Pernell Whitaker... Boxing Genius ?

I'd take Whitaker over both Armstrong and Duran. I think he'd have just as tough a time with guys like Pryor, Napoles, and probably someone like Duilio Loi.

I've given my thoughts on the Duran fight a million times, and I don't see Armstrong as having the footspeed or size needed to get to Whitaker often, which is why I figure Pryor would be a more difficult matchup, for Whitaker anyways.

 

Greatest fighter of the last 25 years, an ATG and the best defensive fighter of all-time.

 

And like the greats, he had that tremendous boxing "radar". those guys just don't get hit clean--even with a jab. Early in his career, he had those great legs and would almost bend to the point where his rear end was only about a foot off the mat. Can you picture many other fighters since even trying to do that?

 

If Whitaker had a flaw it was that he didn't carry his power past 135.
The only person I would consder picking aginst him at 135 is Benny Leonard.
I think Ray Leonard could beat him at 147 Same as Tommy Hearns but Whitaker could also beat them all s well.

 

I hadn't seen much of him til I kept hearing about him on this page so had a few hours viewing him in action on youtube. My glass is raised. A boxer of truly supreme quality. If he had a KO blow he could've been the best in history. Still top 10-15 P4P ever surely.

 

Good to see some good thread about one of boxing's finest and one of the very best ever seen.

I have him n° 11, quite hard to make it to the top 10 with the likes of Armstrong, Pep, Duran, Leonard (Benny), Gans, Hagler, Robinson...
In comparison, Jones Jr is in my top 30 (barely).

But, because of his lack of power, I don't think he would beat Duran at 135... Which is not the worst thing ever, Duran was the best lightweight of all time.

 

He's not beating Leonard or Hearns, not at 147. At 135 I'd favor none over him, but a good few at 147 should be favored or even money.

 

I agree, but it would be interesting to see how Leonard coped with Whitaker at welterweight. He'd never fought an opponent with such a distinct style. Benitez was probably the closest, with the comparison being made on Benitez being a defensive master rather than having a similar style to Whitaker. I certainly think Whitaker has enough at 147lbs give Leonard some trouble. I just feel that Whitaker tended to fight a bit more flat-footed at 147lbs than he did at 135lbs, also his speed was diminished. This would allow him to be caught regularly by an intelligent and thoughtful boxer like Leonard. When I mean 'regularly' thats in terms of it being Whitaker. Nobody lands on Whitaker often like your average world class fighter.

Whitaker would probably do his best work against Leonard on the outside. His jab flowed much more and he would want to keep things at long range and not get involved in a physical fight. Leonard's power inside and at mid-range would spell trouble IMO. Even though Whitaker's shorter by some 4 inches he would need to keep Leonard right at the end of his punches. Double jabs, lateral movement, bending down to adjust the height, lots of feints, and the ocassional left hand down the pipe to catch the judges eyes.

IMO Leonard would land with the more authoritive power punches.