Pernell Whitaker
Boxing champion who won at four weights and was seen as one of the greatest ever defensive fighters
PERNELL WHITAKER, who has died in a road accident aged 55, won world boxing titles at four different weights and was regarded as one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time. Turning professional following a glittering amateur career which culminated in the Virginia-born southpaw nicknamed “Sweet Pea” striking gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Whitaker went on to win titles at every weight from lightweight to light-middle.
Indeed, while he was at his sublime peak Whitaker’s only setbacks were a highly controversial loss to Jose Luis Ramirez at lightweight in March 1988 and an equally questionable draw against Julio Cesar Chavez in September 1993.
A defensive master with near-flawless balance whose opponents found him frustratingly elusive, he also perfected a counter-punching style which, while not being particularly devastating, usually proved highly effective.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, on January 2 1964, Whitaker took up boxing at the age of nine and went on to enjoy a stellar amateur career which he claimed amounted to around 500 contests.
Having made an immediate impact in the paid ranks, Whitaker’s first world title shot arrived when he travelled to France to challenge Mexico’s Ramirez for the World Boxing Council lightweight title in March 1988, only to end up on the receiving end of a split decision generally viewed as one of the worst decisions in boxing history.
“They didn’t stick a knife in me and they didn’t shoot me, but I know I got robbed,” Whitaker reflected ruefully afterwards.
Yet in February 1989, “Sweet Pea” won the International Boxing Federation version of the lightweight crown at the Hampton
Coliseum in Virginia by outpointing Greg Haugen, who was floored for the first time in his career.
Victory signalled the start of Whitaker’s dominance of the sport’s middle divisions over the next few years, a purple patch that stretched until 1997. Along the way he saw off title challenges from Freddie Pendleton and Azumah Nelson and knocked out Juan Nazario in a single round.
Moving up in weight, Whitaker captured the IBF light-welter crown from the Colombian, Rafael Pineda, in July 1992, before outpointing James “Buddy” Mcgirt the following March to become the lineal and WBC welterweight champion.
By now clamour had been building for a superfight against Chavez, the best poundfor-pound fighter in the world. When the welterweight encounter – simply termed “The Fight” – happened in San Antonio, Texas in September 1993, Whitaker was again frustrated when judges ruled a draw, believing, with considerable justification, that he had become the first man to have defeated the great Mexican.
Whitaker continued to dominate for the next few years, however, defending his welterweight title in a rematch against Mcgirt in October 1994, before adding Julio Cesar Vasquez’s World Boxing Association belt to his collection on March 4, 1995, to become only the fourth fighter in history to have won titles at four different weight classes.
Having repulsed the WBC title challenge of the Scot, Gary Jacobs, at Atlantic City in August 1995, Whitaker put his title on the line against the Cuban Diosbelys Hurtado 17 months later.
Having been knocked down twice, and penalised a point, Whitaker was trailing on the scorecards when he launched an uncharacteristic barrage of left-handed power shots which knocked his opponent almost out of the ring, leading the referee to intervene in the 11th round.
The win set up a Las Vegas defence of Whitaker’s WBC title against the undefeated 1992 Olympic gold medallist, Oscar De La Hoya, in Las Vegas in April 1997. Although downing De La Hoya in the ninth and throwing more punches overall, Whitaker dropped a disputed unanimous decision, even though many observers felt he had again done enough to clinch the verdict.
Whitaker next fought the Russian-born Andrey Pestryaev, only for his win to be changed to a “no decision” when he failed a drugs test which landed him a six-month suspension. A planned return against the WBA welterweight champion Ike Quartey fell through when he tested positive for cocaine a second time.
A bold attempt to challenge the bigger and younger Felix Trinidad for the Puerto Rican’s IBF welterweight title ended in a wide points loss at New York’s Madison Square Gardens in February 1999, and following a fourth-round retirement through injury against the Mexican journeyman Carlos Bojorquez in April 2001, Whitaker announced his retirement.
He finished with a record of 40 wins (17 by knockout), four losses and one draw.
Whitaker was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.
Whitaker, who was divorced, is survived by four of his five children.