Don Curry V Pernell Whitaker?.

Curry at his best would have been too much for Whitaker. Don't know if he would have stopped Sweet Pea though. Maybe. Whitaker was a great, great lightweight. He never looked real comfortable to me at welter, although his talent carried him a long way.

 

Good point.

 

Note you said Lightweight. He's in Curry''s house now.

 

Curry is likely the better WW, but in the end, if you give me the best of both, I think Whitaker takes it. Whitaker is better thinking on his feet, and a level above Curry in general. In the end, I think Whitaker's jab controls the fight, controls the distance, and frustrates Curry throughout. He certainly has his moments, and may even catch an off-balance Whitaker for a flash. However, in the end, I'm going to take the guy who I trust in the biggest of fights to get it done, that gus is Whitaker for me here.

 

I think way too much is made of Whitaker at welterweight. He was a great lightweight, but there was nothing exceptional about what he did at 147. People are hung up on the memory of what he was at lightweight, but it didn't really translate at 147. It's not an attempt to tarnish him as a fighter. I also believe Carmen Basilio and Emile Griffith were better welters than middles, Sandy Saddler was a better feather than light and like Pernell, I think Ike Williams was a better lightweight than welterweight. Look at Pernell's welterweight resume. Beating McGirt (twice), Jake Rodriguez, Chavez (I think Whitaker won) and Dio Hurtado. That's great, but they were all blown up junior welterweights like himself. In fact, Rodriguez, Chavez and Hurtado went right back to 140 after they got their payday against Whitaker. I don't blame him for taking the Chavez fight. That was probably his biggest payday. But cherry-picking contenders from 140 was a real slap in the face to welterweights. His prime wins after that who were legitimate welterweights was Santos Cardona, Gary Jacobs and Wilfredo Rivera. Wow! I hope they have a ticket because that's the only way they're going to see Canastota. Moreover, I recently scored both his fights with Rivera and had Rivera winning the first fight. Also, his chin was never the greatest, but at welter he was dropped by McGirt in their second fight, Vasquez at 154, Rivera in their second fight, twice by Hurtado, and once each by Pestraiv and Trinidad. This does not add up to exceptional. A great lightweight - top 10 material, but just a good welterweight IMO. As for him against Curry. Whitaker would do well to hear the final bell of a 15 rounder against a sharp-shooter like Curry. I will say, pulling out everything from his bag of tricks, he sees the end but having been dropped a couple of times with Curry taking a very comfortable decision.

 

I think it’s a two way street. Yes, Whitaker was undoubtedly a better Lightweight than he was a Welterweight. He was never really natural at the latter. Always undersized apart from the Chavez fight. Even McGirt was bigger, and he was a natural Lt. Welter himself.

On the other hand, Welterweight is where we saw all of his years on the decline. In fact, those years encompassed the majority of his time in the division, the way I see it. Therefore it’s obviously gonna be easier to point out his poor performances. Especially by comparison to Lightweight where he was damn near flawless.

I think Pete’s prime ended with him winning the Lt. Middleweight crown against Vasquez. He was clearly way outside of his comfort zone there. To wit, he looked like he’d spent more time bulking up at the buffet than the weight room. Still, his skills saw him through with room to spare against a limited, but much larger champion with dangerous strength and power.

He never looked the same in his subsequent Welterweight defenses. There was a clear gulf in class between the post-Vasquez Whitaker and the version from the McGirt, Chavez, and Cardona fights. It wasn’t the competition he was facing, either.

 

Santos Carson's was a blown up 140 pounder as well