always had heard this fight was highway robbery so i took the time to watch it for myself first things i notice 1. sweet peas punch selection was flawless not one punch was wasted he landed uppercuts at will usually a very dangerous punch to throw due to the countering options you leave your opponet sweet pea throws caution to the wind and lets chavez have it 2. chavez in the fight for the first 4 rounds going back and forth staying pace with sweet pea it seemed between the 4th and 5th might have been the 3rd and 4th chavez seemed to just shut off like someone had went into his brain and kicked a switch he just seemed to just stand there after these rounds while sweet pea threw the kitchen sink at him 3. low blows i felt were a factor for sweet pea he fought one hell of a dirty fight had it not been a huge super fight i could see another ref maybe another fight or another time where pea would have been disqualified taking swipes at the ref the way he was ! he was very lucky he didn't blow this thing the thing that kept it from looking disgustingly dirty was that chavez too is a dirty little brawler and was throwing his low blows at one point i heard one of the color comentary guys goes " one to the liver one to the kidney for chavez" haha you can't punch the kidneys!!! 4. you guys want to talk about today and how today the comentary is bias? it took all these guys strength and power to put chavez over they were even trying to make a case for him winning the fight as high as say the 7th round before sweet pea had just piled too many rounds on chavez for chavez to even "or so we thought" take a bogus decision all in all excellent fight it should what happens when 2 worlds collide :good
Chavez was throwing some low blows too, but he was the victim of a masterclass in slick boxing, so it goes unnoticed.
It was this fight that made me hate Chavez. Afterward at the press conference, Chavez was asked about giving Whitaker his due. "Why should I give him credit," was the response. Well Julio, when you get your ass comprehensively kicked that way, it's what a man does. You tip your hat and try to do better next time. He made an utter fool of himself, and this behavior continued on until the next time he was faced with adversity against Frankie Randall. He complained about the refereeing and actually claimed Randall's knockdown of him was a slip. Nice work, Idol of Millions. :roll:
Joe Cortez did an altogether shitty job that night. He let both guys continuously hit on the break and was all too keen to break up the infighting. As for Whitaker being lucky not to blow the thing, well, Micky Vann took a point from him for the Chavez nut shot, so he probably did blow it with that punch. In the context of the fight, I don't think one fighter was any dirtier than the other, so it would have been cruel to penalise one guy and not the other.
that's what i thought the only thing that was different was sweet pea swatting at the refs hand that's the thing that stands out for me
it was after 3 rounds it was all sweet pea the guy it was like watching an old wise man playing chess with a young pup the guy just had every move to match chavez move for move then he just left him in the dust his use of the uppercut is amazing the guy just timed it over and over dead on the money rocked chavez head back every time
This reminds me of something I've noticed from watching and rewatching a few Chavez bouts. Everyone and their brother knows that Chavez was a slow starter who often gave away, say, the first 2 rounds before he started to get going. Sometimes though, Chavez would try to compensate for that and try to get a fast start in those opening rounds. A lot of times when he did that, he'd wind up going a little flat at some point in the middle or late rounds and look sluggish in the fight. Not to take anything away from Whitaker, who had the perfect tools and used them perfectly to outclass Julio, but just something I noticed.
Vann should never have taken a point off Whitaker. It's up to the referee to advise the judges to deduct points for fouls.
It's daylight robbery. Even if you treat each round as an individual fight watched on individual days ensuring each is independent of the next, you still should see that pea won 9 of those rounds. To those who believe in the sanctity of official results, here is one that cannot be defended.
There were a lot of close-ish rounds but the only clear rounds were won by Whitaker, specifically rounds 3, 7 & 8. Whitaker controlled the pace of the fight, landed the cleaner shots & won more rounds, he should have got the decision in the fight IMO.
One of the best shows of ring generalship ever. I don't find Pea the technician many have him as, but his timing, reading of an opponent and decision making are probably as good as any that put them on, and this is his defining moment as a ring general. Controlling a guy that ate boxers for lunch like that... amazing. The decision is among the most blatant robberies I've ever seen and absolutely indefensible.
I started to fallow boxing in the 90's. When Chavez was king. Although his regin was coming to an end. It seemed that when he was in a tough fight or almost lost he would have some excuse and would never give his oppoent his due. For this reason, I would always root for the other guy. I have a little bit more respect for him now based on his career at 130 & 135. He was the defention of a sore loser throughout his career.
I am in the minority (a small one at that), on this fight....I score it a draw, and feel like everyone else is swayed by the propaganda!