Pernell Whitaker, Champion in Four Boxing Classes, Dies at 55

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More sad news.....

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/sports/pernell-whitaker-champion-in-four-boxing-classes-dies-at-55.html

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Here Pernell appears in this Pointer Sisters video from 1985:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IprBx1OlBk

[Jerry Oz]

Sweet Pea was a great boxer. I stopped being a big boxing fan the night he dominated Hugo Cesar Chavez but was literally robbed by a majority draw decision that mysteriously was announced after they already announced in his favor in order to preserve Chavez's unbeaten record. After a lifetime of being a fan in spite of its clearly dirty track record. That was just too much. Sweet Pea was an incredible offensive and defensive tactician. He was from my dad's hometown. RIP, Homeboy.

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Sweet Pea was a great boxer. I stopped being a big boxing fan the night he dominated Hugo Cesar Chavez but was literally robbed by a majority draw decision that mysteriously was announced after they already announced in his favor in order to preserve Chavez's unbeaten record. After a lifetime of being a fan in spite of its clearly dirty track record. That was just too much. Sweet Pea was an incredible offensive and defensive tactician. He was from my dad's hometown. RIP, Homeboy.

It is strange when I think about it. Just when did Pro Boxing stop being the premier sport that it once was?

[Jerry Oz]

When all of the matches with popular fighters went to pay-per-view. When you and I were kids, we saw some of the best fights on broadcast TV or cable. Almost all of Larry Holmes and Michael Spinks' fights were broadcast on CBS, ABC or HBO. I saw Jimmy Young outclass George Foreman in Puerto Rico on CBS. Bunch of Ali fights were broadcast too. Now, if you want to watch the welterweight champion of one of the four or five sanctioning bodies fight, you have to plop down $50-100 for the pleasure.

Bump that! Premier Boxing Champions and Fox realized this is a problem and they're broadcasting fights on broadcast and on Fox Sports One. It might be too late. With that said, ESPN has always broadcast boxing but as soon as a fighter's name is recognized, you have to pay to see him again.

[marv2]

When all of the matches with popular fighters went to pay-per-view. When you and I were kids, we saw some of the best fights on broadcast TV or cable. Almost all of Larry Holmes and Michael Spinks' fights were broadcast on CBS, ABC or HBO. I saw Jimmy Young outclass George Foreman in Puerto Rico on CBS. Bunch of Ali fights were broadcast too. Now, if you want to watch the welterweight champion of one of the four or five sanctioning bodies fight, you have to plop down $50-100 for the pleasure.

Bump that! Premier Boxing Champions and Fox realized this is a problem and they're broadcasting fights on broadcast and on Fox Sports One. It might be too late. With that said, ESPN has always broadcast boxing but as soon as a fighter's name is recognized, you have to pay to see him again.

I hear you. I remember going to the Toledo Sports Arena with my brother many years ago to see a Tyson fight [[I can't even remember who he fought that night now) we paid to try to see the fight on this big, blurry screen in an arena with a couple of thousand people! Worst event ever.

[Jerry Oz]

Do you remember Ali vs Frazier I? It was carried over closed circuit to movie theaters all over the country. I remember listening to the round summaries on the radio as I lay in bed struggling to stay awake. I'll never forget how excited the DJ was reporting that Frazier knocked Ali down in round 15 and then announcing that Frazier had won by a decision. It was the Fight Of The Century and lived up to the billing. I was hyped up at school the next day because I was a big Joe Frazier fan.

They're trying to make another Mayweather/Pacquiao fight but there will never ever again be a rivalry of the intensity of Ali vs Frazier.

[marv2]

Do you remember Ali vs Frazier I? It was carried over closed circuit to movie theaters all over the country. I remember listening to the round summaries on the radio as I lay in bed struggling to stay awake. I'll never forget how excited the DJ was reporting that Frazier knocked Ali down in round 15 and then announcing that Frazier had won by a decision. It was the Fight Of The Century and lived up to the billing. I was hyped up at school the next day because I was a big Joe Frazier fan.

They're trying to make another Mayweather/Pacquiao fight but there will never ever again be a rivalry of the intensity of Ali vs Frazier.

Do I remember? Are you kidding me? That was the BIGGEST event even to us kids that were in the 5th Grade at the time. March 1971. I remember for weeks leading up to the fight, all the kids would pick sides, pretend we were Ali or Frazier [[mostly Ali). I can remember the morning after the fight and waking up to the news that Ali lost on the Today Show. I may have cried, but I do remember not wanting to go to school that day. That is how big a deal that fight was to us.

[nativeNY63]

What about the "Rumble in the Jungle?" Yeah, perhaps it was racist ad all get out. But it was true premier boxing at its finest. Until "Iron Mike" showed up and flipped the industry on its head!