THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110660
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
The whereabouts of his gold medal? Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker thinks it is at his mother's house, but he doesn't know where.
His USA uniform and warm-up suit? Who knows?
The boxing gloves with which he won the gold medal? Well, Whitaker brought them to the gym one day. Co-trainer/conditioning coach Bob Wareing asked him where he got these gloves, and was appalled to learn the fighter was about to spar with gloves he used to win the Olympics. Wareing quickly squirreled them away.
The memories? Ah, now those Sweetpea Whitaker has in safekeeping.
Ten years ago today, Whitaker became just the third South Hampton Roads native ever to win an Olympic gold medal. He can still see all the images as vividly as if it were 10 days ago:
Whitaker is hammering the Puerto Rican in the 132-pound gold medal match. With three seconds left in the second round, the other fighter's corner throws in the towel. At that moment, 12 years of toil comes to fruition.
Now Whitaker is on the medal stand. He holds a small American flag in one hand and places his other hand over his heart. He's wearing a laurel wreath upon on his head and gold around his neck, and as the national anthem plays, he closes his eyes and bites his lip.
The music stops, and Whitaker ventures into the stands to find his mother, Novella. He hangs the gold medal around her neck. ``Mama, this is your birthday present,'' he says.
Whitaker sits in the formal living room of his stylish Virginia Beach home and smiles at the memories. The nice house, the Mercedes in the driveway and much of his worldwide acclaim in boxing have been byproducts of Whitaker's professional career. He has earned millions of dollars, won five professional world championships and is regarded the planet's finest at his craft.
But nothing tops the events in Los Angeles 10 years ago today.
``I don't care how many world titles I've won or what I've done as a professional, my professional career would never outshine my amateur career,'' Whitaker says. ``The Olympics is the ultimate.
``It was just a whole lot of fun meeting people from other countries, and there wasn't a lot of pressure about how much money you were going to make because it wasn't about money. It was about winning medals and prestige and honor. It was about climbing those steps and wearing that USA uniform and going out there and putting on a show.''
Which is what Whitaker did.
He fought five men, beat the first four 5-0 and then stopped Puerto Rico's Luis Ortiz in the final. The 20-year-old Whitaker's style dazzled the L.A. Sports Arena crowd. Howard Cosell sung his praises on national TV.
Whitaker's toughest fight was the semifinal with Korean Chil-Sung Chun. It was his only performance that left the crowd and the media nonplused. Whitaker admits today, ``I was a little sluggish.''
Whitaker left nothing for the critics to carp about in the gold medal bout.
Fifteen seconds into the fight, he drilled Ortiz with a left and then peppered him with jabs and straight lefts. The referee stopped the action in the second round to wipe blood from the nose of Ortiz. Then the ref stepped in again to give Ortiz a standing eight count, followed moments later by another one. After the second count, the ref motioned for the Puerto Rican to fight, but the boxer's cornermen threw in the towel.
Back home in Norfolk, instant euphoria.
``I looked out the door and didn't see anybody on the street yet,'' said a neighbor from the Young Park housing project in which Whitaker lived. ``All I could hear was yelling from all the houses.''
Whitaker's oldest brother, Raymond, watched the fight at home with other siblings and family members. Afterward, he was asked by Young Park residents to sign autographs.
``Sweetpea's brother,'' he wrote.
Whitaker claimed his prize on a Saturday and was due to come home on Monday. But Whitaker packed his bags Saturday night and headed for the airport early Sunday morning, unbeknownst to anyone else. He called home to let them know he was coming and expected family members to meet him at the airport.
An estimated 1,000 people greeted him. Whitaker was ushered back to Young Park's Cumberland Street in a limousine as an impromptu parade ensued, complete with flag-waving, banners and champagne bottles being uncorked. It was a welcome home worthy of a war hero.
``I don't know how they found out I was coming in that day,'' Whitaker says now, remembering the wild scene. ``I thought I was sneaking in. I thought I could get in and get a little rest.
``The whole airport was packed. All the people from the projects that I knew were there. They had radio stations there, TV cameras, a limousine. Man, I thought I was the Pope.''
According to U.S. Olympic Committee records, Whitaker was just the third South Hampton Roads native to win an Olympic gold medal - the others, both Norfolk natives, were canoeist John Larcombe in 1924 and swimmer Harold Mann in 1964.
Mark Breland and Tyrell Biggs come into the 1984 Olympics as the most heralded fighters. When it is over, Whitaker was among the stars of the most successful U.S. Olympic boxing team ever (nine gold medals, one silver, one bronze out of 12 weight classes - but with an asterisk because of the Communist Bloc boycott).
``Of all the fighters here, I think he's got one of the best futures,'' The Fight Doctor, Ferdie Pacheco, said prophetically at the '84 Games.
Whitaker turned the gold into instant green shortly after the Olympics. He signed a professional contract with the same promotional and management team he works with today, and ABC-TV anted up to carry his and selected other Olympians' early fights. The financial windfall enabled Whitaker to move his parents out of the projects and into a nice house in Norfolk.
They still live in the same house. And it is there that Novella Whitaker dutifully keeps the gold medal. It used to hang above her fireplace, but now it is safely stored in a drawer.
Whitaker's father, who was then a Norfolk sanitation truck driver, longtime amateur coach Clyde Taylor and future wife Rovonda were all at the Sports Arena. But it is Novella Whitaker who will forever be a part of the memory, part of the moment.
``After he came off the podium, we came down to the floor and met him and he took the medal off his neck and put it on mine and said `Happy Birthday,' '' says Novella Whitaker, who had to wait a couple weeks after her July 27 birthday for the promised present from her fifth of seven children. ``To me, that was the greatest moment of my life, too.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA/
In ringing up a 33-1-1 professional record, Sweetpea Whitaker has
won five world championships and earned millions of dollars.
ASSOCIATED PRESS file photo
Whitaker celebrates after donning the gold medal.
Timeline
Whitaker's Career
1984-1994
For copy of the Timeline, please see microfilm.
by CNB