Defensive Wizard: Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker

A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker was born on January 2nd, 1961. Whitaker started learning to box at age 9, and in doing so he established the foundation of skills and ring generalship that led him to become the defensive grandmaster of the late 20th Century.

His record as an amateur was 201-14. In 1982 he became the U.S. Lightweight Champion (AAU), and then went on to the World Championships to win a silver. That led to a rematch with the man who beat him at the World Finals in 1983, Angel Herrera of Cuba, at the Pan-American Games in 1983. Whitaker carried the rematch and the Pan-American Gold. Secure in his berth for the legendary 1984 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, he went to the Las Angeles Summer Games and won the Gold.

Whitaker's brilliance was not based on punching power, but on his reflexes, fluidity, sheer skill, and ring smarts. Even as an amateur, Whitaker was a solid ring general. He knitted his talents and his experience together into becoming a defensive technician to rival the great Willie Pep (still the only man in boxing history to have won a round without throwing a punch). Although most casual observers find defensive boxers boring to watch, Whitaker was anything but. His ability to stand flat-footed and right in front of an opponent, and yet still make him miss in a mesmerizing display of upper body movement and parrying amazed all who saw it.

The Comer

A 5'6" southpaw with a 69" reach, Whitaker turned pro with 9-0 Farrain Comeaux in November 1982. It was a move that bespoke of Whitaker's confidence (indeed, arrogance), as even former Olympians don't often seek out bouts with undefeated, experienced prospects for their first outing. Despite never being renowned for his power, "Sweet Pea" stopped him in 2. From there, Whitaker kept busy an a diet that mixed the usual tomato cans fed to an up-and-coming prospect with some opposition that was truly stiff for a rising boxer: 20-1-1 John Senegal in his in July 1985, 29-3 John Montes in March 1986, and 24-3 Rafael Williams (previously beaten by champs Livingstone Bramble and Hector Camacho) in August 1986.

1987 saw his first big win over a contender when Whitaker beat Roger Mayweather in a decisive points win for the NABF belt (a North American title).

Robbed

Winning the NABF belt set Whitaker on the road to being the mandatory challenger for the WBC Lightweight Title. He traveled to France to meet 100-6 Mexican fighter Jose Luis Ramirez. Whitaker was 15-0. Ramirez was a good fighter, but his six losses showed that he lost whenever he met another top contender. However, that night someone must have been smiling on him, because after putting on a spectacular boxing clinic, Whitaker lost a Split Decision. It was widely considered a complete highway robbery, with many journalists having Whitaker ahead by huge margins of 118-110.

Losing his first title shot may have stripped Whitaker of his "0," but it did little to dim his prospects. Less than a year later he challenged IBF Champion Greg Haugen, who had suffered only one loss: an avenged defeat to Vinnie Pazienza. Haugen was making his fifth defense of the belt, but Whitaker knocked him down in the 6th (Haugen's first trip to the canvas) and came close to pitching a shut out fight. Two scorecards had him winning by 120-107. Whitaker was finally a lightweight champion.

Revenge and Reign
In the meantime, Ramirez had defended his title to fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez and lost. Chavez moved up to 140 lbs and vacated the title, leaving it open to a rematch between Ramirez and Whitaker. This fight took place before Whitaker's hometown crowd at the Scopes in Norfolk, and no stinky judging interfered with the results this time. In August 1989, Whitaker once again came close to pitching a complete shut-out (120-109, 120-108, and 117-111), adding the WBC strap to his IBF title.

Whitaker fought three times and defended his belts twice before meeting his first real challenge: African great Azumah "The Professor" Nelson, the reigning king of the 130 lbs division. It was Whitaker's first outing against another fighter who would become a Hall of Famer, and when they met in May 1990, Whitaker showed what he was made of. His brilliant boxing led him to a solid points win, albeit one that was marred by a little fouling and a point deduction in the 12th.

August 1990 brought a showdown with Juan Nazario, the WBA Lightweight Champion. Nazario had been good enough to go 1-1 with hard-punching Edwin Rosario, but against Whitaker all he proved was that speed and guile can knock out a man just as handily as sheer power. Whitaker caught and stopped Nazario at 2:59 of the 1st Round. With a resounding (and rare) knockout victory, Whitaker become the Undisputed World Lightweight Champion, the first man to lay claim to that title since Roberto Duran abdicated the throne in 1978.

After a pair of thumping wins over journeymen, Whitaker defended against former featherweight champion Jorge Paez in October 1991. While not as lopsided as the typical Whitaker decision victory, it was still a clear win for the lightweight champion. It was also his last as the world lightweight champ. Whitaker moved up to 140 lbs in search of more championships and bigger paydays.

Moving On Up
A couple of tune-up wins at his new weight and Whitaker was challenging Rafael Pineda for the IBF 140 lbs championship in July 1992. A hitter from Colombia, Whitaker neutralized his power, caught Pineda off-balance, and knocked him down with a right to the body in the 8th. From that point on, Pineda went dirty and repeatedly fired away at Whitaker's family jewels, and it remains highly questionable why he wasn't disqualified. However, Whitaker went on to claim a lopsided points win and the title.

However, "Sweet Pea" had little use for the 140 lbs strap, and soon moved up to welterweight (147 lbs) to challenge James "Buddy" McGirt for the WBC belt McGirt had taken from hard-punching Simon Brown of Washington, DC. Meeting in March 1993, Whitaker won another of his clean points wins, albeit by not as huge a margin as he had become accustomed to.

Robbed Again
Pernell Whitaker was laying claim to the title of Pound for Pound King by 1993, but there was one obstacle in his path: Julio Cesar Chavez. The two fighters had thus far managed to dance around each other for years, but by September 1993 it was time for the 87-0 Mexican legend to face off with the greatest defensive wizard of the generation to meet. The first few stanzas were even or Chavez's show, but after that Whitaker's advantages in speed and slipperiness came to the fore. Befuddled, Chavez wore himself out trying to cut off and nail Whitaker, who started to increasingly beat Chavez on the inside when he was caught. Ringside observers were hard pressed to give Chavez even a single round after the 4th.

Yet Whitaker did not beat Chavez, or so two of the judges thought. One scorecard had Whitaker winning by a measly two rounds, and the other two called it a Draw. The ruling was so awful that even Sports Illustrated put Whitaker on the cover under the headline "Robbed!" Still, Whitaker was still the WBC Welterweight Champion, could claim a moral victory over Chavez, and was now the consensus Pound for Pound best in the world.

Welterweight King
Whitaker bounced back from the frustrating Chavez robbery by beating James McGirt in a 1994 rematch. He then jumped up to 154 lbs, fought Julio Cesar Vasquez and outpointed him to claim the WBA Super Welterweight Title, and then promptly vacated that belt and resumed his standing as the WBC Welterweight Champion. He racked up a string of wins that established him as the leading champion in a division that then included Felix Trinidad and Ike "Bazooka" Quartey. These included strong undefeated opponents, like the pair of wins over tough Puerto Rican Wilfredo Rivera, or his come-from-behind knockout of Cuban defector Diosbeyls Hurtado.

Being "the man" at 147 lbs led to his April 1997 encounter with the Golden Boy, Oscar de la Hoya. In a memorable tactical boxing match, Whitaker frustrated de la Hoya, giving him his toughest bout yet. However, Oscar was bigger, stronger, and most importantly faster than "Sweet Pea." White Whitaker was able to make de la Hoya swing and miss with his left hook, Oscar's jab was regularly finding its mark, as testified by the swelling on Whitaker's face after the fight. He caught de la Hoya off-balance and put him down in the 9th, but it wasn't enough. The judges gave de la Hoya a bigger points win than he probably deserved, but Oscar did enough to win the bout. Whitaker, however, bitterly contested the results and likely complained himself right out of a rematch.

Downslide
Although he was 33, HBO still looked at Whitaker as being a marketable commodity, and gave him a fight with 20-1 Andrei Pastraev in an eliminator for a shot at WBA champ Ike Quartey. Meeting Quartey likely would have gotten Whitaker a second welterweight title reign, as the stiff-but-powerful Quartey was the fighter most likely to have trouble with "Pea's" elusive style and quickness. However, in his bitterness over the de la Hoya fight, Whitaker was unable to restrain his fondness of partying: after a fight that was tougher than it should have been, he tested positive for cocaine, and his win over Pastraev became a No Contest.

After that, Pernell Whittaker found himself on the shelf for a year and a half. When he did comeback against IBF champ Felix Trinidad, he was rusty and clearly past his best. Trinidad knocked him down in the 2nd, broke Whitaker's jaw in the 6th (Whitaker claims it was off an elbow strike), and overwhelmed the man who was once too slick to be caught. He dropped a huge points loss. A knockout defeat to a journeyman two years later confirmed that Whitaker's time was done. He retired shortly thereafter.

Retirement and Legacy
Pernell Whitaker hung up the gloves with a pro career of 40-4-1 with 17 KOs. He held world titles in four different weight divisions, had reigned as the Undisputed World Lightweight Champion, and as the leading welterweight champion at a time when the division was very strong indeed. That welterweight reign lasted for four years and saw him defend the belt eight times. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006, and is widely recognized as being both the greatest defensive boxer since Willie Pep and as one of the greatest lightweights in boxing history.

Whitaker became a trainer in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia. He was jailed in 2003 for possession of cocaine.

Sources: boxrec.com; live fight footage; hbo.com/boxing/features/where_are_they_now/whitaker.html; sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2786103