THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 4, 1995 TAG: 9505040532
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker's handlers chose the bright lights of Atlantic City rather than under the lights at Harbor Park for his next fight.
Whitaker will make the mandatory defense of his World Boxing Council welterweight title Aug. 12 in the same Atlantic City Convention Center ballroom in which he fought Julio Cesar Vasquez on March 4.
Whitaker had said he would like to meet top-ranked challenger Gary Jacobs (41-5, 23 knockouts) of Glasgow, Scotland, at Harbor Park. But Bally's Casino made a sweet offer to host the fight in Atlantic City.
Whitaker (35-1-1, 15) was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
``The Harbor Park thing would have been great,'' Main Events publicist Mike Boorman said. ``Bally's just came up with the best deal.''
Harbor Park would have been available the weekend of Aug. 5.
Main Events also expressed interest in holding Whitaker-Buddy McGirt fight there last October but ended up taking the show to Scope because of concerns about the weather.
Main Events president Dino Duva said weather was a concern again, as was the possibility that a lesser-known and lightly regarded fighter might not draw well in Virginia.
Duva said Bally's offered about $250,000 to host the fight, which was more than Main Events could have made by bringing it to Harbor Park. Duva said they never got to the point of talking money with Norfolk or Tides officials.
``We didn't think this was the right fight to go to Virginia with,'' said Duva, who also passed on offers to take the fight to Buffalo and Lake Tahoe.
Norfolk Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield said he and Tides president Ken Young wanted the fight at Harbor Park.
``And I know Pete sure does,'' Rosenfield said.
The opportunities for a Harbor Park fight may be dwindling as Whitaker's career winds down. But the seeds of his next career may be planted this weekend.
Whitaker and Roy Jones Jr. - the two men widely regarded as the world's best fighters - will each work as analyst on two of Saturday's four televised fights alongside Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant. Whitaker draws the assignment on the Oscar De La Hoya-Rafael Ruelas lightweight title fight.
TVKO is owned by HBO, the network that has televised almost all of Whitaker's championship fights since 1990 and enjoyed a close relationship with the fighter.
``Pete's very talkative and has a massive amount of opinions and isn't afraid to speak his mind,'' said Ross Greenburg, senior vice president of HBO Sports. ``He will be a good analyst. He'll surprise a lot of people with his insights into the strategic aspects of the sport.''
Whitaker worked as a broadcaster on the 1992 Evander Holyfield-Larry Holmes heavyweight title fight, but that gig was for the foreign television production and his commentary was not heard in the United States.
Greenburg said Whitaker could parlay Saturday's opportunity into a future career.
``It could be a breakthrough performance,'' Greenburg said. ``If he performs well on Saturday night, there will be people in the television world watching and two, three, four years down the road, he's got a resume tape and he'll be a candidate for an analyst position.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Area fight fans will get to see the champ Saturday on TVKO - as an
announcer.
by CNB