ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997 TAG: 9704140146
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oscar De La Hoya wins the WBC welterweight title convincingly on the judges' cards, but not without controversy.
Oscar De La Hoya overcame crafty Pernell Whitaker in the toughest fight of his young career Saturday night, winning a unanimous decision to take Whitaker's World Boxing Council welterweight title.
It was the fourth title for De La Hoya, who was knocked down in the ninth round and was bleeding from the nose as the fight entered the final round with Whitaker seemingly dominating.
De La Hoya was frustrated by the left-handed champion throughout, but kept his patience and was attacking at the end, winning the final round when Whitaker decided to dance around and throw only his jab and a few meaningless combinations.
De La Hoya won by six points on two judges' cards and four on another as he made his 147-pound debut a successful one against his fellow former Olympic gold medalist.
Whitaker had promised to turn back the clock and become the fighter he once was, and he did, frustrating De La Hoya with his head movement and forcing the challenger to be fight on his terms.
Bleeding from the nose in the 12th round, De La Hoya knew he had been in a fight, and Whitaker looked like much the fresher fighter. Whitaker, though, chose to move most of the round, throwing mostly jabs and an occasional combination.
In the final seconds, Whitaker was almost on his rear end in a corner, clowning to the very end before embracing De La Hoya with a big smile.
Judge Chuck Giampa had De La Hoya winning 115-111, and Jerry Roth and Dalby Shirley both had De La Hoya ahead 116-110. The Associated Press also favored De La Hoya, 114-113.
``I was frustrated, but not hurt,'' De La Hoya said. ``Pernell Whitaker had a nice jab. I give him a lot of credit.''
Ringside punch statistics showed Whitaker landed 232 of 582 punches to 191 of 556 for De La Hoya.
``I was robbed,'' Whitaker said.
Whitaker, a 3 1/2-1 underdog despite his impressive 40-1-1 record, had a point taken away in the third round for a head butt and was trailing early in the fight. But midway through the fight he began coming on strong and was trading combinations with the taller and supposedly stronger De La Hoya.
``It was a blowout, a shutout. I could not have performed better,'' the disappointed Whitaker said. ``The people saw it, the world saw it. I saw it. I want a rematch.''
``I'm definitely going to give him a rematch, any time, anywhere,'' De La Hoya said. ``I now know his style.''
It was the third controversial decision involving Whitaker in a 13-year pro career that saw him win titles in four weight classes.
Whitaker lost his first lightweight title fight in a questionable decision to Jose Ramirez and was given a draw in a fight most thought he won against Julio Cesar Chavez.
``If this fight ends in controversy, it will make the second fight even bigger,'' Whitaker said before the bout.
Whitaker scored the only knockdown, hitting De La Hoya with a left that put him to one knee for a moment in the ninth round. De La Hoya quickly got up, but referee Mills Lane ruled it a knockdown, much to the chagrin of the challenger.
The knockdown seemed to energize De La Hoya, who went after Whitaker, and the two were trading big punches in the corner as the round ended.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Oscar De La Hoya (left) scores with aby CNBleft jab to the head of Pernell Whitaker on Saturday night during
their WBC welterweight title fight in Las Vegas. De La Hoya won a
unanimous decision to claim the crown. KEYWORDS: BOXING