Whitaker W12 The gulf in skill is too much. Whitaker had the good defense to avoid any devastating sucker punches.
Heorl Graham had good boxing skills too. And at times it made Jackson look like a amateur. Then ONE punch landed. And it was over.
If Whitaker fought a lightweight/Jr.welter Version of Jackson, it's a easy win possibility A stoppage for Whitaker. But as Whitaker went Up in weight, he was hit cleanly much more. It may have been the drugs, the weight , or age or a combination of the 3, but he was clearly not The same fighter. Jackson was able to track down fast fighters like Norris and Graham. He would be able to track down Whitaker. (Though Norris and Graham were not as skilled, they were fighting at a natural weight) Jackson would get frustrated early, but his bombs would eventually force Whitaker to fight basically to survive ( as he did against Trinidad) or he would get KO'ed. Jackson would win a easy dec, or stop Whitaker cold.
Wow. Pernell when he started to slip against Julian who could be limited when looking for the knockout but probably the hardest one punch knockout puncher in history. Debatable. I think Pernell wins a decision.
Yeah, but Whitaker didn't hold his hands at his waist and leave his chin out to be hit. His defense was very sound. Grahams defense centered around reflexes
Whitaker W12, unless he gets momentarily sloppy at some point and then it's Jackson by very brutal KO.
Of course he wasn't, but Whitaker fighting at jr.middle isn't close to the fighter he was at lightweight. Graham was a natural jr Middleweight/Middleweight . Graham was fighting at his best weight. It almost balanced out.
I don't see early 1995 Whitaker as slipping much at all. He schooled Chavez a year and a half earlier, easily beat McGirt late in 94 in a fight I attended at the Scope and would go the distance and almost beat Oscar over two years later. He went the distance with Trinidad over four years later. Vasquez was actually a very good and established 154 lb champion with a pretty high quality of opposition. I remember him flooring Winky Wright several times and Wright was a big Junior Middleweight. Jackson did KO Norris, but Norris was another reflex guy like Graham who didn't have great fundamentals on defense. Other than Norris, the guys Jackson beat at 154 lbs were a mediocre lot. I can't bet against an all time great who did show he could fight on a high level at 154 and was never suseptible to getting knocked out by haymakers, unlike Norris.
Love this fight. Personally I think the margin of error is just too small, even for a wizard like Whitaker, going up against the GOAT 154 puncher at a weight class he's got no real business in. People use this as an exaggeration, but in the Hawk's case, it's absolutely true: It only takes one shot. And it's gonna land. Jackson KO 6.
