THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100151
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 84 lines
Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker begins preparations today for the Oscar De La Hoya fight with a strategy he has never employed in 12 years as a professional boxer.
He's taking the show on the road.
Whitaker, who has always trained in Virginia Beach, will spend all but one of the next nine weeks away from home. His handlers hope the break from the routine will pay dividends when he meets De La Hoya on April 12 in what has been called the biggest welterweight fight in 15 years.
``This is the biggest fight of his life,'' Whitaker co-trainer/conditioning coach Bob Wareing said. ``We're going to sacrifice for this. Nobody likes the idea, particularly our families, but we've got to sacrifice. They understand.''
Just two weeks removed from his last fight, Whitaker begins his strength and conditioning work today for the defense of his World Boxing Council welterweight title in Las Vegas. After 10 days in San Antonio, he will accompany Wareing to Atlantic City, N.J., to watch Arturo Gatti defend his 130-pound world title against Tracy Patterson on Feb. 22. Wareing co-trains Gatti.
After the Gatti fight they will return to Virginia Beach for a week before heading to Phoenix for the official opening of training camp March 1. The plan is to remain in Phoenix until a week before the fight, when the camp will move to Las Vegas.
Whitaker, a Norfolk native and Virginia Beach resident, has a 40-1-1 professional record, with six world titles in four weight classes. Through it all, he's been a homebody at heart.
Although he often goes elsewhere to work for a couple of weeks, the bulk of his training has always been done in Virginia Beach. Wareing said they have never been gone longer than three weeks, but this time it will be six straight weeks away from home.
``It's going to be well worth it, but I'm sure the days will get long at some point,'' Whitaker said.
``Pete right now at this stage of his career is too comfortable and too relaxed in a place like Virginia Beach,'' said trainer Ronnie Shields. ``Everyone knows him. I thought, `Let's try something new now, go to a different environment and see how he reacts.'
``I need a little tension in camp this time.''
The need for a new approach was evident in Whitaker's last fight. He was trailing on all three judges' scorecards when he scored an 11th-round knockout to dispatch lightly regarded Diobelis Hurtado on Jan. 24 in Atlantic City. Had he not been able to pull it out, Whitaker would have kissed the projected career-high $6 million payday with De La Hoya goodbye.
Whitaker insisted he trained hard for Hurtado, although he acknowledged that ``it has been very hard to get motivated'' for unheralded opponents. Shields said Whitaker's boxing work was fine for Hurtado, but he struggled with the 147-pound welterweight limit.
Wareing was more blunt.
``We all took the fight too lightly,'' Wareing said. ``Everyone has to take the blame. All of our attitudes were not what they should have been. At that level, that's all it takes to get beat.''
This time, they don't want to take any chances. They want Whitaker focused and concentrating.
``Being away and being isolated, you can't go wrong with that,'' Whitaker said. ``You don't know anybody or mingle around, and I can concentrate on getting some rest.''
Whitaker took his wife and four sons - ages 15 to 15 months - to Sunday's NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland. He was to fly to San Antonio today while his family flew home.
Shields said Whitaker will be free to talk to his family daily while they are in camp, and the trainer would not object to their coming out to spend a few days in Phoenix. But he just wants Whitaker removed from the home fires to get his competitive fires burning brighter.
But there's a caveat to all this. If Whitaker doesn't respond to the more isolated camp, Shields will adjust.
``If it backfires, hey, no problem with picking up camp and moving back to Virginia,'' Shields said.
Nobody is counting on that. Whitaker is looking forward to the intensive training without distractions.
``It's a big sacrifice, but hey, it's not the time right now to be looking back,'' Whitaker said. ``I have to be ready. My family knows what it takes, they know what I have to do.'' ILLUSTRATION: FILE
Pernell Whitaker, who has always trained in Virginia Beach, will
spend all but one of the next nine weeks away from home.