Remembrances of Pernell Whitaker

By Doveed Linder

17/07/2019

Remembrances of Pernell Whitaker

In recent years, I have had the privilege of interviewing numerous people affiliated with Main Events, the promotion company who promoted former 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist and four-division world champion Pernell Whitaker.  Whitaker was struck by a car last Sunday, passing away at age 55.  Below are a few quotes about Whitaker, from people who knew him well.
 
KATHY DUVA, promoter
 
“We told Pernell before the fight (against Julio Cesar Chavez) that you’re going to know you’re winning when it gets so quiet in the arena that you can hear a pin drop.  That was what we kept telling him as he was walking into the ring – “Pin drop!  Pin drop!”  That’s what we were waiting for and then the moment came.  It got so quiet in that arena that you could hear a pin drop.  We were fairly confident that he was winning the fight.  Mexican fans know their boxing.  They’re not just out there rooting for their guy.  If you win, they’ll respect you.  Everybody knew “Pete” had beaten Chavez.  There were like eighty thousand people in the Alamo Dome and they all booed the decision [officially a draw, but universally agreed that Whitaker was robbed].  
 
When the fight was over, we all went out for a meal at a Mexican restaurant.  “Pete” wasn’t with us, but the rest of the team was there and we were all wearing “Team Whitaker” jackets.  The place got really quiet and then suddenly everybody stood up and cheered.  They were yelling, “Your guy won!  He was robbed!”  That took a little of the sting away, but not too much.  “Pete” was very upset.  Everyone was telling him, “You won!  You won!”  He said, “Yeah, but that record book is not going to say that.”  The cover of Sports Illustrated said “Robbed” and had his picture on it.  It was big news.  Chavez’s people never gave us a rematch.  They just got as far away from Pernell Whitaker as they could.
 
After every fight, I would bring Pernell his beer while he was doing his post fight press conference.  That was the rule.  I had to get him his beer.  I would walk over and say, “I saw you got hit twice.”  He would say, “No, I got hit three times.”  That would be a lot, for Pernell to get hit three times.  He never let anyone hit him.  He just frustrated the hell out of them.  And he made it fun.  Guys who are defensive like him can be boring, but I never found him boring.  I thought he was wildly entertaining.  He was always on the edge of danger.  
 
I’ll never forget his fight with Roger Mayweather.  It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.  The elastic on Mayweather’s trunks broke, so “Pete” started tugging on his trunks.  Finally, he pulled them all the way down and they landed on Roger’s ankles.  “Pete” went to a neutral corner and he started having a conversation with Jim Lampley, rather than paying attention to what he was doing.  Then they waved him back in and Mayweather knocked him down!  And then he got up and won the fight!  He was just such a master at what he did.  He was the boss.  He orchestrated everything that happened in that ring.  It was like watching poetry.  It really was.”
 
JOE SOUZA, cutman
 
“Whitaker was a man within himself.  He was such a professional.  He was the type of person who didn’t like people falling all over him.  I remember one time he walked into my gym in San Fernando downtown and people were all over him.  He said, “Hold it!  I’m here to train.  When I get done training, I’ll sign all the autographs you want.  Right now, I’m here to train.”  That was it and that’s what I liked about him.”
 
ROGER BLOODWORTH, trainer
 
“When I started working for Main Events, they had some very good fighters – Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, John John Molina…  While I was there, I worked with George Benton, who was the head trainer.  Ronnie Shields and I were the assistants.  I learned a lot from the other trainers, and I also learned from the fighters.  One fighter who taught me a lot was Pernell Whitaker.  Pernell was the kind of guy who, until he really knew you, he kind of left you alone.  But I liked him a lot and we got along good.  The more time I spent around Pernell, the more I learned about boxing.  That boy could fight.  He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.  People talk about these young guys who are coming up now like Vasyl Lomachenko, who is a damn good fighter.  But I’m telling you, he’d have his problems with Pernell.  He just amazed me with what he was able to do.  I’ve never met another fighter who had as much ability as he did.”
 
MARK BRELAND, former 1984 Olympic teammate
 
“Me, Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, Tyrell Biggs – all of us had always been in different tournaments together (before the Olympics).  We had traveled together and we were already like a team.  There was no jealousy with anybody.  Everybody wanted everybody else to win, and we gave it our all.  Today, if any of us see each other, we just start laughing.  Not for any reason.  We just laugh, probably because of all the stupid stuff we might have done back in the day.  We had a lot of fun back then.”
 
 
MAX KELLERMAN, longtime boxing commentator
 
"The best lightweight I ever saw passed away today. Yes, that includes Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather, Ike Williams, and anyone else you want to mention. RIP Pernell Whitaker." 
 
***

ABOUT PERNELL WHITAKER: One of the greatest boxers of recent decades, and perhaps the greatest lightweight and the greatest defensive boxer of all time, Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker died over the weekend in Virginia when he was struck by a car. Whitaker, age 55, is a Hall of Famer who fought the very best and compiled an endless resume of amazing boxing accomplishments. He won Olympic gold in 1984, and then embarked on a 17-year pro career that saw him become the undipsuted world lightweight champion and win additional world titles at 140, 147 and 154 pounds. Over the course of his illustrious career, Whitaker defeated Azumah Nelson, Roger Mayweather, Greg Haugen, Freddie Pendleton, Jorge Paez and Jose Luis Ramirez at lightweight, passed through 140 pounds where he picked up a title vs. Rafael Pineda, then moved up to welterweight where he defeated Buddy McGirt twice.

In 1993, Whitaker easily outboxed the great Julio Cesar Chavez (who was 87-0 at the time) in a welterweight unification super fight in front of 90,000 fans in San Antonio. However, the verdict was wrongly-- and likely corruptly-- changed to a draw by the WBC just beofre bein g read to the crowd, thereby preserving Chavez's undefeated record in name only. Whitaker's performance vs. Chavez was properly viewed by fans and media alike as a win and it rightly garnered him pound-for-pound recognition as the sport's very best. Whitaker continued winning for another four years, including a 1995 154-pound title win against Julio Cesar Vasquez. By 1997 and 1999, respectively, Whitaker took on the young lions of boxing's next generation, losing very competitive fights to hall of famers Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad.  His last fight was in 2001, a fight that saw him break a bone in his shoulder and retire for good.

 
NOTE: Doveed Linder is the author of RINGSIDE: INTERVIEWS WITH 24 FIGHTERS AND BOXING INSIDERS, a trilogy of books, each consisting of 24 in depth interviews with various fighters, trainers, corner men, promoters, commentators, and officials, including “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Roy Jones, Jr., Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Kathy Duva, Angelo Dundee, Bob Arum, Emanuel Steward, Larry Merchant, Lou DiBella, Ann Wolfe, Joe Souza, J Russell Peltz, Gerry Cooney, Leon Spinks, Al Bernstein, Naazim Richardson, Harold Lederman, George Chuvalo, Steve Smoger, Winky Wright, Ronnie Shields, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Duane Ford, and Jackie Kallen.  The foreword for the first RINGSIDE book was written by Boxingtalk publisher Greg Leon, and is available on Amazon.com.