Pernell Whitaker v Floyd Mayweather Jr

Pernell Whitaker v Floyd Mayweather Jr
The greatest defensive fighter since the 1960s vs the greatest defensive fighter since him...

Absolute primes, and any weight from 135-147lb.

 

Whitaker was better defensively, slightly, but mayweather had the edge in offence, especially the transition from defence to offense. Both men are a nightmare for the other and so it's a close fight at any weight but Floyd gets the benefit of most of the decisions.

 

For a start, Whitaker never came close to being beaten (except 'robbed', that is) at 135lb, hardly lost a round....and fought how many belt-holders?
Mayweather has arguably done the same but with rather 'skewed' conditions favorable to him...

 

It's a tough fight for both guys but mayweather is bigger stronger and rangier and since they have otherwise equivalent skills his physical attributes tip the scales in his favour.

 

I don't think the bigger, stronger, rangier argument hold water here - because a prime, absolute prime, De la Hoya was bigger, stronger and rangier than Mayweather, and Whitaker made DLH look a damn fool. opcorn:

 

Yes but my point is that Floyd is smarter, less predictable and more elusive than a guy like Oscar , so because of that his size advantage will be an important factor

 

And Pernell is arguably smarter, far less predictable and easily far more elusive than Mayweather, so, you know...

 

Basically Sly, here is Sweet Pea making your Money-boy look a fool and you hate to admit it.... :nono:

 

And he's a southpaw.

 

Floyd has VERY LITTLE case for winning this fight at 135. Whitaker was quite simply a level above Floyd at 135, whether Sly will admit that or not it's the truth.

140 and 147 it's closer, but I still favor Pea.

154 is the only weight where I'd give Floyd the edge to win.

 

Corley ruffled him, Judah definitely matched/wobbled him early doors....so Pea definitely has the edge there.




(I didn't even have to mention Reggie 'The Animal' Sanders)

 

Now now...you've clearly used Adobe Premiere Elements 9 to try and dis-credit Mayweather's supremeness. :nono:

 

Yeah...I guess Sweet Pea was performing better at that age. ;)

 

This

 

I'd favour pernel to nick 7 or 8 rounds but I won't pretend it's a mismatch

 

Nah in fact I will pretend! Sweet pea turns him inside out and back to front! 12-0. He be-befaffles floyd so thoroughly that, during the middle rounds, he's overtaken by strange & unfamiliar moments of cosmic insight where he begins to faintly comprehend the automous existence and will of other human beings, the possibility of real and lasting love, that people might sometimes be generous without hope of reward. Unfortunately the fight continues and further be-baffling leads floyd to begin merely to believe that roger is the secretary of agriculture and that he's riding an air-hose in his corner between rounds. In his dressing room later, still confused and intensely jealous of roger's appointment to governmental office, floyd elects to kill himself. Unfortunately the gun is the type with a little flag that pops out with the word 'BANG!' on it. The flag pokes his eye out and, although forced into retirement, he lives - a chastened human being who, for the first time, enjoys the simple pleasures of life like two way conversations & farming

 

::

 

Lol

 

Y'all must consider how hard it is to win a round off a prime Floyd. Consider if you will the mayweather that fought Gatti. That guy was sharp as a knife. Y'all will say some shit like " well that was Gatti". Well we talk about how Ali looked against williams and point to the Roy Jones that beat Richard hall etc. Gatti wasn't made to look foolish like that by anyone, not even de la Hoya. Whitaker winning 7 rounds off that Floyd ??? Y'all must be smoking some good crack

 

Winning rounds off of Whitaker was of course, famously easy

 

Was all Pea's shit paid for?

 

Oh shit! You got me there... Floyd 12-0!

 

Why do you guys have to be binary? This juvenile way of arguing is becoming annoying. I said from the get go that both guys are equally difficult to beat. An OBJECTIVE mind admits that this is a close fight either way.

 

At 135 I don't think it's close.

Not a shutout, but Whitaker wins clearly.

The arguments you use for Floyd are usually based on his longevity. Floyd stayed excellent for a VERY LONG TIME. That's the argument you use for him against Leonard, Jones, Ali, Whitaker, ect...

That's all well and good, but fighters are really measured by their peaks/primes.

Floyd's peak/prime was NEVER EVER on par with Whitaker, Leonard, Jones, ect...

It just wasn't. And AT THE TIME of his prime, everybody knew he wasn't as good as those guys.

 

Pretty close overall in both defense and offense. Floyd has more consistent pop in his shots. Whitaker could do more damage with single left hands, due to timing or loading up on it or whatever. He unified the LW titles on a single left hand in the 1st round against Nazario, basically ended the Lomeli fight with one left hand, rocked Chavez briefly in the 8th round of their fight, and turned the Hurtado fight around with one left hand, and then almost killed him with the follow up lefts while Mercante Jr. stood there and watched. I guess Mercante Jr. can be really active when it comes to helping fighters "suck it up" and deliberately ignoring the requests of the chief second, but just stands there when guys almost get killed with punches.

Whitaker had the superior jab as his right jab was simply brilliant, although Floyd's jab is excellent too, as he has the best jab to the body I have ever seen. Floyd's left hook is better than Whitaker's right hook IMO. Floyd's straight right is better overall in effectiveness than Whitaker's straight left. Whitaker has the edge in workrate and combinations. They are both excellent body-punchers. I give Whitaker the slight edge due to him letting his hands go more and how frequently he contorted his body to get the angles on body punches. There is one instance early in the 8th round against Hatton that I've seen probably 1,000 times because it's so great to watch, when Floyd pivots his body to get the angles on these bodyshots against Hatton (during the part when Manny Steward says Ricky is bringing out the best out of Floyd). He then again uses the jab to the body to set up a right to Ricky's head.

Whitaker did this quite often. He got these weird angles due to his body movements and how he got low. Unorthodox but not necessarily technically unsound either, it would give him angles for offense and also for defense.

Anyway, on offense they are pretty close as they both have areas in which they were better at. Whitaker had an edge on defense. I doubt anyone would get hurt since they were defensive masters and the chances of Whitaker landing a shot on Floyd like he did against Nazario or Lomeli is very slim.

I think Whitaker's pesky jab and superior workrate would be the difference in a close decision. 7-5

 

Watch Whitaker against Roger to see how INEFFECTIVE the shoulder roll style was against Whitaker. Yeah, I'm not stupid - obviously Floyd was a lot better than his Uncle. But he'd have a lot of the same problems with Whitaker's style.

 

Now THIS is an objective post, a thinking man's post. I disagree with the outcome but I respect your breakdown. Why can't some of the other guys around here think through a fight like this instead of just the kneejerk reactions and picking a guy because they like him better and because he's a legend of yesteryear.

 

Floyds not stronger than P at 135. P was better at lw and a southpaw which consistently gave Floyd problems.The Castillo fight showed Floyd was still a young fighter with some mental weakness and while it's obviously a different fight, I think the lw Floyd kind of falls apart against P.

The post Castillo Floyd is a more mentally prepared better fighter but he still gets out slicked and out thought.

 

Only if you're Mexican.