Félix Trinidad vs. Pernell Whitaker: unappreciated W?

Often when Tito's greatest conquests are discussed you don't find any mention of Sweet Pea until you get down as deep at his top half-dozen or so...or even as low as 10ish! I'm not sure this is entirely justified, and that isn't meant to disparage Trinidad nor to suggest that Whitaker still had close to his prime ability left in '99.

The defensive master didn't have the reflexes that made him a legend in the previous decade, no, but he was still not far removed chronologically from his lengthy WBC reign at welterweight and he wasn't entirely useless at this stage. He was game on the night despite a 16 month layoff and showed early promise bagging the opening round on my card as well as Harold Lederman's. The mere fact that he went twelve with Trinidad, and DLH not long before, suggests to me that Whitaker still wasn't shot yet during this period. When he lost to Carlos Bojorquez, he was undeniably shot to bits as well as riddled with injury and inactive for over two years. The version that fought Trinidad, however, is much closer to welterweight champion Pea than pathetic spectacle trotted-out-for-one-last-crummy-paycheck-that-wasn't-even-worth-it Pea that lost to Bojorquez.

Trinidad settled in from the 2nd onward, scoring a flash knockdown and never ceasing to beat Whitaker on the draw in the exchanges, usually first and nearly always last to land, and with the more forceful blows. This wasn't some dried up husk of a former great that he beat, though. It was a past-prime but still very feisty great with plenty of tricks up his sleeve to compensate for his diminished speed & reflexes, along with a newfound sense of spiteful aggression (which saw him rally to stop a solid B-level contender in Dio Hurtado in his last official W a couple of years prior...) that was largely absent from his in the late eighties and early nineties. This worked against Whitaker and played him into Trinidad's hands, but it was no cake walk for the bigger, younger, stronger man. Trinidad defeated Whitaker clearly but had to work for it, for a full shift of 12.

I've often seen DLH credited with a very good (not great, but very good) win over Whitaker at the end of his title reign. Granted, haters seeking to rip DLH's resume apart will say it was no good and that Pea was shot to bits even by then, but I've found most fair objective folk will chalk it up to having been very good...just not quite the "great" W it would be to have on a resume if Whitaker had been closer to his prime. I find it odd how Trinidad doesn't get the same benefit as DLH in that regard, for more soundly beating a not dissimilar version of the same man. Perhaps lingering resentment over the h2h meeting between Trinidad and DLH, in which most feel the latter deserved the nod despite biting off his own tail by coasting late. I don't know.

Joppy - who some rate as 2nd or 3rd best on Trinidad's resume - was maybe a more breathtaking performance by Trinidad, but...it was Joppy. Outpointing a past-it (but not yet completely shot) Whitaker is more impressive to me than dominating and knocking out Joppy, sorry.

Likewise for having beaten a prime unbeaten Yori Boy Campas in a FOTY contender. I love Yori Boy, really good fighter, but I'm not sure that's head and shoulders above taking a comfortable decision over Pernell freaking Whitaker, just a little beyond his sell-by.

Hell, I've seen Trinidad given considerably more credit for beating another cute southpaw stylist in Héctor Camacho, Sr. - and he was nearly as old as Whitaker and nearly as far into his pro career when they each respectively fought Trinidad. :huh

Anyway, this is a very good boxing match between a fading ATG who still had a bit left to offer and a young phenom smack in the midst of his destructive aura.

[yt]ltkrk4DiyDw[/yt]

 

Whitaker is enough better than Camacho (to wit: Mac has Pea rated #20 all-time, while Camacho doesn't make his top 100: http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=459918) that Camacho being fresher when he fought Tito doesn't narrow the gap enough to make it a significantly better W.

 

Irrespective of all that, when did you last watch it? Whitaker on the night put up a game, spirited effort and wasn't a shot fighter.