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The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia -- Lineal Champion

Pernell Whitaker
("Sweet Pea")

BORN   January 2 1964; Norfolk, Virginia
HEIGHT 5-6
WEIGHT 138-155 lbs
MANAGER Shelley Finkel
TRAINERS George Benton, Lou Duva

Whitaker was a defensive specialist, as good as there ever was; He was not an over-powering hitter on offense but applied a steady attack while, at the same time, being extremely slippery and difficult to hit with a solid blow; He lost but four bouts - three taking place during his last four fights

During his career, Pernell won the WBA Light Middleweight Championship of the World, the WBC Welterweight Championship of the World, the IBF Light Welterweight Championship of the World, the WBC Lightweight Championship of the World, the WBA Lightweight Championship of the World, the IBF Lightweight Championship of the World and the NABF Lightweight Championship

He defeated such men as Azumah Nelson, James "Buddy" McGirt, Julio Cesar Vasquez, Roger Mayweather, Greg Haugen, Jose Luis Ramirez, Gary Jacobs, Jake Rodriguez, Harold Brazier, Wilfredo Rivera, Rafael Pineda, Leo Lomeli, Miguel Santana, Jorge Paez, Policarpo Diaz, Anthony Jones, Freddie Pendleton, Diosbelys Hurtado, John Montes, John Senegal and Rafael Williams

Many boxing historians rank Whitaker among the All-Time Top Ten Lightweights; Whitaker was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007

*** SOME AMATEUR BOUTS (201-14, 91 KO) ***

1982
Apr 12 Derrick Hudson              Charlotte, NC                    W  3
Apr 13 Robert Montoya              Charlotte, NC                   KO  1
Apr 14 Frankie Randall             Charlotte, NC                    W  3
Apr 16 Ray Ordonio                 Charlotte, NC                    W  3
Apr 17 Joe Belinc                  Charlotte, NC                    W  3
          -The previous 5 bouts were part of the National
          AAU Lightweight Championship; Whitaker won
Apr 27 Joe Belinc                  Corolado Springs, Co             W  3
          -National AAU Lightweight Championship Box-Off 
May  4 Ismaldi Pineda              Munich, Germany                  W  3
May  4 Christopher Ossai           Munich, Germany                  W  3
May  4 Hussein Khalili             Munich, Germany                  W  3
May  4 Milivoj Labudovic           Munich, Germany                  W  3
May  4 Angel Herrera Vera          Munich, Germany                  L  3
          -The previous 5 bouts were part of the Amateur
          World Lightweight Championship; Whitaker was 2nd
Oct    Kazimierz Adach             Las Vegas, Nv                    W  3
          -United States vs Poland Lightweight Competition
Nov 13 Angel Herrera Vera          Reno, Nv                         W  3
          -United States vs Cuba Lightweight Competition

1983
Feb 26 Viktor Demianenko           Las Vegas, Nv                    W  3
          -United States vs Soviet Union Lightweight Competition
Mar    Angel Herrera Vera          Reno, Nv                         W  3
Jun 25 Robert Byrd                 Corolado Springs, Co             W  3
Jun 29 Clifford Gray               Corolado Springs, Co             W  3
          -The previous 2 bouts were part of the National 
          Pre-Pan-American Games Lightweight Competition 
Aug  6 Clifford Gray               St. Louis, Mo                    W  3
          -Pre-Pan-American Lightweight Competition Box-Off
Aug 22 Kenworth Minus              Caracas, Venezuela              KO  1
Aug 25 Angel Beltre                Caracas, Venezuela               W  3
Aug 28 Angel Herrera Vera          Caracas, Venezuela               W  3
          -The previous 3 bouts were part of the Pan-American 
          Games Lightweight Competition; Whitaker won
Dec    Vukasin Dobrasinovic        Shreveport, La                  KO  2
          -United States vs Yugoslavia Lightweight Competition

1984
Feb 18 Angel Herrera Vera          Reno, Nv                         W  3
          -United States vs Cuba Lightweight Competition
Apr    Ramon Goire                 Los Ángeles, Nv                  W  4
Jun  7 Clifford Gray               Fort Worth, Tx                  KO  3
Jun  9 Anthony Haskins             Fort Worth, Tx                   W  3
Jun  9 Joe Belinc                  Fort Worth, Tx                   W  3
          -The previous 3 bouts were part of the Olympic Games 
          Tryouts Lightweight Competition; Whitaker won
Jul  6 Joe Belinc                  Las Vegas, Nv                    L  3
          -Olympic Games Tryouts Lightweight Championship Box-Off 
Jul  7 Joe Belinc                  Las Vegas, Nv                    W  3
          -Olympic Games Tryouts Lightweight Championship Box-Off 
Aug    Adolfo Mendez               Los Angeles, Ca                  W  3
Aug    Geoffrey Nyeko              Los Angeles, Ca                  W  3
Aug    Reiner Gies                 Los Angeles, Ca                  W  3
Aug    Chil-Sung Ciung             Los Angeles, Ca                  W  3
Aug    Luis Ortiz                  Los Angeles, Ca                 TK  2
          -The previous 5 bouts were part of the Olympic Games 
          Lightweight Competition; Whitaker won the Gold Medal


*** PROFESSIONAL BOUTS ***

1984
Nov 15 Ferrain Comeaux             New York, NY                    TK  2

1985
Jan 20 Danny Avery                 Atlantic City, NJ               TK  4
Mar 13 Mike Golden                 Norfolk, Va                     TK  4
Apr 20 Nick Parker                 Corpus Christi, Tx               W  6
Jul 20 John Senegal                Norfolk, Va                     KO  2
Aug 29 Teddy Hatfield              Atlanta, Ga                     KO  3
Nov 12 Jesus De La Cruz            Houston, Tx                     KO  2
          -Some sources report "KO 1" at "Norville, Tx"

1986
Mar  9 John Montes                 Hampton, Va                      W 10
Aug 16 Rafael Williams             Atlantic City, NJ                W 10
Oct  9 Rafael Gandarilla           New York, NY                     W 10
Dec 20 Alfredo Layne               Norfolk, Va                      W 10

1987
Mar 28 Roger Mayweather            Norfolk, Va                      W 12
          -NABF Lightweight Championship
Jun 28 Jim Flores                  Houston, Tx                     KO  1
Jul 25 Miguel Santana              Norfolk, Va                     TK  6
          -NABF Lightweight Championship;
          USBA Lightweight Championship;
Dec 19 Davey Montana               Paris, France                   KO  4

1988
Mar 12 Jose Luis Ramirez           Levallois-Perret, France         L 12
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World
Nov  2 Antonio Carter              Virginia Beach, Va              TK  4

1989
Feb 18 Greg Haugen                 Hampton, Va                      W 12
          -IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
Apr 30 Louie Lomeli                Norfolk, Va                     TK  3
          -IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
Aug 20 Jose Luis Ramirez           Norfolk, Va                      W 12
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World;
          IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
Dec 11 Martin Galvan               Paris, France                   TK  3

1990
Feb  3 Fred Pendleton              Atlantic City, NJ                W 12
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World;
          IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
May 19 Azumah Nelson               Las Vegas, Nv                    W 12
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World;
          IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
Aug 11 Juan Nazario                Stateline, Nv                   KO  1
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World;
          WBA Lightweight Championship of the World;
          IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
Nov 22 Benjie Marquez              Madrid, Spain                    W 10

1991
Feb 23 Anthony Jones               Las Vegas, Nv                    W 12
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World;
          WBA Lightweight Championship of the World;
          IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
Jul 27 Policarpo Diaz              Norfolk, Va                      W 12
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World;
          WBA Lightweight Championship of the World;
          IBF Lightweight Championship of the World
Oct  5 Jorge Paez                  Reno, Nv                         W 12
          -WBC Lightweight Championship of the World;
          WBA Lightweight Championship of the World;
          IBF Lightweight Championship of the World

1992
Jan 18 Harold Brazier              Philadelphia, Pa                 W 10
Apr    -Whitaker relinquished the Lightweight Championship of the World
May 22 Jerry Smith                 Mexico City, Mexico             KO  1
Jul 18 Rafael Pineda               Las Vegas, Nv                    W 12
          -IBF Light Welterweight Championship of the World
Dec  1 Benny Baez                  Virginia Beach, Va              KO  1

1993
Mar  6 James "Buddy" McGirt        New York, NY                     W 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World
Sep 10 Julio Cesar Chavez          San Antonio, Tx                  D 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World

1994
Apr  9 Santos Cardona              Norfolk, Va                      W 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World
Oct  1 James "Buddy" McGirt        Norfolk, Va                      W 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World

1995
Mar  4 Julio Cesar Vasquez         Atlantic City, NJ                W 12
          -WBA Light Middleweight Championship of the World
Mar  5 -Whitaker relinquished the WBA Light Middleweight 
          Championship of the World
Aug 26 Gary Jacobs                 Atlantic City, NJ                W 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World
Nov 18 Jake Rodriguez              Atlantic City, NJ               KO  6
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World

1996
Apr 12 Wilfredo Rivera             Cupecoy Bay, St. Maarten, NA     W 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World
Sep 20 Wilfredo Rivera             Miami, Fl                        W 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World

1997
Jan 24 Diosbelys Hurtado           Atlantic City, NJ               TK 11
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World
Apr 12 Oscar De La Hoya            Las Vegas, Nv                    L 12
          -WBC Welterweight Championship of the World
Oct 17 Andrei Pestriaev            Mashantucket, Ct                ND 12
          -Whitaker was awarded the decision but it was changed
          to a "No Decision" after Pernell tested positive for cocaine

1998
Apr 25 Ike Quartey                 Las Vegas, Nv                  SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled but cancelled;
          Whitaker tested positive for cocaine - 
          for the second time
        
1999
Feb 20 Felix Trinidad              New York, NY                     L 12
          -IBF Welterweight Championship of the World

2001
Apr 27 Carlos Bojorquez            Stateline, Nv                   LT  4


*** Assistance Provided By Seth Callis ***

Review courtesy of Tracy Callis, Historian, International Boxing Research Organization
 
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