Plus the drug addiction:-(, but yes his skill-set was unique, never quite saw that mix of footwork, lateral movement, and defensive mastery...and he accomplished it all by only merely being 5 ft 5".
Everyone has him at the most behind leonard at 14 or 15 and between 15-25. Add those scalps to his resume and you have a *argument*not a certainty of course.
Would have been much more beneficial to his legacy if he stayed clean and beat the likes of Tito and Quartey in the mid 90's. Then we'd have an argument for top 10 all time. Fights with Camacho and Rosario would have been formalities imo. They were no better than the other lightweights he faced and whitewashed.
Do you think he was using prior to the Hurtado fight? Boy, I thought he was going to lose that fight for sure and pop. Pea always tried to come through with something spectacular.
Bladerunner is that picture of your avatar something you found on the net or is a real club you were at? Just curious.
Probably, but Whitaker always seem to have a little trouble with unorthodox guys like Hurtado. That is untill he would adapt. Poli Diaz,Hurtado,Gary Jacobs all had early success untill Whitaker got used to their unconventional styles.
Well, were they really better than guys like Roger Mayweather, Freddie Pendleton, Greg Haugen, Jose Luis Ramirez, Azumah Nelson? Rosario could hardly get past Howard Davis and Camacho. How is that going to translate to giving Whitaker a competitive fight? When a Whitaker-Camacho fight was feasible, around 87, he skipped up to 140. What for? I think he wanted no part of Whitaker or Chavez. I don't see Whitaker having a problem beating him around that time. He was already beating up the guys that were beating him up in sparring. Of course, Pea already beat up Camacho in sparring when he was at his best... Oh where is Red...... Whitaker was coking pretty hard I'd say by at least 95. Whitaker declined quite evidently after the Vasquez fight. He looked like crap for the rest of his welterweight reign, with the exception of the DLH fight which he trained like mad for. He would have had a good chance around 95 of beating both for sure. It's a pity King didn't let Tito near him. A quartey fight was feasible if he didn't struggle with journeyman Rivera.