Pernell Whitaker (born January 2, 1964), nicknamed "Sweet Pea", is a retired professional boxer, among the greatest of all-time. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Whitaker was the lightweight silver medalist at the 1982 World Championships, followed by the gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1984 Olympics, and then embarked on a pro career in which he became world champion in four different weight divisions. Whitaker was known for his outstanding defensive skills, which helped garner him consideration as one of boxing's top pound-for-pound fighters during his prime.

Boxing career

Whitaker had an extensive amateur boxing career, having started at the age of nine. He had 214 amateur fights, winning 201, 91 of them by knockouts.

In just his eleventh and twelfth pro bouts, Whitaker beat solid journeymen Alfredo Layne in December, 1986, and Roger Mayweather in March, 1987. On March 12, 1988 he challenged Jose Luis Ramirez for the WBC Lightweight Championship in Levallois, France. He suffered his first pro defeat when the judges awarded a controversial split decision in Ramirez's favor.

Whitaker trudged on, decisioning Greg Haugen for the IBF lightweight title on February 18, 1989, but not before becoming the first boxer to knock Haugen down, dropping him in the sixth round. He then added the vacant WBC belt by avenging his loss to Ramirez on August 20.

Now a champion, Whitaker proceeded to dominate boxing's middle divisions over the first half of the 1990s. In 1990, he defended his lightweight title against quality journeyman Freddie Pendleton and super featherweight champion Azumah Nelson of Ghana. On August 11, 1990 he knocked out Juan Nazario in one round to add the WBA title and become the first undisputed lightweight champion since Roberto Duran. His highlight of 1991 was beating Jorge Paez. In 1992, he began his ascent in weight, winning the IBF junior welterweight title from Rafael Pineda on July 18. On March 6, 1993 he decisioned James (Buddy) McGirt to become the linear and WBC welterweight champion.

Whitaker was gaining momentum, from boxing experts and fans, as the pound for pound best boxer in the world, though some felt that he needed win against Mexican legend Julio César Chávez. The two met in a welterweight superfight on September 10, 1993 in San Antonio, Texas. In a career-defining performance, Whitaker outboxed Chávez, winning the majority of the rounds in the eyes of many of the spectators. But as in his first fight with Ramirez, Whitaker was not awarded a decision victory, this time having to settle for a draw.

Whitaker continued to dominate for the next few years, defending his welterweight belt in a rematch against McGirt on October 1, 1994. 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 down to welterweight to successfully defend his WBC belt against 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 convince the judges, and de la Hoya won by a disputed unanimous decision. Many felt Whitaker had done enough to retain his title, but the decision was not as controversial as his loss to Ramirez or his draw with Chávez.

Following this defeat, Whitaker began an unfortunate decline, personally and professionally. His win over Andrei Pestriaev was declared a no-contest after a drug test revealed he had used cocaine.

In 1999, Whitaker suffered his first sound defeat against the much bigger, much fresher Félix Trinidad, gamely taking the Puerto Rican the distance. His last fight came on April 27, 2001 against journeyman Carlos Bojorquez. Whitaker broke his clavicle in round four and was forced to retire, finishing with an official pro record of 40-4-1 (17 knockouts). Whitaker has since been in and out of prison for cocaine possession and is rumored to have squandered the millions of dollars he earned in fight purses.

On December 7, 2006, Whitaker was inducted in the the International Boxing Hall of Fame along with contemporaries Roberto Duran and Ricardo Lopez. They were all elected in their first year of eligibility. While Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker's future seems uncertain, his record in the ring speaks for itself.
Source : Wikipedia