R.I.P. Sweet Pea

This was not news I expected to hear today. R.I.P. to one of the best to ever do it.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — World boxing champion and Olympic gold medalist Pernell ‘Sweat Pea’ Whitaker was killed Sunday in Virginia Beach.
A driver hit the 55-year-old Virginia native Sunday night at the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Baker Road, according to police investigating the “vehicle/pedestrian” crash.
“When officers arrived on scene they located an adult male victim who had been hit by a vehicle,” a Virginia Beach Police spokesperson said. “[Whitaker] succumbed to his injuries on the scene. The driver of the vehicle remained on scene with police.”
The crash remains under investigation.
During his nearly 20-year boxing career, Whitaker — a 2006 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee — held the lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and light middleweight titles. He also won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Boxing champ Pernell ‘Sweat Pea’ Whitaker killed in Virginia Beach

 

Damn. What a freak way to go. RIP Sweet Pea, easily one of the top 20 greatest to ever do it.

 

Just now found out. How fucked up. A true ATG. RIP Sweet Pea.

 

Terrible news. R.I.P. Pea

 

Seems like he couldnt dodge that one. Rip

 

If we could trade lives, i wish Sweet Pea was still be alive, and a certain pimp/woman abuser was dead.

 

Who cares about that. Life is unfair, deal with it

 

RIP ... a legend and my favorite

Terribly unlucky way to go

 

R.I.P.

 

Whitaker still alive and this canucklehead dicklicker who pollutes the forum dead would work better for me

 

Seems an odd way to go alright. Better than Vernon Forrest way to go though. I didn't realize he was that told seems like only yesterday he was fighting Trinidad! Then again that was 20 years ago now. Time flies. RIP.

 

RIP. Guy was a little genius.

 

Just heard about this a few minutes ago. Quite the shock. There's never a good way to go, but I suppose its better that it was an accident and not a drug overdose or homicide.

 

I honestly thought he'd OD or be shot in some drug-related BS.

The fact that he was basically a coke-addict and fighting, and winning, against good guys back in the day........made him a lock for post-retirement tragedy

Never happened though.

 

RIP. Was such a talented boxer.

 

Coke addicts don't usually OD per say.

Instead, the years of cocaine abuse fucks up their hearts, and they die of cardiac arrest (Aaron Pryor).

When I initial heard he passed, I thought it was a heart attack.

 

Vernon Forrest shouldn't have tried to run down the dudes who robbed him. Especially considering he had his 11-year-old godson with him.

Whatever they stole from him could have been replaced. But Forrest was carrying, and decided to go after the dude shooting.

Then the robber's accomplice came up and shot Forrest in the back 8 times.

 

Yeah the Forrest murder was horrible. Vernon seemed like a really good egg too, trying to give back.

 

I remember Whitaker was at the WBC convention in Vegas around 5 or 6 years ago. We saw him at the bar and my friend offered to buy him a drink thinkin he'd get a beer or something. Whitaker orders a double Remy Martin, $30.

 

Good. They should have known that Whittaker would see the guy coming. They're just lucky it wasn't Pavlik.

 

I think that’s what also happened to Johnny Tapia. His heart was fucked from all the massive coke and other abuse over the years.

 

Massive what?

 

Massive cocaine abuse and probably a bunch of other drugs.

 

It was likely more than just drug abuse that made Tapia's heart give out. The poor bastard was a tormented soul, and studies show that lifetime trauma can affect the heart.

Tapia was never gonna live long.

 

Lol, irish showing his ignorance. Nobody od on cocaine

 

RIP Sweet Pea

 

rip...i think one of the greatest fighters to die recently

was he top 10-15 atg?

 

Yes

 

Yeah they do. Len Bias. Guy from Blind Melon. Not nearly at the rate of heroin, but it does and can happen.

 

Uhhh.............Cocaine get's mixed in with shit. People OD all the time. Maybe it's the rat poison or the ephedrine they cut it with or the heroin they mix it with. People snort coke and keel over. Maybe they bang their fucking head or die of hypoxia. Post Mortem is going to read " Death by druuuuuuuuuugus bwoy"

"Nobody ever got brain damage by punches to the head, it's the lack of blood supply that does you"- Adonis Gvozdykson