Is Mayweather better than Pernell Whitaker?

i know i'm a hater and all...... but who the hell did floyd fight that was bigger than him at 147? sharmba mitchell is a lifelong super lightweight. so is hatton. judah fought a lot at 147 but he's still a more natural 140 guy. floyd to me is a natural 135-140 guy. the only natural 147 guy floyd fought was baldomir and baldomir , though very thick , is a small welterweight being only 5'7. Judah is naturally bigger who was far more filled out at that weight, Baldomir as well as de la hoya. You can say hes a "natural 140lb guy" floyd is a natural 130/135lber, Judah is still the bigger guy IMO of course, with faster hands.

Old Gringo, its not that i think you are wrong because this is subjective, but i dont think you can compare the 147 floyd fighting guys mostly bigger than him, to if floyd fought whitaker at say 140 where he was unloading at will, whitakers jab would have troubled him yes, but at the sametime floyd would have also stepped up the workrate, you know floyd before 147 threw twice as many punches with deadly accuracy. i know i'm a hater and all...... but who the hell did floyd fight that was bigger than him at 147? sharmba mitchell is a lifelong super lightweight. so is hatton. judah fought a lot at 147 but he's still a more natural 140 guy. floyd to me is a natural 135-140 guy. the only natural 147 guy floyd fought was baldomir and baldomir , though very thick , is a small welterweight being only 5'7.

Old Gringo, its not that i think you are wrong because this is subjective, but i dont think you can compare the 147 floyd fighting guys mostly bigger than him, to if floyd fought whitaker at say 140 where he was unloading at will, whitakers jab would have troubled him yes, but at the sametime floyd would have also stepped up the workrate, you know floyd before 147 threw twice as many punches with deadly accuracy.

Both are masters of boxing. What do you guys think? No chance. He needs to prove he can beat elite fighters in their prime. So far all he has shown me is he can be beaten by Castillo, outboxed by Judah for 4 rounds, and struggle with a 34 year old DLH with 5 losses on his record. Whitaker beat elite fighters in their prime. I rate him VERY highly.

Yeh Tua's just too biased for his own good sometimes. we'll see...... maybe i'll give floyd more credit after he's been gone a while. i hate lewis too but i give him credit now that he's gone. floyd to me was a waste of talent......

If by pwn you mean either avoid the fight altogether or if he does actually take a hard fight, he runs like a woman all night. Yeah total pwnage. Make like your boy Gayweather and dont tangle with the poooon...stick to the sausage where you're most comfortable. And I'll waste my time where I damn well please. Let me guess your a Cotto, Margacheeto or a Pacqueerao fan, you come off more bitter than a pint of Fosters and the only gash you ever get is when you cut yourself over Floyd's success, don't worry son, jog on and waste your time somewhere else, your a waste of sperm

The only thing Mayweather is better than Pernell at is being GAY. Floyd pwns your favourite fighter

Pernell was one of those guys who was truly willing to fight anyone, anywhere, at any weight. The same can't be said about Floyd I wouldn't really put this down to their personalities. Just the condition they are currently in. Back in Pernell's time losing didn't really matter so much also I don't think he was earning as much as Floyd. With Floyd I don't think it's so much ducking but him going where the most money is available. Notice how early in his career he fought who ever was placed in front of him. It's only when he moved up and started Purusing Golden ( Egg) De La Hoya that some fighters were ducked. If Pernell was in the same situation, he would probably do the samething, start chasing the dollar signs. _______ I'm just going to say this. From my personal view point, 30 million vs 10 million you think I would give a **** about who people think I should fight?

Pernell was a southpaw who would make you miss by slipping and countering you while using lateral movement to box you silly. Floyd is a conventional fighter who uses his hand speed and foot speed to pot shot and run. There is a very distinct and glaring style difference between these two guys. Floyd is a slugger who chooses not to slug, if he wanted to he would be known as a power puncher with one punch KO power. Pernell wasn't a heavy hitter at all, he always had to wear down opponents with combinations and never really had one punch KO power. Pernell was one of those guys who was truly willing to fight anyone, anywhere, at any weight. The same can't be said about Floyd.

Absolutely. Both of these guys were great fighters with top notch skills. It's fun to go back and forth as to who would prevail in a fight knowing what we already know about them. They would be competitive with anyone throughout history. I personally feel that Whitaker consistently proved his skills against better competition, therefore his skills are at least even with Mayweathers overall, if not exceeding. They're close so that breaks the tie somewhat. It's tricky trying to compare these two against each other because they were so different in several small but significant ways (in my opinion). They shared many of the same traits as far as being defensively apt, slick, somewhat flashy fighters. Past all of that I thought they operated so differently though. Someone in here said earlier that they felt the two men thought alike in the ring. I don't think that is true. I feel Mayweather, especially later in his career, knew what he had to do to win at all times. One of the best things about him is his mental strength. He wass always aware of what was going on and he rarely got dragged out of his game plan. Pernell, on the other hand, seemed to give off the vibe that he felt he was so superior to his opponent. That's usually when he ended up getting caught too. Once somebody challenged him he would turn it up and that generally left his opponents helpless. This topic will be debated forever though because Mayweather is the latest, greatest defensive fighter to come along. yep, both great fighters Whitaker was never afraid to trade with an opponent, he worked the body exceptionally and was a great combo puncher, his defence was thrilling to watch and he was very ring smart Mayweather was a master at fighting in the pocket, he would stand chest to chest with his opponent and with his perfect sense of timing and space would counter exquisitely with every punch in the book, he is the most accurate puncher i have ever seen, he took less risks as he got older but it arguably made him more unbeatable Neither lost in their primes ( discard the ramirez fight ) and both were at the top of the sport for long periods of time, Mayweather may yet still surpass Whitaker as possible fights with JMM, Pacquiao, Mosley and Cotto loom, we'll see what he does

You always get your fair share of idiots Resume wise..,Whitaker was better, no debate Head to Head i wouldn't bet against either fighter, Mayweather may get criticised but he has proven to me that in a P4P sense ( If he weighed the same as his opponent ) he is as good as anybody I wouldn't write off Floyd or Pea against anyone from 130 - 140 in history, against guys like JCC, Duran, Pryor etc they would stand a good chance of winning Absolutely. Both of these guys were great fighters with top notch skills. It's fun to go back and forth as to who would prevail in a fight knowing what we already know about them. They would be competitive with anyone throughout history. I personally feel that Whitaker consistently proved his skills against better competition, therefore his skills are at least even with Mayweathers overall, if not exceeding. They're close so that breaks the tie somewhat. It's tricky trying to compare these two against each other because they were so different in several small but significant ways (in my opinion). They shared many of the same traits as far as being defensively apt, slick, somewhat flashy fighters. Past all of that I thought they operated so differently though. Someone in here said earlier that they felt the two men thought alike in the ring. I don't think that is true. I feel Mayweather, especially later in his career, knew what he had to do to win at all times. One of the best things about him is his mental strength. He wass always aware of what was going on and he rarely got dragged out of his game plan. Pernell, on the other hand, seemed to give off the vibe that he felt he was so superior to his opponent. That's usually when he ended up getting caught too. Once somebody challenged him he would turn it up and that generally left his opponents helpless. This topic will be debated forever though because Mayweather is the latest, greatest defensive fighter to come along.

Awful take on Whitaker. This post just exudes ignorance. Whitaker was slow? Whitaker is overrated because he was dropped by a two division champion, Roger Mayweather, in his 12th professional fight? I presume you know little about Roger Mayweather the fighter. Convenient how you ignore the fact that Whitaker largely dominated the rest of the fight. I guess he should have been fighting people like Hector Arroyo or Angelo Nunez instead. Couple of world beaters there. Christ this forum is sad now. You always get your fair share of idiots Resume wise..,Whitaker was better, no debate Head to Head i wouldn't bet against either fighter, Mayweather may get criticised but he has proven to me that in a P4P sense ( If he weighed the same as his opponent ) he is as good as anybody I wouldn't write off Floyd or Pea against anyone from 130 - 140 in history, against guys like JCC, Duran, Pryor etc they would stand a good chance of winning

Whitaker is not as fast and cant counter as well compared to Mayweather Mayweather can also counterpunch and defend on the ropes too Pernell is overrated, the guy had so much trouble with Roger Mayweather. He got knocked down too. FM has never been knocked down legitmently Awful take on Whitaker. This post just exudes ignorance. Whitaker was slow? Whitaker is overrated because he was dropped by a two division champion, Roger Mayweather, in his 12th professional fight? I presume you know little about Roger Mayweather the fighter. Convenient how you ignore the fact that Whitaker largely dominated the rest of the fight. I guess he should have been fighting people like Hector Arroyo or Angelo Nunez instead. Couple of world beaters there. Christ this forum is sad now.

Skillswise Floys is better... Pernell was great though

Whitaker is not as fast and cant counter as well compared to Mayweather Mayweather can also counterpunch and defend on the ropes too Pernell is overrated, the guy had so much trouble with Roger Mayweather. He got knocked down too. FM has never been knocked down legitmently What the hell are you going on about? Have you even seen any Whittaker fights?

Mayweather is not better than Whitaker. Whitaker proved himself against top competion throughout his career. Mayweather did not. If Whitaker was at the top of his game now Mayweather would not fight him. That's the difference between the two. Whitaker fought everyone, Mayweather fought few. i think floyd/whitaker would've been made cause when floyd wanted to fight whitaker, whitaker would fought; unlike cotto and mosley, both of whom did not fight floyd when floyd wanted the fight.

no1 asked about resume.... IF were basing it off resume you have to go with Whitaker. But as much as i hate Floyd not fighting the big names when he was at 140 and the big names and great fighters at 147, Skill wise i dont think its even a question that Mayweather is more gifted then Whitaker. I have never seen a fighter with better defensive reflexes then Mayweather, and his accuracy is ridiculously amazing. People talk about how Mayweather runs when he fights, but nobody was on their backfoot more then Whitaker.

Mayweather is not better than Whitaker. Whitaker proved himself against top competion throughout his career. Mayweather did not. If Whitaker was at the top of his game now Mayweather would not fight him. That's the difference between the two. Whitaker fought everyone, Mayweather fought few.

I personally don't know, I've seen both of them fight it's not as lop sided as much of you people are making it out to be. Pernell has the better Resume, though I think it's unfair to compare Pernell's fight against De La Hoya with Mayweathers. DLH frame was bigger in the Mayweather fight, minus getting dropped I think Floyd schooled DLH pretty well anyway. Chavez, I think would have lost to Mayweather ( that's just my opinion) but since they never fought this doesn't really matter. ______ For the record, I think if the two fought it would be a boring match.

Agreed. That decision was clear as they get. Yeh Tua's just too biased for his own good sometimes.