who do you considered more skillfull pernell or willie

i agree with both sides of this...

visually, whitaker is one of the most impressive all around fighters ever
visually, pep....well, we don't have much on pep

based on records, both are in the top echelon and there's little difference between them except in quantity of fighters rather than quality.

the easy answer is whitaker but as greatA pointed out, it's not really a fair comparison

 

and to be fair, even based on the reports of a PRIME pep paint him in a relatively stable style: elusive, defensive master who scored enough points for the UD. this is the style he exhibited (apparently) in what is likely his career defining win against saddler. pep was what he was, just slowed down over the years but didn't seem to exhibit the same multi layered defense as pea nor the offensive accumen. but again, this is soley based on reports

 

Yes, I agree with you.....but maybe there is something better than we thought in prime PEp.....
For example...Ace Hudkins vs Mickey Walker showed to us something very interesting about Walker´s defensive moves....

 

How about Whitaker vs Vasquez, Hurtado, De La Hoya and Trinidad?

I think what we're missing out on film is Pep's punch and his ability to put them together in order to finish off opponents. He put away some big names in his day. Arguably he had better KO wins than Whitaker did.

 

Well, I think that might be going a little too far. I like Pea, but c'mon, he's no Rubio.

 

The difference between the two is as thin as a knife's edge IMO.

 

I would say Willie Pep's as skillful as it gets.
Nobody has surpassed him. A few have matched him.
We can count Pernell Whitaker among that few.

 

Pep had the greater imagination. Pernell was a fantastic improviser but Pep made the unusual his trademark with his quintuple jabs and surreal movement.

It was the way in which Pep would stagger his movement, fight with that cherished 'broken rhythm' which Bruce Lee championed in his 'Tao of Jeet Kune Do'. Whitaker fought with pin-point efficiency, but when you watch him enough you begin to see the same moves (no less effective!), but that innate arbitrariness of Pep was a weapon in itself.

Skill is an ugly word. 'Science' is the superior, old definition of technical 'know-how' and when you get to men as accomplished as this any separation must be based on some especially trivial grounding.

A modern comparison is not possible because, as aforesaid, the right quantity of footage is just not there for a fair shake.

 

ted spoon, great breakdown. couldn't agree more. with whitaker, you knew what he was going to do to you. i've seen pep circle left and jab, then circle right with left hooks. pep gets the nod because of his creativity.

 

McGirt was closer to a washed up punching bag than excellent in the rematch with Pea imo.

Some of that had to do with Pernell, but Buddy wasn't looking good going into that fight, faded rapidly in it and didn't look good after it.

In retrospect McGirt's prime at Welter was very brief.His legs and reflexes went after the Leon and first Whitaker title fights imo.

 

My heart of hearts says Whitaker but its a one sided argument as I've never seen Peps peak. Then again I doubt I would see anything that proves Pep has a superior offensive variety and the ability to defend.

 

Pep's era was too deep for sweat pee and his era....IMO Pep has the greater credentials and had 3 times the fights prior to the plane crash and 3 times the fights after...how do we compare

 

B, how can any serious boxing person,dispute the above ? Pernell Whitaker, though a great fighter,as you stated, had to have fought
almost 160 more fights,gone almost unbeaten, to attain what Willie Pep in
his astounding career achieved. And against a much, much deeper pool of featherweights. Willie would fight every two weeks,against anyone in anytown, hurt or not,and put on a MASTER CLINIC,and triumph in a career
with more than 200 bouts. Think of what skills he possessed, to fight every 10 days or so, and triumph.? For what it's worth- I saw his great art on display at his peak in 1943,when he thrashed a top lightweight Allie Stolz
in MSG.We in the crowd were astounded at his boxing speed and sixth sense. Cheers BD.