame] ^ 3:15 min and 10:00 min
From what I've seen, Boxed's opinion of Whitaker is generally one of disgust. I mean everything from his "***** nickname" to his featherfists and even facial features. Amongst his other complaints were Whitaker's abysmal work rate, half-ass jab, complete lack of inside game, how he never went to the body and had a treacherously non- combative style. "How the **** did he land over 400 punches", he onced groaned, "He didn't even throw one.". Oh, how it sickened him to see Whitaker consistently be able to have his feet crossed and never have to pay dearly thanks to his silly athleticism and reflexes. He'll definitely take Jones here for his far more fundamentally sound approach. Jones never got away with anything in the ring any ordinary fighter wouldn't of been able to. Hopefully one day he can give Pea that smidge of respect. :-(
Isn't sweet pea the name of Popeye's kid? Are you sure you're not thinking of Jimmy Young? Did you know BE was a social psychologist? What's up with defriending me? Did you know that Jones was so fundamentally sound that he was the one who taught SNV the three point palm exploding heart technique?
If you do that then One night, I'm gonna come to you, inside of your house, wherever you're sleeping, and I'm gonna cut your throat. :good