ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701280016
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.
SOURCE: N.Y. Times News Service
THE 33-YEAR-OLD deflates Diobelys Hurtado in the 11th round Friday night to stay on course.
Perhaps, at age 33, Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker got the wake-up call he desperately needed if he is to continue as a champion and beat the likes of Oscar De La Hoya.
The call - Whitaker's second, but most serious, in nine months - came Friday night at the Atlantic City Convention Hall ballroom from an unlikely source, the Cuban defector Diobelys Hurtado.
In what was supposed to be a tuneup before an already scheduled multimillion-dollar fight against the undefeated De La Hoya on April 12, Whitaker found himself in dire trouble and needing a knockout to retain his World Boxing Council welterweight title with two rounds to go in the 12-round bout.
Fortunately for Whitaker - and De La Hoya, who was at ringside - that's exactly what the left-handed champion was able to produce in the 11th round.
Contrary to his reputation as a slick boxer with little power, Whitaker, a Norfolk native, unleashed a furious and unanswered barrage of eight thunderous left hooks that sent the 24-year-old Hurtado down for far longer than the count of 10 at 1 minute, 52 seconds of the 11th round.
``I didn't know I could throw that many left hands at once,'' said Whitaker, his face bruised after he had absorbed dozens of solid punches from Hurtado, including combinations that knocked him down in the first and sixth rounds. ``But I know it's not over till we say it's over.''
Ironically, even though Whitaker is nine years older than Hurtado, and showing signs of slippage, he had time on his side in this rousing, nonstop-action fight that frequently had the air of a sidewalk brawl and was replete with illegal blows.
Where Whitaker had gone at least 10 rounds during 24 of his previous 41 professional fights, Hurtado had mainly been fighting eight-round bouts in the Miami area, where he now lives, and had gone as far as the 10th round only once.
Still, the Cuban, who had won all 20 of his professional fights, won both the ninth and 10th rounds and was ahead on the scorecards of all three officials - by one, two and five points - going into the 11th round.
Whitaker, who weighed the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, a pound more than Hurtado, carried the fight to the challenger throughout, but in the process was hit often by Hurtado, who counterpunched effectively. An astounding total of 877 punches were thrown during the bout, of which 299 landed - 38 percent by Whitaker and 31 percent by Hurtado.
But at the outset, it was Hurtado who went on the offensive, going right at Whitaker at the opening bell and decking him with a left-right combination, the first punches of the bout, about five seconds into the fight. Whitaker bounced up, smiling, as he did again in the sixth round when a similar combination sent him to the floor.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Pernell Whitaker (right) watches as referee Arthurby CNBMercanti prevents challenger Diobelys Hurtado from falling out of
the ring after being knocked out in the 11th round Friday night.