Remembering Whitaker - Chavez: images from the most important fight of the 1990s

It wasn't as simple as all that though Vlade. Dan Duva had promotional control of Taylor and Camacho, and they were trying to initially lure Chavez to 147 to rematch Taylor, and then Duva wanted to match up Camacho and Chavez in anticipation of a clash with Whitaker. In the meantime, Whitaker moved to 147 and beat the p4p ranked Buddy McGirt (who probably put up a better fight than Chavez did actually) and the fight was fought at a catchweight ensuring that Whitaker's belt was on th line and that Chavez could attempt the 4 weight feat.

I don't really think there would have been much difference if the fight had occured at 140 a year or so earlier. It wasn't as if Whitaker was a huge welterweight or anything. Both he and Chavez were lightweights in their mid twenties. Whitaker simply faired better at welterweight because he operated on the principle of hitting and not getting hit in return. If we has a fighter that took punishment like Chavez was, he too would not have been succesful at 147.

Those performances are complemented nicely though with other wins, like the McGirt wins and other lightweight solid competition. I think what is so impressive about Whitaker though is not just his wins ( and draws ) but also his losses. Fighting past his prime, and being a 3-1 underdog he turned back the clock and gave DLH absolute fits, and even when totally shot against Tito Trinidad he showed his mettle in slugging it out with Felix, even when he sustained a broken jaw. This was a guy that was pasting everyone else he fought around the time.

Whitaker through and through proved his greatness, even if guys like Chavez and Nelson were better at other weight classes. :good

 

I think what is relevant though is that Whitaker didn't really beat them because of physical strength and power, the things opponents have that bother fighters when they move up weight classes. He outskilled them, and that's what makes his wins great.

 

Whitaker was a lightweight up until a year and a half before the fight happened. It wasn't as if Whitaker was a fully fledged welterweight. Chavez had been campaigning for 4 years at 140 whilst Whitaker was at 135. Hence they figured weight wouldn't be an issue. In fact, if you look around some of the predictions of the time, like I posted, people thought the weight would actually be less advantageous to Whitaker than it was to Chavez, becuase Whitaker had lost quite a bit of speed and sharpness from his move from 135 to 147.

 

For Chavez in particular it is impressive because he did it without the half year breaks that a lot of fighters have today to bulk up. And he probably wasn't exactly scientific in his training either. Fighters today might be gearing up, some are without doubt, but it's also the scientific approach and long gestation periods before fights that helps them scale weight classes as if they are nothing. Totally different approach to the one taken by JCC. :good

Of course, there's also the issue of cherry picking which doesn't help matters. It's one thing to jump up and fight the 5th best fighter in the division that has some gold junk around his waist, it's another thing to fight the best fighter out there at the weight class.

I could go on about how the general standard of boxing today is weaker on the whole from times in the past, and that guys like an ancient Mosley (and Hopkins) belting the Margatiro's and giving the Cotto's a pretty much even fight shows the decline of the sport in general, but that's for another thread, and another day.