Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993 TAG: 9303070187
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
WHITAKER WINS 3RD WORLD TITLE
This time, Pernell Whitaker had his man outnumbered. Come September, he could be the man facing the long odds.Whitaker won his third world championship Saturday night with a unanimous decision over Buddy McGirt, who lost his WBC welterweight title because he couldn't use his most powerful punch - the left hook.
"Easy. That's what I tried to do," Whitaker said. "Make it easy."
For McGirt, it was anything but.
"My arm went." McGirt said. "What can I say?"
After the fight, McGirt was sent to a hospital to have his left arm checked.
With the victory, Whitaker laid claim to the title of best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. It looks like he'll have to prove it, though.
Promoter Don King said before the fight that win or lose, he would give Whitaker a shot against undefeated Julio Cesar Chavez, probably in the fall, and probably in San Antonio.
"It's going to be a big, big fight," King said. Chavez, who holds the WBA and WBC junior welterweight championships, will fight Whitaker for his new welterweight title. Whitaker also holds the IBF junior welterweight title.
Despite being unable to throw his left hook, McGirt put up a valiant fight, and one had to wonder what the outcome would have been if McGirt had been a two-handed fighter. Whitaker threw many combinations and, fighting out of a left-handed stance, did most of his damage early.
McGirt, who has had a chronic tendinitis problem in his left shoulder for four years, finished with a flurry in the 11th and 12th rounds but was unable to overcome the advantage that Whitaker had built.
Whitaker was so sure of his victory that he began to clown a little in the final round and raised his arms in victory with five seconds to go. That cost him a punch in the stomach, but it was too late.
"I told him to go out in the 12th round and not take any chances," said Whitaker's cornerman, Lou Duva. "But he wanted to have fun."
Judge Chuck Giampa scored it 115-113, judge Rudy Ortega had it 115-114 and Dalby Shirley had it 117-111, all for Whitaker.
The Associated Press scored it 115-113 for McGirt.
Whitaker won the lightweight title and unified it in 1990, making him the first man to rule that division undisputed since Roberto Duran. Last year, he relinquished that title and captured the junior welterweight championship with a 12-round victory over Rafael Pineda. He's won 17 in a row and is 32-1 with 15 knockouts.
McGirt, of Brentwood, N.Y., is 59-3-1 with 44 knockouts after losing his first fight since he was stopped in the 12th round by Meldrick Taylor on Sept. 3, 1988.
Keywords:
BOXING