I don't want to talk about styles here, but if any posters do in order to support their own viewpoints then that is appreciated. I think Pernell Whittaker might be in contention for the status of being the best fighter ever. There are only a handful of fighters that might make this in my opinion (not the greatest). As afforementioned, i don't want to get into the complications which are derived from discussing styles. Is he? He is just so good. I want to simply leave it at that, a prime Pernell Whittaker is so good a fighter that he very well may be the best fighter ever (i want everyone to know i don't say he is, as most know i have always credited Robinson with such an accolade). Remember the video that The Wanderer made? The naturals highlight video, in that video Ali, Mayweather and Jones all wow you, but Whittaker left me thinking more 'how good is he'. I know Sweet Pea will chime in, jump on the bandwagon my friend, me and you ride that mutha****er into the sunset A lengthy, elaborating style post would be much appreciated by the way Pea (and anyone else).
For me, the best of his era. Not the best of all time. Simple reason is that he lacked a real finishing punch. Granted, he didn't need one, but it would have made him almost perfect.
Thanks for the reply FOF. When we talk about fighting off the backfoot, he could not only box defensively, move laterally, but actually fight going backwards and win a landslide.
I very respectfully want to add that I think you guys overrate Pernell just a little bit. No, I don't think he's the best fighter of all time. I think he's in the top 15. Speculating that he's the best ever is overrating him just a little bit in my opinion. He did not have the one punch power of other fighters I'd rate above him: Robinson, Leonard, Duran, Langford just to name a few. I just think that's a major ***** in his arsenal. Did he need that power in his prime? Absolutely not because the rest of his arsenal was superb. But I'm of the belief that he would've needed a little more of it to keep Duran off of him. To me, he's top 15, maybe top 10, but number 1? No.
Ok thanks for the post mate, i'm just looking for feedback here so it's appreciated. I'm not asking if he's the clear cut numero uno though, just asking if you have him in contention purely ability wise at his best.
Whitaker was the best defensive fighter I've ever seen. Maybe Pep was better, I don't know...I've seen a lot more of Whitaker and he was pretty much unhittable. Even Buddy McGirt, probably one of the best pure boxers of his era, struggled to land anything on him in their second fight. Everyone was expecting a close fight since the first one was fairly competitive (and McGirt had injured either his arm or shoulder) but in the rematch Whitaker schooled him. Archie Moore once said Charlie Burley was more slippery than a greased pig, but that would apply to Whitaker as well.
I couldn't agree more. If you are talking purely ability, he is as good as anyone who has ever laced on a pair of gloves. Had he been gifted with serious one-shot power this wouldn't even be a debate, he would be the best fighter ever.
not the best fighter of all time but was great to watch a real diamond if fighting now would be pound for pound the best by a mile
I agree with this completely. He was dazzling to watch with his elusiveness, but he lacked that Ko punch, that made a lot of his fights hard to sit through for me.
For me too sometimes. You knew it would be a one-sided victory most of the time, but that it would go the whole way most of the time too. It did get kind of much after a while.
My favourite fight of Pea's, as I have said a few times before on here, is the first fight against Buddy. Pea's performance against Haugen was one of the most flawless in boxing history, and his display against Azumah Nelson may be the greatest and most complete performance I've ever seen in a fight between two top-class guys. However, you only really learn what a fighter is all about in adversity, and the infighting skill and fire, the deceptive body strength and resilience, the compact combination punching with speed and accuracy - all of this came out when Pea was in a tough, tough battle with an excellent (and naturally bigger) man. God-like.