Prime Pernell Whitaker in today's 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.

[Beanflicker]

BTW I see people always lumping Pea in with guys like Malignaggi who can't bust a grape. PEA COULD PUNCH! He wasn't Julian Jackson but he was a lot like Floyd: not a knockout puncher but a guy with enough power to keep his opponents from trying to bull rush willy nilly.

[mikeeod]

Pea dominates in any era he fights in at lightweight. Many pick Duran over him, and I think a valid argument can be made for Duran, but Pea NEVER lost at lightweight (forget the rip off vs Ramirez) and Duran did (only once and he avenged it). I think due to styles that in a head to head match up, pea outboxes and out quicks Duran.

As for Floyd vs Pea, each would be VERY hard for the other as both guys preferred big punchers and offensive fighters. Head to head it is VERY close and I can see a case for either guy to win, although I tend to lean towards Pea due to his southpaw style.

When talking about historical ranking, I feel that pea should rank higher than Floyd based off his (in my opinion) better quality of opponents and wins. Floyd has beaten some good opposition like Chico, Hatton, Castillo...etc., but I feel that prime Azumah, McGirt, Chavez...etc. was more impressive.

The funny thing about these threads is that people on here try and act like either guy is a definite win over the other, without question. These guys r both ATGs and it would be a phenomenal match up for people who appreciate the technical aspect of the sport.

[Beanflicker]

There was a thread awhile ago about Duran vs Whitaker prime for prime and a lot of people said Duran would KO Whitaker. LOL! I wanted to spit in their faces. You should be perm banned from a boxing forum for saying that!

[Max Power]

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.

Pac would have definitely beaten Pea. Pea never had to face up to that sorta shit.

And no, Pea was not a hard hitter. Floyd is much more commanding than Pea ever was and durable.

Pea vs Rigo would be more competitive!!

[Ron Swanson]

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.

Pac would have definitely beaten Pea. Pea never had to face up to that sorta shit.

And no, Pea was not a hard hitter. Floyd is much more commanding than Pea ever was and durable.

Pea vs Rigo would be more competitive!!

Remember Pea was also a southpaw meaning much of Mannys attack would be nullified. Just by stance Pea would get the type of fight he wants, a boxing match.

[jehoshaphat]

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.

I guess you missed Marquez having trouble finding a much lesser boxer in Norwood. He couldn't counter Bradley as well. Trying to counter Sweet P is useless. And did you see Morales get clearly outboxed by Raheem so much so that he looked confused? After that fight both Morales and Pac turned down a fight with Raheem. Watch the Whitaker/Chavez fight? Heck, even an old Sweet P outboxed and dropped DLH. DLH was running through everybody and outright refused to rematch the old version of Sweet P. Nobody figured out a prime Sweet P let alone a list of people(even adding an etc) who clearly got outboxed by lesser boxers. There is no list of fighters in any era figuring out Sweet P. Dude was 5'6" with shoes on and went all the way up to fight the best guy at 154 and still never got figured out.

[Max Power]

Ok Sweet Pea can certainly hang with the best of them, no denying.

But a lot of these example fights you guys are talking about above, they could walk through and overwhelm Whitaker a lot.

I am not suggesting Marquez, Morales or even Pac would have no difficulties finding him, I expect hard fought rounds. But I do expect them to eventually get to him as well.

Let's forget about Floyd vs Pac for a minute, that's a different kettle of fish.

I can see Pac missing a ton of shots against Pea as well, but what I can't see is Pac being seriously hurt by Whitaker and I can't see Pea bending around Pac Man successfully for an entire 12 rounds!

This might surprise you but Pea sometimes did actually get hit you know!!

Clearly he fought some first rate opposition, he definitely deserves his place on a toplist but he was not invincible. A model of a defence fighter though, for sure!

[bradlee180]

In all those years through Whitaker's long career, the ONLY time he really got beat up was by a prime 5'11" Felix Tito Trinidad who was wrecking people.

Whitaker's 1st World Championship was in 1988, and by the 1999 Trinidad fight, 5'6" Whitaker was finished. It took him every bit of experience he had to see that final bell, and he fought a lot of rds with a broken jaw. That's the only time Whitaker ever took a beating.

For a chess match, Whitaker vs James Buddy McGirt for Buddy's World title.

[bradlee180]

...but he was not invincible. A model of a defence fighter though, for sure!

Who said he was invincible other than just yourself?



F*<k, you're dumb !

[FinitoElDinamita]

Btw, Pea kicked his elderly mother out of the house he bought her in the 80s... he took it to court and kicked her out..

Once a crackhead, always a crackhead.. who does that ..