Over the years, we have seen some tragic twists of fate befall a great fighter, with their lives being taken. It could be argued that no such fate was as cruel as the one that met the sublime Pernell Whitaker on this day five years ago.
If he had lived, if he had not fallen victim to a terrible road accident that took his life back in July of 2019, all-time great Pernell Whitaker would today be celebrating his 59th birthday.
Pernell Whitaker, who just might deserve to be ranked in the Top-5 finest defensive fighters in the long history of a sport that is known as The Sweet Science, suffered due to three hugely controversial decisions that took place during his career.
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The history of the welterweight division is rich with great fighters, truly special warriors who are universally recognised as all-time greats.
The idea of ranking the four truly great boxers who are worthy of receiving the mythical honor of being immortalised on “Boxing’s Mount Rushmore,” is indeed a brilliant one.
Speed kills, they say. In the boxing ring, without speed, it’s gonna be a tough, tough battle. Timing can overcome speed, but, more often than not, the boxer with the faster hands and feet will emerge triumphant – see Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston for a classic and obvious example (you can think of plenty of others, no doubt).
Throughout his long and distinguished career as arguably the finest defensive fighter in boxing history, the complex bag of tricks Pernell Whitaker had at his disposal befuddled, bemused and frustrated many a great fighter.
There may never have been a night quite like it. 35 years ago today, inside a full Madison Square Garden in New York, six of the very special young boxers who helped make up the all-conquering 1984 Olympic squad in Los Angeles went pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwON5k62O6U
Some fans say it was the worst robbery in boxing history. Others say we have seen worse, but not, thankfully, too much.