A 16x20 Colour Action Photograph of Pernell
Sweet Pea Whitaker against Oscar De La Hoya. Signed in Silver
Sharpie by boxing legend Pernell Whitaker. Easily one of
the pound for pound greats of the modern era.
Pernell Whitaker £55.00
Boxing's best couldn't touch "Sweat Pea," but
many experts expected that to change when he fought Mexican
legend Julio Cesar Chavez in a welterweight superfight on
September 10, 1993 in San Antonio, Texas. In a career-defining
performance, Whitaker made the undefeated brawler look ordinary,
winning nearly every round in the eyes' of the spectators.
But as in his first fight with Ramirez, Whitaker was robbed
by the judges, and had to settle for a draw.
Whitaker continued to dominate for the next few years,
beating James McGirt for the WBC welterweight belt on October
1, 1994, the same title he was denied against Chavez. For
good measure, in his next fight on March 4, 1995, Whitaker
added Julio Cesar Vasquez 's WBA junior middleweight title
to his collection. He moved back down to welterweight to
regain the vacant WBC belt from Scotland's Gary Jacobs on
August 26, 1995.
Despite his success, Whitaker's skills were in gradual
decline, evidenced by lackluster defenses against Wilfredo
Rivera and Diosbelys Hurtado . He met a bigger, younger
Oscar de la Hoya on April 12, 1997 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Whitaker succeeded in making De la Hoya look bad through
his crafty defense, but he was unable to mount a sufficient
offense to sway the judges, and De la Hoya won a wide unanimous
decision in a dull, ugly fight. But many boxing fans thought
that Sweet Pea actually won the contest:
