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I'm going to disagree. In fact, Larry Mechant had Whitaker winning.
http://www.east sideboxing.com/news.php?p=6100&more=1
The bout, which took place at The Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on the twelfth of April 1997, was for Whitaker's WBC title and it proved to be yet another controversial contest involving him.
Whitaker started by throwing lots of jabs and initiating clinches. Soon these jabs were landing flush and Oscar, like so many of Pernell's opponents, encountered the usual frustration. Although he continued to march forward he didn't really land anything big on his elusive rival until the sixth round, when he landed a counter left uppercut that staggered Whitaker. In the seventh though, Oscar's nose started to bleed as a result of all the jabs he'd taken, and in the ninth Whitaker was credited with a knockdown when De La Hoya lunged in with a missing shot and seemingly slipped, yet was clipped by a blow on the way down. The referee was entitled to count and did so.
This was only the third knockdown of Oscar's career; the other two coming in early fights when he had been somewhat skinny legged and his concentration hadn't been what it should. On both occasions he quickly regained his feet and despatched his opponents.
Oscar was angry now, he hadn't been hurt physically by the knockdown but he knew now that he would be on the scorecards. He came on in the last few rounds and appeared to win them, especially the last which Whitaker mostly gave away. Pernell had clowned quite a bit during this fight.
When the judge's cards were read out nearly everyone was surprised. The fight had appeared desperately close yet Oscar was awarded an amazingly wide unanimous decision. Two judges had him in front by 116-110 margins. There was no way Whitaker had lost this fight by six points! Once again it must have seemed to him that he just could not get a break. Afterwards, he said he could take solace from the fact that the fans knew who had really won. And many did side with "Sweet Pea". There were also more than a few experts who chose to do the same. Larry Merchant for example, had Pernell winning by "a close decision".Comment
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Well I guess we will have to agree to disagree. The person who made this post also admitted the fact that Whittaker did a lot of clowning in this fight. Bottom line is Oscar got the decision. It's over and done with just as is the contreversial decision where Tito got the nod against Oscar. I don't agree with it, but it's over and there is no sense in crying about it.Comment
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Whitaker beat Oscar.
Oscar beat Tito.Comment
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Great video, Sweet Pea was a defensive savant. I've never seen anyone as slick as him.Comment
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