Boxing’s Greats of the States | Virginia: Pernell Whitaker

Boxers come from every corner of the globe. Sometimes, fighters are products of their environment, favoring styles prevalent in the country or state from which they hail. Various regions of the United States are considered factories for great fighters, though that certainly is not the case with each state. In this weekly Sherdog.com series, the spotlight will shine on the best boxer of all-time from each of the 50 states. Fighters do not necessarily need to be born in a given state to represent it; they simply need to be associated with it.

***
Virginia served as the staging point for one of the greatest boxers to ever lace up the gloves. Pernell Whitaker ranks as arguable the greatest defensive fighter of all-time, and save for a one-sided loss to Felix Trinidad and an injury-shortened battle with Carlos Bojorquez, “Sweet Pea” was never legitimately defeated inside the ring.

Whitaker struck gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where he was one of the leading cogs in what many regard as the best Olympic boxing team ever assembled. His professional career was even more impressive. The Norfolk, Virginia, native captured the IBF lightweight championship by routing Greg Haugen on Feb. 18, 1989 and then added the WBC title by avenging his controversial defeat to Jose Luis Ramirez a few months later. Whitaker later claimed the WBA super welterweight belt and also became a world champion at junior welterweight and welterweight, defending the 147-pound crown eight times before losing a hotly disputed decision to Oscar De La Hoya in April 1997.

Despite dominating Julio Cesar Chavez in their ballyhooed 1993 encounter, “Sweet Pea” settled for a controversial majority draw with the Mexican legend. Chavez was 87-0 at the time, and Whitaker’s performance only strengthened his case as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best. He retired with a 40-4-1 record and was enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Charles Shufford, Darroll Wilson, Jimmy Lange, Kid Norfolk