Was Pernell Whitaker an underrated puncher?

He put De La Hoya on his ass, if I remember correctly.

 

Yeah i think he hit harder than his record suggests.

 

He didn't hit harder than Chavez.

 

The fact that some knucklehead or another will always include him on a list of "feather-fist champions"means yes, he's an underrated puncher. He was never more than a middling in that department, but never less than respectable as he clearly did carry a bit of snap even at welter (ask Dio H.)

 

Proving what?

 

he had long arms but was kind of short, making him hard to hit but sacrificed hitting power

 

I think any defensive fighter would have a much higher KO% if they really try to.

 

He's from a state away from me and I used to listen to stories about when he was coming up he would spar ANYONE and people said the bigger the person Pea would end up wreaking their body.

 

He would score knockdowns to the body once in awhile. I think Pernell had more physical strength, very strong base. That troubled opponents.

My buddy was a Chavez fan and he didn't believe anyone could threaten Julio. I was telling him about Whitaker who was my favorite fighter on the rise. I may have exaggerated Whitaker's talent a bit. Told my buddy he another Robinson. 1 shot power lighting speed. He was skeptical but watched the his defense vs Juan Nazario. Live as it happened.
Sweetpea bailed me out on my lie because he landed the sweetest lefthand on Nazario that Sugar Ray would have been proud of.

I threw some shade on Chavez for at least one weekend. Back in those days Whitaker/Chavez was the Hatfield and McCoy's for boxing fans.

 

A bit like Mayweather. His shots were that quick, accurate and well timed it wasn't possible to just walk through him.