Pernell Whitaker above 135: Proof of Greatness

We all know Sweet Pea is a true ATG in every sense of the word. I personally think he is the greatest fighter of the past 25 years - a real Master Boxer.

And we all know how good his wins over Nelson, Ramirez II, Haughen, Buddy McGirt and the "win" (brilliant performance) against Chavez were.

But whenever there are discussion about Whitaker, I never hear his win over Julio Cesar Vasquez being mentioned.

One of the crucial and often overlooked points that justifies me rating Whitaker so highly is his highly underrated physical strength, chin and infighting ability that really came to the fore when he moved up in weight.

Whitaker was not like Mosley. Pernell was 5'6", a very natural lightweight who I believe could've stayed comfortable at that weight for longer than he did, but moved up purely to enhance his greatness/legacy. (by comparison, IMO Mosley at 5'9" was always big for a lightweight, he struggled to stay there, and looked like a proper welterweight by the time he got there, he was never dwarved at 147).

When you watch Sweet Pea in the McGirt fight, and even the Chavez fight, at 147, it is very evident that he is a naturally smaller man. His shoulders, back, torso etc are noticeably those of a smaller weight fighter. And yet against both Chavez and McGirt, two very strong fighters, Whitaker never looks like he is the weaker man in the ring.

This was also the case against Oscar De La Hoya in '97, who has competed at middleweight and was a very strong and very good light-middleweight, standing almost 5'11". (Whitaker was well, well past-prime by the time of the Trinidad fight)


And this brings us to the Vasquez fight.

In 1995, Whitaker stepped up to the 154lbs limit to challenge Julio Cesar Vasquez for the WBA light-middleweight title.

Vasquez had fought his whole career at light-middle, and had a quality record of 53-1 pre-Whitaker, including wins over future undisputed lightmiddle champion and top 5 p4p fighter Winky Wright, and Javier Castillejo.
He ended up with too many losses on his record, but that was due to hanging on too long and fighting too high for him, at supermiddle.

Whitaker, 5'6" natural 135lbs-er, won 118-110, 116-110, 118-107.


Whitaker is always lauded for his skill and defence, but I think his remarkable strength and infighting against bigger men are equally important reasons why he is a true modern great.

:bbb

 

If you read my thread-start, you will see that nowhere do I say the performance over Vasquez was special, or great, or magnificent. I purposefully did not do this as I have seen the fight and am well aware it was not a stellar performance - unlike the ones I mentioned (Haughen, Ramirez II, McGirt, Chavez etc).

However, I say it was a significant and underrated win in terms of noting Sweet Pea's physical strength against larger opponents - the whole point of this thread.

It was not a thrilling fight and P was not at his sparkling best, but for a guy his size to go up to lightmiddle and score a convincing win, in addition to the other fights where he was excellent against bigger men - these combine to make my point.

Agreed?

 

People get shot down in flames all too often on this forum for rating fighters from nowadays as highly as others rate fighters they never saw fight. Pernell Whitaker would not quite make my top 5 OAT, but no way am I going to criticize you for your opinion here, Pernell is an ATG and good on you! :good