Pernell Whitaker Highlight

Well i don't disagree he was a bit half-assed for much of the fight against Hearns.

Against Leonard he was right there in front of him looking for counters all night and he went all out in the last round.

He never looked to just focus on defence in that fight, unlike Hearns and fought with purpose.

 

The Leonard fight featured both guys standing a metre from each other and trying to outdo the other in a combination of speed (when throwing) and reflexes (when dodging). Leonard for the most part showed that his combination of speed and reflexes were a little better. But up until the very end, where he opened up and got tagged, Benitez never tried to push the fight. He was content to prod and dodge and come off second best.

Pernell may not have faired any better, but one thing is for sure, he would be on the inside throwing body punches and mixing it up, not staying at a distance where he could play a game of fistic SNAP.

I'm not trying to say that Pernell was superior, I'm just saying the argument being used (about how Benitez dodged Ray's and Hearn's shots) isn't a good argument for why Benitez was better than Pernell.

I'll say this about Benitez though, he was less reliant on his legs than Whitaker was, and pretty much lived off subtle shifts of the head. In that respect he was master over Pernell and everyone else in terms of defense.

 

Whitaker had the better artistic defense - A "natural" defensive genius. At mid-range, there has never been a better defensive artist, as Zab Judah says he would stand infront of you and make you miss ten punches.

Mayweather is the better textbook defensive artist - He's been manufactured to master the defensive art from every angle - Blocking, evading, and of course, staying out of range. His footwork enables him to do to this.
(i.e., not just stay out of range but get into range quickly when the time is right)

Overall, I would say Whitaker has the prettier defense, as does Pep, but at the end of the day, in terms of avoiding clean punches, I give the edge to Mayweather - I've seen most of his fights and still couldn't tell you how good his chin is!