was sweet pea still a solid P4P fighter when ODLH beat him

ODLH didn't beat Whitaker.

But, Whitaker was slipping by then.

 

Wait... he was losing every single round to Hurtado?

When did that happen?

 

I just checked. I have every Year end issue of Ring and KO magazine in the 1990s and they have pound for pound rankings....EXCEPT FOR 1996! ughh!! In 1995 year end issue, Pernell Whitaker is the overwhelming # 1 choice. In my end of the year December 1997 Issue of KO magazine Oscar moved into # 1, and Pernell was all the way back at # 6. KO magazine said it was his lowest ranking since 1989, and that he had come in 2nd to Roy Jones the year before.


I will make a thread on this......but it defintley appears to me Pernell Whitaker was at least #1 or # 2 when Oscar fought him, and judging from jones lost to montell griffin it HAD to be whitaker.

 

Judging by his performances only and discounting completely the numbers in a magazine, Whitaker was not the same fighter by 97 that he was even as late as 93, and a long way from his peak. He was like Oscar when Oscar fought Mayorga - still capable of a great performance but a long way from his best weight, his best form and his all-round peak displays, and the final decline was only just around the corner.

 

I disagree. When oscar fought mayorga, he was coming off a long layoff. Whitaker was not when he fought de la hoya. whitaker was recognized at/near the top of p4p in the whole world when oscar fought him, while oscar de la hoya was not even a top 10 contender when mayorga fought him. Whitaker was also undsiputed CHAMPION, while oscar was not champion when he fought mayorga. though whitaker was past his best, I still think whitaker would have beaten quarter or tito or any welter in the world in 1997...and Oscar deserves alot of credit for this win.

 

No need to make a thread:

http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine's_Annual_Ratings:_Pound_For_Pound--1990s

In KO magazine, Whitaker was already dethroned from the p4p no.1 spot (and rightfully so imo) by 1995. Roy Jones was the no.1 there.

 

With the performance he gave against Oscar I would agree he was still up there amongst the best p4p, but prior to the fight, there wasn't really much evidence for it. Struggles with Rivera and Hurtado indicated that he had radically declined. Based off of those fights, I would have favoured Ike, Tito and DLH to beat him. And I'd still have Roy Jones ahead of him, given that Montell was a better fighter than Hurtado, and Montell still didn't outbox Roy like Hurtado outboxed Pea. Montell more or less broke even with Roy before Roy was on the verge of Ko'ing him.

 

Agree!

 

Actually you might want to check into it. Sarcasm aside.

He is 100% right.:yep

 

Not according to The Ring Magazine. Their fight was for P4P No1. I have the original magazines.

 

It might have been for the no.1 in virtue of DLH being no.1 mate, not because Whitaker was the no.1 p4p. I'm pretty sure Whitaker was no.3 at the time of the DLH fight.

If you can show me an end of year 1996 or 1997 Ring mag that has Whitaker no.1 then all well and good.

 

Knowing that DLH was a 3-1 favourite before the fight, I will be quite surprised if you come through with proof that Pea was numero uno. I'll wait and see :good

 

Whitaker was rated 3 in the Ring at the time of the Oscar fight and (i think) 4 in KO. This debate has come up before. I know he was 3 in Ring.


End of year does not denote any mid-year changes the last time I looked. A few months ago someone was saying that Buster Mathis wasn't top 10 in Ring when Frazier beat him. All's they did was see The Big Blob's absence for two consecutive years. However, Buster appeared for just a month or two before the fight with Joe (at Number 10), so any end-of-year internet lists are misleading.

He was 3.

 

This is true. End of year lists don't matter. It was built as the pfp title (which answers the thread question) but Oscar had that title.