Being older ,the wear and tear of past wars,not having the advantages at welter that he had at 130 and 135,speed and power not the same and wasnt has effective at cutting the ring as he was in his younger days,mostly threw one punch at atime when in his prime he was one of the best combination punchers ever etc.
He was generally just a bit slower than he was about 5 years earlier when he was peaking as a lightweight. That Chavez would have done better against Whitaker because he would have been able to catch him a little more often (I say a 'little' because Whitaker himself was quicker at lightweight than he was at welterweight).
His abilty to cut of the ring against slicksters for one thing. His speed for another... even against Camacho he was already fading, he was still an amazing fighter but he was over his top.
Whitaker didn't beat a peak Chavez, but he did beat a good Chavez. Chavez's absolute peak was 1987 at 135, but by the time he fought Pea he had turned in brilliant performances in the last year against Camacho and Haugen, and he would have some solid results after that fight as well (Randall II, Lopez, Taylor, and Parisi). Whitaker would have beaten any version of Chavez. He beat him widely on my card (118-110), and Pea wasn't absolute peak either (I'd say his peak was 1990 at 135). In addition to that, Chavez struggled against fighters with fast hands (Taylor and Whitaker), whereas Whitaker excelled against aggressive swarmers (Chavez and Nelson).
Exactly, the only difference I saw was that he was fighting a guy MUCH more skilled than anyone he's ever fought before and the weight where they fought at. While it wasn't Chavez's best weight, he was still very good and let's not pretend like that was a prime Whitaker, Whitaker was also fighting out of his prime weight.
Oh and btw whoever thought it was actually a draw don't know how to score a ****ing fight or really haven't watched the fight.
Neither was it Whitaker's "prime", or best weight. They were both at a similar stage on the downward slope. Either way, prime for prime, any weight, Whitaker wins.
No, Whitaker didnt beat a prime Chavez but would have beaten any version. However it was a very good version Of Chavez. I have stated before that I think he is overated at 140. That dose not mean he was not any good just that he was not as good at 140 as he is given crdit for.
i saw the fight live, 10th row. pea outpointed julio in a closer fight than the majority of esb wants to believe. he didnt beat him up or even hurt him but he outpointed a julio who was not at his best weight and past his best days. i think julio would be better than 50% to beat pea if both were at their best. i dont expect many to agree as pea is overated on esb and julio is also underated.