
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, October 2, 1994                   TAG: 9410110083
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

WHITAKER POUNDS MCGIRT, RETAINS TITLE

At the final bell, Pernell Whitaker walked to the ropes and stared out into the crowd with his hands on his hips, as if to say ``Now, you know.''

By then, anyone who had watched his WBC welterweight title defense against James ``Buddy'' McGirt on Saturday night certainly did know.

Whitaker bounced up from a second-round knockdown to turn a close fight between two master boxers into a rout as he dominated the second half of the bout and won a unanimous 12-round decision.

McGirt had blamed his title loss to Whitaker on March 6, 1993 at Madison Square Garden on a left shoulder injury that made him a one-handed fighter.

McGirt had full use of both hands in the rematch at Scope, but two hands weren't enough.

Judge Chuck Giampa scored it 117-113, Rudy Ortega 118-112 and Steve Weisfeld had it 117-110.

Whitaker's fans had a scary moment in the second round when McGirt landed a one-two combination that dropped the champion onto the seat of his pants. Whitaker bounced up at the count of ``one'' and looked defiantly toward McGirt's corner.

``It was only a flash knockdown. It caught me off balance and didn't hurt me,'' Whitaker said.

McGirt, who was able to press the action in the first few rounds, simply didn't have the legs to deal with Whitaker as the fight progressed.

In the second half of the fight, the left-handed Whitaker pounded McGirt's left eye almost shut, raked his body with right hooks and speared him with right jabs, hooks and straight left hands. He forced McGirt to lead - then bashed him with counterpunches.

by CNB