Ike Williams vs Pernell Whitaker At LW

Ike grinds him down

 

Two great Lightweights. No hype necessary with these two.

you have the slick Southpaw Whitaker with the great counterpunching skills, underated bodypuncher and a supreme pocket defense.

you have the explosive Slugger/Boxer in Williams. With quick hands, crunching power in either hand and the skillset to set up his shots.

Tough fight. I believe Ike Williams beat the better Lightweights. I would give him a close edge over 15 rounds.

No KO either way.

 

Ike in 15 by dec. He could go the distance & keep hacking away like a mad wood chopper. True, Pernell had great defense. By Ike had the edge in overall fighting ability.

 

Ike had the edge in overall fighting ability... what the heck does that even mean? Whitaker to me has the clear edge in overall skills and talent. Whitaker made the best fo the best look amateurish.. Ike not so much. For me, this fight comes down to Whitaker usually always finding a way against the best and neutralizing his foes game.. he would do the same here. Whitaker... comfortable 9-6 victory

 

Looking forward to Burt's posting on this one.

 

I think Whitaker's skill and defense serves him well, but is outmatched in every other way. Pernell may go the distance, but Ike takes a clear decision in this one.

 

I'm honestly not understand this... Ike didn't make other all time great or HOF fighters look amateurish like Whitaker did. That makes a HUGE difference in my eyes on how this fight would go down. Ike never faced anyone like whitaker with the skill level of whitaker. Whitaker on the other hand faced more fighters similiar to Ike.. boxer/Puncher/Stalker types... He was supreme against that type of fighter. Yet, more people are picking Ike.. and that really makes me wonder what on earth this is based on. The poster right above is saying that Whitaker is more skilled and has better defence than Ike... But is "outmatched" in every other way.... WTH... Do you know how many variables make up the term skill... I mean most boxing variables fall under the term skill... So how on God's green earth someone be more skilled than other yet be outmatched in every other way... The reality of that statement then is... Whitaker is better in more areas... but the ones he's not Ike is better.. Gee.. thanks for that enlightenment.

 

I have to go with KuRuPT here. Based on styles and accomplishments, I would bet on Whitaker. Whitaker played well to all styles, made adjustments, dealt with power. I don't think Williams would be the puzzle that Pernell couldn't solve.

 

Ike may not have made them look amateurish but he knocked a few of them senseless. A different kind of fighter.

Do you think Whitaker fought as good of a lightweight crop at Williams?

 

Ike also got beat. Granted he fought 155 fights and that will happen. But he seemed like a guy who sold out to impress with his power and those are the kind of guys Whitaker ate alive.

Great match-up, tho.

 

I dont dispute that Whitaker could win this fight. Just saying Ike fought in a helluva era. I have Sweet Pea in my all time top 5 Lightweights in history but I don`t think he goes undefeated if he had Williams schedule.

Ramirez, Haugen and Paez were not bums but I don`t think they compare to what Ike faced.

 

This is how I see this fight and a all time perspective....

If you ask me who I would want to face any LW in history Ike or Whitaker.. I choose Whitaker every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

If you ask me who has more ability and skills... I again Choose Whitaker every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

If you ask me who I think has the better LW resume... I would say Ike has the better resume and faced the harder competition.

Problem with that is.. he never looked as dominate as Pea was when they faced the best of the best. Pea also did it moving up and facing bigger guys and still made them look like fools.

In the end, even if you don't factor in any of the above... Pea showed that he was taylor made to beat somebody like Ike. that kinda style never gave Pea problems and he excelled at beating the Boxer/Puncher/Stalker types... That what he did and IMO he would do so against Ike as well

 

Ike also lost a lot more in his prime. And when you factor in Pea's performances at higher weights the difference in resume becomes negligible.

 

Whitaker certainly presents a unique puzzle for Williams to figure out. No doubt Sweet Pea could probably outbox anyone on any given nite in his prime years.

With that said I`m thinking back to Whitaker`s prime years and I can`t think of anyone on the elite level that resembled Ike Williams in fighting style or ability. Just can`t be sure beats him let alone dominates him.