ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 21, 1996 TAG: 9609230122
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: MIAMI HERALD
If there were any doubts that Pernell ``Sweet Pea'' Whitaker might be slipping, he silenced them - and the crowd that was heavily in his opponent's favor - Friday night at the James L. Knight Center.
Whitaker, the World Boxing Council's welterweight champion and the man many consider the best fighter in the world, retained his crown with a unanimous decision over top-ranked Wilfredo Rivera (23-2-1) of Puerto Rico in a rematch of their April 12 bout in front of a rowdy, estimated crowd of 3,200.
Judge Jay Kassees scored the bout 113-112; Mazakazu Uchida 115-113; and John Keane had it 115-111.
The action-packed prize fight was a rarity for South Florida and Norfolk native Whitaker delivered on his promise of giving the crowd a treat.
From the outset he dominated, overcame a questionable fifth-round knockdown, dropped his game challenger in the sixth, withstood a late rally, and improved to 39-1-1. It was the third rematch of Whitaker's career and, as had been the case in his previous two sequels, Whitaker won with relative ease.
That wasn't the case in their initial meeting when Whitaker was awarded a controversial split decision that forced this rematch.
The opening round was action-packed as Whitaker, who earned $1.5 million, took it to the challenger immediately, hurting him with a crisp, straight left early in the round. Rivera responded, but Whitaker got off quickly, throwing punches.
At the end of the blistering round, both fighters looked at each other and nodded.
Rivera, who was paid $300,000, responded with a physical second round, landing punishing blows to the body and head with relative ease.
None of the punches appeared to hurt Whitaker, but Rivera definitely had his attention.
Whitaker opened a cut under Rivera's left eye early in the third. Whitaker saw an opening and repeatedly hit Rivera with straight lefts, which caused some swelling under Rivera's right eye. Both fighters were warned for holding behind the head and hitting.
The fourth may have been Whitaker's best round as he began to slip more of Rivera's punches while landing several lead rights. Neither fighter threw sequences of combinations as the pace slowed somewhat.
For most of the fifth, Whitaker was in control, landing punches at will as Rivera fought left-handed, seemingly to protect the reddening cut under his left eye. Then, out of nowhere, Rivera landed a left to the body that sent Whitaker down, forcing a standing eight count.
That would seemingly have earned Rivera the round. But Whitaker came back so impressively, finishing with a crisp flurry as the bell rang, that he may have evened the tally.
In the sixth, a low blow by Rivera cost him a point, a deduction that was compounded when Whitaker dropped him with a punishing counter-left. Whitaker finished the round brimming with confidence.
Rivera opened the seventh strongly, catching a flat-footed Whitaker with a flurry that prompted Whitaker to back off. That was Rivera's highlight though as Whitaker's deft counter-punching moved him further ahead on the scorecards.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB