On July 14, Boxing legend Pernell Whitaker passed away, leaving a huge sadness for his fans. He was a boxer who brought great joy to fans during matches. But few people know what his life and practice were like to achieve such success.

Passionate about boxing since childhood

Whitaker is passionate about boxing and started interacting with it when he was only nine years old. He always gave his all to achieve his dream. And of course, he suffered failures in life. He lost twice his bid for the Olympic gold medal to Ángel Herrera Vera at the 1982 World Championships final.

Results for Pernell Whitaker

However, he also achieved many successes in his career. He had 214 amateur fights, winning 201, 91 of them by knockout. Notably in the final of the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas. He defeated Luis Ortiz and crowned his amateur career with an Olympic gold medal in 1984.

Undisputed champion

Not in vain, Pernell Whitaker became an American professional boxer competing from 1984 to 2001. His illustrious career began here when he was a world champion in four weight classes. are lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and light middleweight.

Whitaker defeated former world champion Alfredo Layne on December 20, 1986, a former WBA Featherweight and WBC Light Welterweight whose title was held by Roger Mayweather in 1987. However, after suffering his first professional defeat when the referee decided awarded the WBC Lightweight title to Ramirez in Levallois, France on March 12, 1988, he collapsed and had to start everything from the beginning.

In a match with Greg Haugen on February 18, 1989, Whitaker knocked out his opponent and took home the IBF Lightweigh title. After that, he added to his collection of WBC & The Ring championship belts by rematching boxer Ramirez on August 20.

Results for Pernell Whitaker

From here on, his career continued to advance. In 1990, he defended his Lightweight title against Freddie Pendleton and Featherweight Champion Azumah Nelson. On August 11, 1990, he defeated Juan Nazario in just one round to win the WBA title and become the lightweight champion. His highlights of 1991 were his victory over Jorge Páez and his fight against European champion Poli Diaz. Becoming a champion, Whitaker in the following years dominated boxing’s middleweight divisions during the first half of the 1990s.

Pernell Whitaker was voted “Best Boxer” by the famous boxing magazine Ring Magazine in 1989.

Strange boxing style

Whitaker is known for his excellent defensive skills and is a formidable opponent for anyone. He is not a super puncher or KO artist with special skills, but his style of play is extremely difficult to grasp and very difficult for his opponents to hit.

It is these strange styles that have helped him defeat many formidable opponents such as: Rafael Pineda – Colombian puncher, Chávez, Oscar De La Hoya, Trinidad,… to defend his title of weight class champion. IBF light welterweight, WBC and lineal welterweight, Super WBA welterweight. Especially when he fought Vásquez, this was a history-making fight for Whitaker, as he became the fourth fighter in history – along with Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran – to own the title in 4 different weight classes.

Results for Pernell Whitaker

His last fight took place on April 27, 2001, against opponent Carlos Bojorquez. Whitaker, entered the fight at 155 pounds. Unfortunately, he broke his collarbone in round 4 and was forced to concede defeat and announce his retirement afterward. He finished his professional career with an official record of 40-4-1 (17 KOs).

Retiring does not mean giving up everything

After retiring in 2001, Whitaker returned to the sport as a coach. In 2002, The Ring ranked him tenth on their list of “The 100 Greatest Fighters of the Past 80 Years.” In 2006, Whitaker was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Whitaker became a boxing coach in Virginia in December 2005. Age may take away Whitaker’s peak, his knowledge of martial arts and experience in top combat have made him want to continue to be involved with Boxing, at least as a coach to pass on to the boxers. next door.

Results for Pernell Whitaker

His first student, Dorin Spivey, fought in the 2006 bouts. He later trained young talent Joel Julio. Whitaker also trained Calvin Brock in the heavyweight division. Recently in November 2006, this puncher fought for the IBF and IBO titles against Wladimir Klitschko but he felt defeated at the moment.