Prime Pernell Whitaker in today's era.

[VG_Addict]

How would Sweet Pea in his prime do in the current era? Who could he beat?

[FinitoElDinamita]

He would wipe the floor with most of the current LWs except for Terrence Crawford and Linares.. im not saying these two will beat whitaker but they certainly can compete..

People often compare floyd to Pea but Floyd is way better...

[bradlee180]

Whitaker and Floyd Mayweather are both master defensive boxers, but Whitaker was better at it than Floyd... and Whitaker embraced fighting the toughest competition unlike Floyd.

The end.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Whitaker and Floyd Mayweather are both master defensive boxers, but Whitaker was better at it than Floyd... and Whitaker embraced fighting the toughest competition unlike Floyd.

The end.

floyd and pea are different type of defensive fighters..

Pea relied on his natural cat like reflex while floyd is more fundamental... not to say that floyd doesnt have exceptional reflex but his defense is more technical..

Floyd has much better offense...

[Spicoli]

Today, at peak? He'd drive with one hand and still arrive early with coffee in hand.

[Spicoli]

Whitaker and Floyd Mayweather are both master defensive boxers, but Whitaker was better at it than Floyd... and Whitaker embraced fighting the toughest competition unlike Floyd.

The end.

floyd and pea are different type of defensive fighters..

Pea relied on his natural cat like reflex while floyd is more fundamental... not to say that floyd doesnt have exceptional reflex but his defense is more technical..

Floyd has much better offense...

Pea could stay squat and counter much more accurately inside, while maintaining upper body swivel. Floyd I think had better backfoot and pure defense but settled there.

[Sleepwalker]

Pea had amazing flexibility. The way he could twist, turn and dip his body to avoid shots was unmatched. It was a joy to watch him fight.

I met him at the MGM Grand right after the Tyson/Botha fight (met Floyd too while he was relatively unknown) and I said to Pernell: "You beat Oscar and they robbed you". He nodded his head and said: "Yep". True story.

I had a ball that night.

[bradlee180]

Whitaker sure enough boxed the ears off uncle roger mayweather...

[bradlee180]

One difference is Hall-of-Fame opposition.

Olympic Gold Medalist Pernell Whitaker fought several of them, while they were at their best.
Olympic Bronze Medalist Floyd Mayweather Jr, where's the Hall-of-Fame opposition that he faced at their best?

[jehoshaphat]

I think it depends on which weight class were talking about. Sweet P was still prime in several weight classes. My personal opinion is that he beats everybody except Floyd but I'm not so sure how that fight would go. Neither guy saw that type of master class boxer and I would love to see how they figured each other out. Nobody figured out a prime Sweet P. He was a special kind of untouchable. So I would not be so sure he couldn't enough rounds against Floyd before Floyd found him out. But I just don't see anyone else getting to Whitaker. He'd be a or the top p4p guy in any era.

[Max Power]

Whitaker would be good in todays era no doubt. He was a defensive master.

However he aint no Mayweather, he lacked the firepower or the armour to back it up. Bit of a safety first, safety second type guy.

He ranks highly on my list but I think Floyd, Pac, Marquez, Bradlee, Morales etc would definitely get the drop on him.

[Dia bando]

Whitaker the master boxer the grasshoppers don't stand much chance.!

[amat]

I hate fantasy matchups, I really do but the one fight I often dream about is Floyd vs Whitaker. Whitaker is my all time favorite so take this with a grain of salt. Whitaker and Floyd are very similar defensively except that Mayweather has a better counterpunching ability simply because he is better with with his feet and never gets out of position for his super stiff one punch counters (and attacks for that matter.) I think Whitaker would beat Floyd. To super simplify this, neither would give each other anything but Mayweather is not a great combination puncher. I think Whitaker wins rounds better than Mayweather. Mayweather is great, don't get me wrong. He's GREAT. I just think the combination punching of Whitaker would win the judges' favor more than the single shot deadliness of Mayweather. Whitaker would get you out of position and capitalize with combinations, whereas Mayweather does it with one shot and then occasionally follows up on that with more punches. I just don't think those "one shot" punches would land enough versus Whitaker. I don't think either guy would really be hurt by each other but the sheer economic volume of Whitaker would win out. I hate to simplify things this much, but Mayweather's one punch counters which his game is predicated upon simply wouldn't work on Whitaker. I love both guys. I really do but I think Mayweather would be out ugly'd but Whitaker. That is, with confidence, the only guy in boxing history I think would do in Mayweather. Anyone else, that's a joke. Also you're right about about Floyd being more fundamental, but Whitaker's instincts from being bend far too much at the hip are other worldly. Like I said, grain of salt and all but I think Whitaker is the greatest ifghter I have ever had the pleasure to watch. That's not an exaggeration either, I once had a friend tell me I "jacked off" to watching old Whitaker fights. I just think he was dynamic no matter his body position. He would be so out of position, seemingly off balance but he ALWAYS kept his balance. When most fighters find their eyes forward of their toes they bring their hands to their chin. If they don't, they get hit. Whitaker didn't. He returned (or didn't) and fucked you up instantly, I don't know how you beat that.

I love defensive fighters. My top 3 consist of Whitaker, Wright and Mayweather. Wright would have to stay center to be effective. Mayweather does his damage with one punch. Whitaker doesn't fit those molds, he could do anything from anywhere and that's why I think he's the most talented boxer of all times.

[Max Power]

Pea IS, in a way probably the best "technically" but that isn't everything either.

With Floyd the speed and timing and accuracy all blend together so effectively.

And he has enough whap to do real damage.

Unfortunately Boxing is not Fencing.

[Beanflicker]

Pea is the fucking man and would wipe the floor with any LW today, and at 147 he would have whipped anyone not named Floyd Mayweather.

He would have made Pacquiao look like a chump with his style. He would have made Pac miss so many of those punches that Pac would lose his faith in god.