Good as ever
'Older, wiser' Whitaker ready for Trinidad test
Posted: Tuesday February 16, 1999 09:14 PM
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Whitaker returns to the ring after a 16-month layoff to face undefeated Felix Trinidad. AP |
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - Ask Pernell Whitaker and he says nothing, absolutely nothing, has changed since he won the first of his six world titles 10 years ago.
Ask his trainer and he says that's nonsense.
Of course, Tommy Brooks, who also trains Mike Tyson, won't admit that being 35 hurts Whitaker's chances Saturday in Madison Square Garden against International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Felix Trinidad of Puerto Rico.
But he says the years have made a smarter fighter of Whitaker, finally making him learn to plant his feet and try to take his opponent out rather than strictly rely on his extraterrestrial defensive abilities.
Brooks says that along with chipping off all that rust Whitaker accumulated in his 16-month layoff -- due mostly to a suspension for drug abuse -- Whitaker (41-2-1) finally has realized that had he thrown more power punches against Oscar de la Hoya he might have stopped him or at least impressed the judges enough to win the decision in their April, 1997 bout.
"The older you get the wiser you get," Brooks said in an interview in the Rocky Marciano gym. "Pernell never took the time to plant and get power behind his punches."
Whitaker, known for clowning in the ring with all kinds of dips and swerves and even spinning around his opponent to tap him on his trunks, has finally learned, Brooks insists, "not to play with him. The longer you're in with [your opponent] the more dangerous it is."
Whitaker bridles at being called a showboat, insisting his motive in his ring antics is aimed at keeping "the judges focused on me" to recognise his great defensive skills.
"I don't know if it upsets [the opponent] or gets him out of position," but "I don't show off. I try to hit and not be hit. That's the object of the game. I'm gonna do a lot of tricks in there."
Whitaker also takes umbrage at Evander Holyfield's assessment that Whitaker is susceptible these days to getting hit more with combinations, and that the 33-0 Trinidad, nine years younger, may present a very tough obstacle for Whitaker getting his career back on track after the loss to de la Hoya and the drug suspension.
"Nobody hits me with a four-punch combination. I'm not gonna let anybody put their hands on me four times in a row," says Whitaker, his gold tooth catching the light.
"My fights are only as easy as I make them," Whitaker said.
For Trinidad, Whitaker said, "I've covered every angle I need to cover. I know what I have to do. There will be no excuses."
In addition to the loss to de la Hoya, Whitaker also lost a decision to Jose Ramirez in 1988, and he drew with Julio Cesar Chavez in 1993.
But, of course, in Whitaker's world of supreme confidence so crucial to becoming a world champion, "I've never lost a fight" as a professional.
How well will he be able to take a punch from the hard-punching Trididad?
"You guys don't know if I can take a punch because I never had to. I can't tell you either. But, man, now that I'm 35 you think it's gonna happen [a loss]," said Whitaker reaching down to pull up the leg of his warmup suit.
Alluding to the old sports' truism that the legs are the first to go, Whitaker slapped his calf muscle, "these are horses, these are horses."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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