THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250817
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
If Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker ever felt inclined to slough off in training for a fight, this would have been it.
Whitaker defends his World Boxing Council welterweight title Saturday (10 p.m., HBO) in an Atlantic City Convention Center ballroom against mandatory challenger Gary Jacobs, an unknown from Glasgow, Scotland. It isn't apt to be as farcical as Mike Tyson-Peter McNeeley, but let's just say Jacobs is drawing more comparisons to McNeeley here than he is to Sugar Ray Leonard. The fight is so lopsided that Las Vegas isn't even posting a line, said Roxy Roxborough of Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which provides odds for bookmakers worldwide.
Conventional wisdom would say easy fight for Whitaker. But some people say Whitaker has begun taking it easy in the gym.
That's hearsay and heresy, Whitaker trainer Ronnie Shields said.
``If people were in the gym every day and saw how hard this guy trains twice a day, they'd say, `Dang, somebody lied,' '' Shields said.
One of those somebodies would be Jim Lampley of HBO, which has featured Whitaker prominently the last few years and practically fawns over him at times. But during Whitaker's victory over Julio Cesar Vasquez in March on HBO, Lampley said everybody along the East Coast knows Whitaker does not train as hard as he used to.
That was news to Shields.
``I know he trains hard,'' said Shields, who debuted as Whitaker's top trainer in March. ``He knows he trains hard. I'm not going to sit back and not let him train hard.
``How can you say that if you don't know what this man goes through every day? What do people think we do, come in here and sleep?''
Shields said he heard Jacobs was quoted in a London newspaper making a similar comment. Jacobs shrugged that off at Thursday's final press conference - ``That's a lot of rubbish,'' he said - but then intimated Whitaker has not been in good shape in recent fights. Jacobs said Whitaker only fights for about the first half of each round, then spends the rest of the time preening and trying to impress the judges.
``I personally don't think he can fight for three minutes of a round any more,'' Jacobs said.
Whitaker just smiles at it all, saying he's glad people think that, because it keeps them guessing.
``I train for everyone the same way,'' Whitaker said. ``In all my fights it always shows. When that bell rings after that 12th round, I'm still breathing normal. I've never held on, never got beat up.
``Pernell Whitaker is the hardest working man in show business.''
Shields said Whitaker showed up for business in San Antonio to work out early this summer, a full month before his official training camp for this fight began six weeks ago in Virginia Beach. Whitaker and his handlers insist he's in the best shape of his life, which they claim almost without fail every time he fights. Whitaker said he is in better shape than he was for the Julio Cesar Chavez fight two years ago.
Although Whitaker, 31, admits the end of his career is in sight - probably by the end of 1996 - his handlers say his affinity for training hasn't waned. Co-trainer/conditioning coach Bob Wareing said Whitaker misses the physical work when he has months between fights and doesn't have to push himself in the gym.
Besides, Wareing said, the money is still good (between $1-$1.5 million for this fight) and Whitaker loves what he's doing.
``It's crazy sometimes to think about stopping,'' Wareing said.
``I think he can go as long as he wants to go,'' Shields said. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Tamara voninski
Pernell Whitaker takes a break between sparring sessions recently at
Wareing's Gym in Virginia Beach.
Graphic
Who: Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker (35-1-1, 15 KOs) of Virginia
Beach vs. Gary Jacobs (41-5, 23) of Glasgow, Scotland.
At stake: Scheduled 12 rounds for Whitaker's WBC welterweight
(147-pound) championship. Jacobs is No. 1 WBC challenger.
When and where: About 10:15 p.m. Saturday, Atlantic City
Convention Center ballroom.
TV: HBO
Radio: Tape delay following NASCAR, approximately 11 p.m., on
WGH, AM-1310.
by CNB