In 97 I'd favor Pea by close decision, but Tszyu would give him a tough night. The early 90's Pea beats Tszyu by a wide margin.
Agreed with X. Tzsyu was good with slicksters and he gives a tough fight for anybody but Pea, even at 97, was not your average slickster
Do you know the context for that one? In the scenario I outlined, I cannot see that happening. Whitaker would have to drop a few extra pounds & was already struggling with focus by '97 --- we all know why --- & struggles with Rivera & Hurtado in recent times were hallmarks of what I thought at the time was a stunningly swift decline. Tszyu's best quality, IMO, was his timing, & I can see success for him picking his shots as he tried to walk an ageing Whitaker down. In this match, I would select Whitaker close, but Tszyu would definitely have his moments, & probably win anywhere from four-to-seven rounds, with a chance to eek out the decision. With that said, if the Whitaker of his Lightweight days moved to 140lbs. & challenged any version of Tszyu, it's a landslide success, & perhaps that's what Mayweather had in mind with his quote.
the context was when i asked him who would win if Tszyu were to fight Whitaker, considering he fought them both. I guess i shouldve asked him how Tszyu wouldve done with the washed up version of Whitaker to which youre referring.
even this fading version of Whitaker wins a decision... if you take vintage sweet pea, like the one who pounded Rafael Pineda in 1992 at 140 and put that guy in the ring withy the best Tszyu you could muster, Whitaker wins a wide decision
I was watching recently Whitaker & De La Hoya. There is a period I had forgotten during the second round, where De La Hoya lunges forward with a jab, misses, & Whitaker pulls back, ducking & bending low at the knees. De La Hoya attacks with several punches, & Whitaker makes every one of them miss with head movement alone. Just remarkable. Tszyu was a little less panicky than that De La Hoya, & probably wouldn't be as open as that, but I still think he drops a decision. I also thought De La Hoya edged Whitaker out that night. A point, maybe two, as Whitaker had trouble pulling the trigger. It was close, though --- I cannot see how people would've had Whitaker winning wide enough to call it a robbery, yet many do.
I thought Whitaker won it... regardless of whether or not he was aggressive enough, he still wound up out-throwing and outlanding Oscar... I think it was a shitty decision but it wasnt Whitaker/Chavez or Whitaker/Ramirez (maybe the worst of all time) so I couldnt call it a robbery
Whitaker-Ramirez I takes a backseat for publicity to Whitaker-Chavez as horrible decisions go, but you can believe it shouldn't. Absolutely horrific.
Ramirez managed to win 3 rounds, only after Whitaker broke his hand its just an unbelievable decision
I was fortunate enough to attend the return fight --- myself being a well-established Whitaker fan (then, & for life). There were buttons at a stand you could pin on your chest emblazoned, "No Way, Jose!" which actually referenced Jose Suilaman. I was a little worried about the bout, actually. Ramirez is & always was under-rated, & though he had been completely bemused by a Whitaker hampered long into the night by injury, I knew even then Whitaker was the type of fighter for whom complacency could come calling. The more gifted fighters are prone to such foibles. "Hard work beats talent," as the addage goes, "when talent doesn't work hard." Fortuitously, Whitaker was on-song, & Ramirez, though tenacious, simply bereft of answers. The feeling in the crowd as the cards were coming to light was not worried, in spite of the last outing. Things were going to be righted. I was foolish enough to believe Whitaker could never again be so dominant in a fight & not win a decision as he had in '89. Chavez & King were waiting, though.
Ramirez was definitely a very good fighter and very tough but that rematch made the first bout look like a draw by comparison and you are right, Don King proved time and time again that no distance fight was a sure thing in the hands of his judges
I love that fight he really made DLH frustrated.. DLH couldn't hit him clean and DLH is a good precise puncher Pea won that fight
Do you subscribe to the view he won it wide enough to justify calling it a robbery? I had it for De La Hoya by a point. To me, a robbery needs at least a three-point edge to the alleged victim, in the majority of cases. I could not find such a lead in this fight for Whitaker.
