When The Slickest Boxer Met Boxing's Golden Boy

Oscar De La Hoya and Pernell Whitaker faced off in a fight billed as “Pound for Pound.” Ranked as The Ring Magazine’s #2 and #3 fighters on the pound-for-pound list, the bout’s moniker wasn’t simply marketing. The fight turned out be one of the most controversial ever, with the Mexican American showcasing incredible offense and Sweat Pea displaying otherworldly defense.

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[WarioSaysSo]

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Pernell Whitaker is one of the best boxing fights of all times, and yet not enough credited so.
The hunger to win, the action, the fast pace, the nice punches thrown, the great defense made, the ring inteligence displayed etc. this was a fight that had all
you could ask for in a top billed world championship class fight P4P.

Whitaker made him miss and look a little duped at times but he didn’t have enough offence to actually win the fight. De La Hoya was doing enough to keep him at bay and his aggresive approach and power advantage was what made the outcome to his favour, even by a small margin.

[kittyhawk]

Hoya's aggressiveness against Whitaker's showboating and constant running from Hoya instead of standing toe to toe is what gave Hoya the victory. Hoya got Whitaker's right eye pretty swollen.

[joelcastro-reyes]

I always wonder if De La Hoya would've found success in some of his losses had he developed a stronger ability to be a switch hitter

[xctkillaprodigyx]

Most underrated channel on YouTube. I always shout out your channel everywhere I go man. You should be at 3 mill subscribers!

[RealJRoyall]

I always thought Oscar took it 7-5. Sweet Pea showed his defensive prowess and why he's one of the best defensive fighters ever, but he still got touched, he ate some shots. But the big thing is Whitaker didn't put out enough offense for me. And Oscar's defense wasn't awful! I think it's underrated how he handled Pernell's awkwardness.

[clarissaturcios]

Pure defense without making an opponent pay ....oscar won that fight

[jamesmarshall]

I haven't watched the fight since that night but at the time I had De La Hoya winning by two rounds, which killed me because Sweet Pea is one of my favorite two fighters. Whitaker's defense was great that night but offensively, he went through stretches where he just wasn't landing a lot whereas De La Hoya seemed to land more, but it was close. I disagree with people who said it was a robbery, I can easily see someone giving it to Whitaker but it wasn't some dominating blowout.

[Wolfman]

You can dance around all you want but you have to throw to win a fight. Nobody remembers a great shot that misses, everybody remembers a great shot that lands.

[jasonellis]

I loved Pernell growing up and I thought his style was changing a bit after the Chavez fight. It was completely different when he fought Hurtado. He seemed to want to stalk more. This is a hard fight to score. Pernell had an “attitude” in the ring some judges didn’t like. His style some didn’t like. Oscar did bring the fight and more then stood his ground. Can’t blame judges for leaning his way on close rounds. It was a fight of styles and those judges preferred Oscars that night.

[rb]

14:20 "without getting hit" says Pernell. Your face told a different story! 😆

[holywarrior]

Please breakdown Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield's gamelan for Tyson. You'd be perfect guy because you offer an unbiased insight and you'd a great job explaining the circumstances surrounding that fight.

[alexmart]

Great video as per the usual.

I could see you one day being a commentator or post flight interviewer. Your breakdowns are poetry, man.

[blakusprime]

Ugh. I hate this fight. I feel like Sweat Pea got robbed here but I'm not gonna lie, Hoya was doing enough to keep him at bay in that fight for a couple of rounds. Made me rethink the final verdict for a few years now

[larrytoler]

The decision was correct. You don't get points for ducking punches, you get points for throwing and landing punches

[user]

People still cry about this fight but Oscar made Whitaker scared to throw anything worthy, that's ultimately what made Whitaker lose but I don't blame him.

[dennisburris]

He said it best with performing while Oscar was competing. Oscar won this fight!

[mmarioescareno]

One guy fought like he ran away with it, and the other fought like he was trying to take it. The judges gave it the guy that took it.

[maxmustermann]

As flashy as a lot of his dodges were, Sweet Pea did not hit a lot himself. I actually think Oscar might have won narrowly.

[jamesjoot]

These breakdowns are absolutely fascinating. Really enjoying them, thank you Modern Martial Artist

[Shawnjames]

I'm happy to be from sweet p hometown. He was a legend. R.i.p. I'm mad at him because he had Oscar beat, but as you said he didn't throw anything while or after evading. Those flurries from Oscar started adding up during all those rounds. That's probably why he won.