LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNAMENT SEMI FINAL- Pernell Whitaker vs Henry Armstrong

Because McGrain voted for Hank ill go Pernell by 1 point. Off sets Henrys aggresion in the closer rounds to win it

 

Pea by close decision. He's too good off of the backfoot against Armstrong. Armstrong doesn't have the footspeed to keep with Whitaker.

 

I go for Pea; mainly because on the inside Pea will be able to flurry off combinations and use his superior footspeed to get back out again.

I see Pea winning some rounds on the backfoot, Hank winning some by applying intelligent pressure. I see Pea swaying a few of the close rounds by mixing his attack up and that is what will count. He will be hanging on in the last three rounds though as Hank goes for broke.

Pea-8-7-Henry Armstrong

 

Whitaker is 1 of the most dominant of performers I've seen, in order to hit a man you have to get your feet in range and hit him quick enough for him not to slip/block. Whitaker simply moved, slipped and parryed better than any man in history. His jab masterfully controlled fights, he was a great in fighter, high workrate, nearly impossible to beat.

I see this fight similar to the Nelson fight, Armstrong is better, closes the gap faster and is more intense but Whitaker still masterfully uses the same gameplan to control the fight and win a fairly wide decision

Whitaker widish UD

 

i was watching the chavez fight a few weeks ago and noticed how whitaker was so exhausted at the end of the fight . chavez did not pressure whitaker as well as expected
and as we all know whitaker got screwed but i think here the 15 rounds distance may and just tip the scales in armstrongs favour.armstrong takes the 14th and 15th to get a 1 point sd win .leaving whitaker once again not happy with the judges but at least the wbc are not involved this time

 

I think Armstrong will succeed where Chavez has failed; he's just too rough, too gritty, and his unorthodox fighting would actually make life tougher for Pea than the more conventional fighters in the tournament would've. Pea's a master at ring generalship, but I don't think he'd be able to dictate the fight with Armstrong on his terms- nobody ever did with Armstrong at his best, despite him routinely being the smaller fighter even at the world level.

Pea's a fantastic fighter, but I see Armstrong taking him to a place he's never been before in the ring and making life miserable for him.

Armstrong by a clear UD for me.

 

Unluckily for Whitaker, Armstrong was quick on his feet, absolutely relentless, and awkward. If you were to write on paper the kind of styles and attributes that would be needed to beat Whitaker, I'm sure you'd come up with something very close to what Armstrong had.

The most underrated aspect of all is Armstrong's power. No, he wasn't a one punch knockout artist; his power was more Ortiz or Monzon, except he used it with full force, in your face, all the time. Did you know that when Henry Armstrong was at his peak he went 59-1-1 with 51 knockouts? Infact, 27 of those were consecutive. And don't think they were all cab drivers; included in this streak were winnings of the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles. He made 19 title defences, 18 of those at welterweight. Armstrong had no problem knocking out the bigger men.

I'd bet on Whitaker's legs buckling under a hurricane late in the fight. He'd last the distance but concede the last six rounds and lose by hard fought decision. Armstrong.

 

Armstrong via a close decision, his pressure would make the difference especially down the strench were he would just out lands and out works Whitaker.

 

Good stuff there about the effectiveness of Armstrong's pressure. That kind of KO record is great in any era, but back then it was phenomenal .

 

Good read, good points, good post :good

 

I like Hammerin' Henry just by sheer volume of punching. Pernell will undoubtedly keep it close or could very well be leading going into the late rounds. But the frantic pace of Armstrong's has Whitaker worn out by the 13th thru the 15th. Armstrong by close decision win.