Outside of Duran, Mayweather-Whitaker is a coin toss at 135, awaits angry whitaker fans and PBF haters alikes opinions....Benny Leonard has to be a second choice although I'd favour Whitaker Fighters that don't stand a chance which will no doubt be brough up: Armstrong, Chavez, Buchanon, Gans
Possibly if Williams could catch up to him, Ike has great technical skills and defense too which will give him successes but I would be somewhat concerned by his inconsitences and defeats
Whitaker was durable enough to take Williams' shots. And I can't see Williams landing enough with his power to 'outright' beat up Whitaker.
I have Pernell as a tier 1 LW He's in there with Gans, Leonard, Armstrong, Ross, Duran (possibly Blackburn and Holly too if things had been different). Realistically all of these guys can beat one another.
good list ezzard. maybe, maybe not. I tend to think no lightweight in history can take the shots of a joe lous type combination puncher in ike. On the flipside I could say Whitaker would be at his worst against a technical combination puncher like ike, who has the tools and skill to get to a defensive slickster like whitaker(like saddler got to pep)
Williams didn't fight like Saddler(whose reach made it capable for him to get ahold of Pep, who relied on lateral movement rather than fighting off the backfroot, unlike Whitaker, who was at his best against pressure fighters), and to be honest, I don't believe he did have the tools to get to a defensive slickster like Whitaker, that simply wasn't his game. Against pressure fighters, he was at his best as they came straight into his fire, and he was able to pick his spots and hurt them inside. Against boxers, being a very capable boxer himself, he would often opt to fight at their pace, and the general pace the bout took against most of his opponents. He just wasn't a pressure fighter, and while he was a capable boxer, he wasn't in Whitaker's league in that department. So stylistically, I don't see how it gets much worse for Ike, though it's definitely possible he could hurt Pea a time or two, possibly flooring him.
So who sees Pernell as the best H2H ever at the weight? Is there any one boxer that any of you would unquestionably favor over him at the weight?
Best chances imo would be: Henry Armstrong, Julio Cesar Chavez, Beau Jack and Esteban DeJesus. I'd probably only favour Armstrong amongst that lot, and not with a hell of a lot of confidence. Guys like Benny Leonard and Joe Gans might be a chance but we probably don't have enough footage of them to make an accurate call. The half hour available of Leonard-Tendler is somewhat blurry and nuances get lost, and Leonard was past his peak in any case. Gans-Nelson you can't tell anything from unless you really use your imagination and of course, Gans was past his best there too. I'd give a left-field chance to a green Sugar Ray Robinson, and perhaps even a green Pryor or an early Napoles. I wouldn't favour any of these guys, they simply didn't do enough at the weight to be favoured, but they are smokies.
I'd give Napoles the best chance. He never accomplished much because he simply wasn't given the opportunities, but by all accounts he was the better(or at least more effective) fighter at LW. I can't definitively favor anyone over Pea at LW, but Napoles would have the best chance IMO, and I would call it basically 50/50.
I'd give Buchanan a chance at winning a round. Maybe Junior Witter could pull it off?.I hear he's a greater fighter than Nicolino Locche these days.
Whitaker at his peak at 135 was something special. He was one of the most complete fighters ever at that weight. He wasn't just an awkward stinker like he would be when he moved up in weight. What made him great at 135 wasn't really his defense, but the fact that he could combine his defense with an excellent offense (which he really didn't have when he moved up in weight). Consider: -He beat the **** out of Greg Haugen, dropping him along the way. -He flattened Juan Nazario in the first round with a single punch ( :admin ). -He almost KTFO Roger Mayweather. -He went toe-to-toe with veteran brawler Jorge Paez and actually broke him down with body shots admin ). Even when he fought defensively, as he did against Azumah Nelson, he still was very active and threw a lot of punches. Whitaker was right up there with the best lightweights - Leonard, Duran, Armstrong, Ike Williams, etc. Who would've beat who is open to debate, but I don't see any matchup in which Whitaker would be a clear and decisive underdog.