THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 3, 1994 TAG: 9410030123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: ANALYSIS
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
James ``Buddy'' McGirt required surgery nine days after his first fight with Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker.
In the rematch Saturday, Whitaker conducted surgery in the ring at Scope.
Whitaker used his scalpels made of leather to carve up McGirt. He anesthetized the challenger with a steady dose of jabs, powerful lefts, uppercuts and combinations. By the time Whitaker closed him up and took off the gloves, he had scored an overwhelming unanimous decision, and McGirt's career was being wheeled toward the intensive care unit.
Whitaker has become to boxing what Dr. Frank Jobe is to sports medicine - the man who cuts up the stars. Julio Cesar Chavez and McGirt are the latest to encounter the precision incisions Whitaker makes with his punches.
Chavez and McGirt were supposedly capable of undermining Whitaker's rise to prominence. What they did instead was help underscore Whitaker's immense talent as he handled both with ease - despite the absurdity of the official majority draw with Chavez.
What we are witnessing in World Boxing Council welterweight champ Whitaker is the sport's finest craftsman at his peak. It's a pleasure to watch.
Appreciate it while you can, because the word retirement slips from Whitaker's lips these days as easily as he slips punches. Eventually Whitaker will be gone, and boxing may not see anyone as skillful again for a long time.
If ever.
``He has moves upon moves,'' Boxing Illustrated editor and publisher Bert Sugar said in an interview with Home Box Office that aired before Saturday's fight. ``This is Gale Sayers in boxing trunks,''
The recent issue of Sugar's magazine rates Whitaker the world's best pound-for-pound fighter, McGirt the fifth-best.
McGirt didn't look worthy of appearing on the same page as Whitaker Saturday, let alone the same list.
True, McGirt started strong enough. Through three rounds it looked like it would be a competitive fight, as two classic boxers brawled like heavyweights.
McGirt even sent Whitaker to the canvas in the second round for just the third time in his career. The knockdown, however, came from a blow to the top of the head and was attributable to Whitaker being off balance as much as to the power of the punch.
In the fourth round, McGirt admitted afterward, the tide turned. Midway through the round a Whitaker left rocked McGirt, and the fight was in Whitaker's command.
Some members of the New York media predicted McGirt would be the better man. One even picked the challenger by knockout, terming it a mismatch.
He had the mismatch part right, but nothing else.
You could almost call it a jab job - according to Punchstats, Whitaker landed 163 jabs while McGirt landed just 154 punches total - were it not for Whitaker's all-around effectiveness. He also threw the left with decided power all night, and connected on bountiful uppercuts and inside combinations.
``But I just worked the right hand to death,'' Whitaker said while relaxing at home in Virginia Beach Sunday. ``I have never jabbed like that before.''
And McGirt has never faced anyone as gifted before. He was healthier than the first time he lost to Whitaker, but Whitaker was just that much better. McGirt probably could have beaten any other welterweight put before him Saturday.
The frustration was evident in McGirt's corner. Acerbic manager/ trainer Al Certo spewed invective between rounds from the fifth on:
After the fifth: ``You've gotta pick it up, Buddy. . . . What's the matter with you?''
After the sixth, he snapped: ``You're doing s---.''
After the seventh: ``You look like damaged goods out there, and you're not damaged goods.''
McGirt just didn't have the goods to hang with Whitaker. He knew it.
``I'm doing my best, Al,'' a puffy-eyed McGirt said apologetically before the final round.
``I know that,'' Certo replied with resignation.
McGirt's best came in the first four rounds, and after that he seemed to have punched himself out. One of the staples of Whitaker's repertoire is his seeming ability to get stronger as the fight progresses. He may have been even more spectacular as a 15-round fighter.
And he seems to get stronger as his career progresses. The only thing diminishing is the list of opponents.
Whitaker didn't appear too concerned about it Sunday afternoon. He's taking the rest of the year off, planning for the larger house he and his family intend to build off Shore Drive in Virginia Beach.
He will fight again in the spring. Hopefully - but doubtfully - he would meet Chavez, who is unwilling to dance right now. Whitaker is also willing to move up to 150 pounds to battle Terry Norris.
``That would be another event,'' Whitaker said.
Whoever he fights, it's worth looking forward to another performance by Sweetpea Whitaker, smooth operator. MEMO: Photo page/C4
ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
A happy Sweetpea Whitaker, center, leaves Scope on Saturday.
by CNB