Chavez v Whitaker - autumn '92 @140

Whitaker W 12.

 

I like Whitaker in many scenario's, as great as Chavez was.

 

He kicked his own mother out of her house a couple months ago. This was karma.

 

It's a tougher fight for PW but I reckon he still gets the win .
I'll go with majority decision .

 

Its hard for Chavez groupies to process this, but Pea was just better.

 

Chavez was made to look so ordinary against Whitaker at 147 (well, 142 in his case) in September 1993 that it takes quite a big leap of faith for me to believe he could have done much better just one year before and a few pounds south. People regularly cite that Chavez was not at his best weight when he eventually fought Whitaker - which I agree with - but don't forget that Whitaker wasn't at his best at Welterweight, either. He was an excellent Welter, don't get me wrong, but clearly not quite as lightning-fast, sharp or adventurous as he'd been at Lightweight.

Chavez was an awesome fighter, but struggled and often cut it fine against guys with speed and slick skills (Lockridge was a hard slog for him, the problems Meldrick gave him are well-documented, beaten pretty comfortably - poor scoring aside - twice in a row by Randall etc.). It's a testament to Chavez's greatness that he found a way past Lockridge and Taylor (and Camacho, come to think of it), but Whitaker was a level above all of those guys and matched skill with great ring IQ, too. I just think stylistically, Whitaker always had the edge on Chavez and would win a decision against him more often than not. The timing and weight might have suited Whitaker a little better by the time they actually did fight, but let's not forget it was in Chavez's backyard away from home and he had the advantage of friendly judges, so no real Harry Hard-Luck story to see in that one.

Competitive fight with Whitaker winning the decision.

 

Damn, I voted for Chavez by accident and can’t change my vote!

 

Whitaker wins at any weight. Let's not forget welter wasn't exactly HIS best weight either.

 

Nothing in their fight leads me to believe that the outcome would've been any different with other variables at play. It was that one sided.

 

Whitaker just had a really bad style for Chavez. It doesn't matter what year they fought I think Whitaker would always have Chavez's number.

 

Ordinary? People make it seem like it was a blowout. LOL
Taylor was literally murdered. That's all I gotta say about that.
Duva kept Pea away from Julio from 88 to 91 for a reason.
Fall of 92 at 140 is too close to call.

 

He did look ordinary. Couldn't land with any frequency, couldn't adapt in the second half of the fight as it went away from him. What's with the exaggerations and melodramatic tone? Nobody called it a blowout, certainly not me in any case.

I'll overlook the misuse of the word 'literally' and say this - the fact that Chavez eventually turned it around doesn't negate the fact that Taylor was winning the fight and exposed some weaknesses in Chavez's game. The way some Chavez fans talk, you'd almost think it was all part of Julio's genius plan to lose eight rounds or so and that the fight was a stroll in the park. Chavez had the final word but that doesn't mean that fight didn't feature some portents for what might happen if he were to face Whitaker...And sure enough, he had some similar issues in that fight, the difference being that Whitaker, unlike Taylor who was ability, had ability and IQ. Hence Chavez needing a gift.