ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 14, 1997 TAG: 9704150021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pernell Whitaker's best hope for the future may be a rematch with Julio Cesar Chavez.
There's a reason why Pernell Whitaker never got a rematch of his controversial draw with Julio Cesar Chavez. It's the same reason why Oscar De La Hoya probably will never fight him again.
Whitaker simply has a habit of making good fighters look bad. And that's bad business for a rising star like De La Hoya.
``You can never look good against Pernell Whitaker,'' De La Hoya said. ``A southpaw fighter like him will make any fighter look bad any day.''
Though De La Hoya said he was more than willing to fight a rematch after winning a unanimous decision Saturday night to take Whitaker's World Boxing Council 147-pound title, there's little chance of it happening, at least in the near future.
Not after an intense but largely tactical fight that not only frustrated De La Hoya but also many of the 12,200 fans, many of them Hispanic, who came to root for the 1992 Olympic gold medalist.
``One time is enough,'' promoter Bob Arum said. ``Mexicans don't like that kind of fighting. It isn't fighting, it's playing around, looking for angles. We'd lose half our audience for a rematch.''
De La Hoya hadn't even finished celebrating in the middle of the ring at the Nevada-Las Vegas campus arena and Whitaker already was calling for a rematch. Many at ringside thought he had a good case.
``If De La Hoya is the fighter he thinks he is, we should have a rematch right away,'' Whitaker said. ``That was the Pernell Whitaker of old. I thought I pitched a shutout.''
The ringside judges didn't, however, with one scoring the fight four points in favor of De La Hoya and the other two favoring the new champion by six points.
``I'd love to fight him again,'' De La Hoya said. ``I'd dominate him the next time because I know his style now.''
De La Hoya is likely to defend his newly won title June 14 in San Antonio, then could embark on unifying the various welterweight titles if he decides to stay at 147 pounds for a while.
For Whitaker, the options are more limited. At age 33, he needed a big fight to get back some of the skills many thought he had lost, and he may need another to keep his interest in the game.
That could mean a rematch with Chavez, should the former champion be willing.
``If De La Hoya won't agree to a rematch, maybe he'll agree to fight the winner of a Whitaker-Chavez fight,'' trainer Lou Duva said.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB