After missing last week we are back with a bang for this week’s fight of the week.
Again we will be looking at the great Julio Cesar Chavez who this time met a legendary slickster in Pernell Whitaker. This fight represented a clash of style that would get any fight fan salivating, the swarming pressure game of Chavez against the mercurial defensive genius of Whitaker.
If you recall we last looked at Chavez versus Roger Mayweather who in their first meeting stood and fought with Chavez and got stopped in two rounds, in the rematch he came out boxing and took Chavez deep into the fight but he was unable to keep his fighting instincts in check and so ran out of steam and was unable to answer the bell for the 11th round.
At the time of this meeting both fighters were at the top of the pound for pound list, Chavez’s record was an astonishing 87-0 whilst Whitaker’s stood at 32-1 with that sole defeat coming by split decision that was later avenged by unanimous decision. On the line was Whitaker’s WBC Welterweight title and would be the fourth World title at a different weight for Chavez if victorious. Both fighters were veterans in their thirties and were looking to cement their legacies as genuine greats of the modern era.
The fight began with Chavez pressing the action attempting to get to his nimble opponent early. Whitaker however avoided this offence from Chavez and began to jab effectively out of his southpaw stance and duck away from any counters that came his way. He continually stepped to his right forcing Chavez to try to cut him off however Whitaker’s feet were some of the fastest in the sport. Evasion was competing against pressing and for the opening round evasion won, first round to Whittaker.
The 2nd round opened with Chavez again aggressively moving towards his prey, Whitaker did a great job of moving when he needed to, ducking low and making himself a moving target whilst fighting back in spots. When they did come together Whitaker was able to clinch Chavez nullifying his mauling close range attacks that can sap opponents strength over the course of the fight. As the round progressed Whitaker attempted to land some hard counters to the head which narrowly missed, Chavez had a fight on his hands. As the round came to a close Whitaker had established a rhythm of effectively working from the clinch to score and minimize his opponents offence as well as jabbing and countering while applying elusive footwork and slipping enough to clearly win the first two rounds.
The 3rd round seemed a closer round where both were able to get some success. Whittaker still moved and avoided punches beautifully but he seemed to get just a little bit more hit this round. Chavez seemed to get more success avoiding his quicker opponent counters and flurries which perhaps showed some opportunities for the Mexican to counter effectively as the fight progressed. For me an even round.
Into the 4th we go, Chavez got some success early to the body that might have strayed low. The fight was getting a little bit scrappy with hitting off the break from both sides. Heads were coming close together when they got in close as is customary in an open stance engagement where one opponent is in orthodox and the other in southpaw position. Whitaker at times in this round was on the offence pressing Chavez back before later going back to his slippery best boxing off the back foot. It was becoming clear that Chavez at no range enjoyed a clear advantage as Whitaker was working well from the clinch both offensively and defensively which you might not expect pre fight. Whitaker took this round with some typical matador flourishes as Chavez bulled towards him, unable to land effectively.
Chavez began the round with a good flurry of body punches which seemed to give him the early initiative in this round. Whittaker, as in the 3rd round, seemed to get hit a little more than the other rounds even though he had some good offensive spells. When they got close Whitaker over hooked Chavez’s left hand obviously cognizant of Chavez’s vaunted left hook which can do damage both to the head and body. As the round drew to a close Chavez grazed Whitaker’s chin with a sharp left hook to the head after some fierce exchanges. This was Chavez’s best round and he clearly won this one in my opinion. It seemed like throwing flurries at the same time as Whitaker was punching might offer an opportunity to catch the lightning fast Whittaker as he was too evasive to counter.
The sixth round began with Chavez looking to continue the momentum from the last round with his smothering, pressuring style. Whitaker was able to do some good work himself looking to land uppercuts as Chavez fell into the clinch. Again Whitaker’s fast feet were on display as he was continually able to pivot around Chavez to his own right. It seemed a fairly even round for the most part with a break coming in the action after Chavez was caught with a clean low blow to the cup. After a sizable break Chavez was able to continue and we restarted the action. Whitaker risked the ire of the referee with another low blow and a punch that landed just after the bell to end the round. This was a very close round which could have gone either way in my opinion, even.
As we entered the second half of the fight we would begin to see if the accumulated pressure that Chavez was attempting to put on Whitaker would slow him down or not. The round began as always with Chavez pressing to close however Whitaker was stubbornly able to turn off the ropes and gracefully return to centre ring. As the round progressed Whitaker took to landing hard shots to the body of Chavez and even backed him up to the ropes outworking him in the Mexican’s preferred range. Whitaker was a lot more effective in close than I would have expected going into the fight. As Chavez seemed to become more frustrated due to his inability to corner his nippy opponent, Whitaker was able to throw some sharp combinations to the head with a triple jab cross landing clean. The round ended with Whitaker strafing Chavez with punches on his way to clearly taking this round.
The eight round began with a flurry of pressure from Chavez with Whitaker looking to jab and move to nullify it. Before too long they ended up at close quarters again with Whitaker seemingly getting the better of it with quicker and sharper combinations all the while able to duck big swings, tie up Chavez’s arms and use his lead shoulder to smother offence. Once the referee had split them Whitaker was back to jabbing and retreating only standing still long enough to flurry to head and body before moving back again. He was boxing great this round being effective wherever the fight took place with solid defense to keep himself out of harm’s way. Again he was unleashing upper cuts to head and heart which seemed to sap the strength of Chavez. With a minute to go he whipped in a hard uppercut that connected solidly with Chavez’s chin that brought the American fans to their feet. Whitaker seemed to be looking to hurt Chavez now after his success and seeing Chavez seemingly slow down. Another great round for Whitaker ended with him looking every bit the fresher fighter in there with the added advantage of speed and versatility.
The 9th round seemed a much more tit for tat round with Whitaker seemingly more happy to stand his ground and trade on the inside with Chavez. Was this because his legs were finally tiring? Even so it was a close round however I leaned towards Chavez as they both landed good work but his body punching just and I do mean just edged it. If Whitaker fought Chavez’s fight he was finding success but so was Chavez, when he boxed and turned his opponent, jabbed and occasionally flurried he was winning the rounds clearly.
Into the championship rounds and Whitaker was boxing beautifully, when he threw this many jabs it was very difficult for Chavez to get his offence going. When they did come together it was Whitaker who was able to push Chavez back to the ropes before retreating back out into boxing range. This style of fight suited Whitaker well and he took this round handsomely.
The 11th round saw Whitaker jabbing at range and effectively turning his man when they clinched up by controlling his far hip. Chavez was restricted to lunging from out at range and following Whittaker around the ring unsuccessfully trying to trap him. Again Whitaker had spells of pushing back Chavez to the ropes and outworking him in close before retreating back to range and boxing once again. As the round drew to a close Whitaker stood his ground in spots and looked to punch with authority and clinch immediately, he seemed fresher at this late stage and was fighting more of the fight where and how he wanted it compared to Chavez. As the round closed Whitaker landed some clean counters on Chavez who didn’t look particularly hurt by them but they scored clinching another round clearly for the champion Whitaker.
Into the final round now and it seemed to me that Chavez was behind and out of ideas on how to get to his swift opponent. The beginning of the round saw them both caught up on the ropes in a clinch in which Whitaker was the one with his back to centre ring. Chavez gave one more Carlylean effort to get to his man but his feet were too slow and his opponent too nimble. As the round drew to a close Whitaker was nullifying his aggressive opponent by slipping to the outside of the jab and clinching beautifully. With 20 or so seconds to go Whitaker punched the air feeling he had won the fight, the bell rang and a classic match up had ended which seemed a clear victory for the defending champion: Pernell ‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker.
As the fight finished the boisterous Mexican crowd made their voices heard not being used to seeing their great champion out fought and nullified as was done that night. The first judge gave the score of 115-113 for Whitaker, the other two both calling it 115-115 resulting in a majority draw meaning Whitaker left the arena still the WBC champion but not with a famous victory.
This result was very controversial as most observers thought Whitaker had done enough to win. I gave the fight 7-2 with 3 rounds even so a score of 118-113. Any of the three even rounds could have gone either way so even if they all were scored for Chavez it would have been 115-113 Whitaker. As I said many times, the depth and versatility of Whitaker’s game made him a difficult match up for Chavez. Whitaker had the tools to win but importantly he was able to put them to good use and perform under tremendous pressure which is the hallmark of a great champion
What did you think?
Come back next week for another fight of the week retrospective.