I just recently watched this fight and scored it round by round, and I was surprised that I actually had it a draw. Judging by what most commentators were saying I would have thought that whitaker blew ramirez right out of the water like he did the second fight. Instead, I felt whitaker controlled the early part of the fight with his superior agility and hand speed, while Ramirez dominated the last half of the fight. This was by no means a robbery. Here's my scorecard: round 1:whitaker round 2:whitaker round 3:whitaker round 4:whitaker round 5:whitaker(close) round 6:ramirez round 7:ramirez round 8:ramirez round 9:whitaker round 10:ramirez round 11:ramirez round 12:ramirez what do you guys think? I clearly felt like ramirez constant pressure got to whitaker(later rounds) and whitaker got tired. From round 6 onwards whitaker stoped throwing combos and started pot shoting and clinching, while ramirez was pressing consistently throught; landing heavier shots(especially to body). In the championship rounds whitaker was just fighting in spurts and was not doing enough to win the rounds. Ultimately, it was a very close fight!
It's been 4 or 5 years since I watched it but I'm pretty sure I had it 7-4-1 Whitaker. I thought it was a blatant robbery.
I had it a draw, but the fight going either way by close decision would not indicate a robbery on either side. On top of that, ramirez was the defending champion!
also, I was surprised to see how much more effective ramirez was in dealing with whitaker's southpaw style than Chavez. Maybe it had to do with the fact that ramirez was a southpaw himself and was better able to impose his jab.
I had it for Sweet Pea but close. JL Ramirez, however, is one of the most overlooked and under appreciated fighters in recent memory. Always cast in the opponent’s role and never had the machine on his side. Fought a pretty good who’s who of his era and never got much credit for his ability.
