Terrible news. Hall of Fame boxer Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker was struck by a car and killed Sunday night in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was just 55. According to police, at 10:04 pm they received a call for vehicle/pedestrian accident in the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Baker Road. When officers arrived, they found that Whitaker had been struck by a vehicle. He succumbed to his injuries on the scene. The driver of the vehicle remained on scene. This case remains under investigation.
Whitaker was one of the greatest defensive boxers of all time and was considered the pound-for-pound best during a good portion of the 1990s. His most famous fight was a controversial 1993 draw with fellow ring legend Julio Cesar Chavez, who was 87-0 at the time. Most thought Whitaker deserved the victory. He was a 1984 Olympic gold medalist and won world titles at lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight, compiling a career record of 40-4-1 with 17 KOs.
RIP, Champ. You gave so much to boxing
He will be missed
So sad. He was a true legend. Rest In Sweet Peace
He was the Master of Defense and I might add he beat Chavez
and De La Hoya…
I’ll never forget the seven or so unanswered hooks he landed on Hurtado. Brutal work from a normally light-handed fighter
He was the greatest defensive fighter of all times but you cant win
a fight not throwing combinations and Oscar beat him.
I agree. Pernell did not beat Oscar. Oscar was missing with his punches due to Pernell’s defense but Oscar also landed a lot!
Plus Pernell didn’t throw as much as Oscar did nor did he connect as much as Oscar did.
I saw the fight many years later. I though Oscar beat trinidad, 7-5, and I saw it on PPV. When seeing the second Mosley fight I thought Oscar beat him as well. I thought the fight with Kernel should have been a draw.
I thought Pernell imposed his will on Oscar and pulled that fight out. Oscar threw a lot of punches, but few of them landed, and he also got tagged whenever Pernell wanted to put his hand on him. For marketing purposes, Oscar was the “golden boy” and they wanted him as the star. Same with Chavez fight which was ruled a draw. Pernell clearly won that fight. Makes me sick to my stomach that this great fighter Pernell Whitaker was robbed of two well-earned victories over De La Hoya and Chavez simply because of the marketing politics of that time. One of the great fighters, he will be missed.
Wonderful fighter .. how sad âšī¸!
Oh my… đ Rest in peace great champ!
Aarrgh.
TRAGIC !!!
Sweet Pea was one of the best ever.
sucks the champ had to go out like that so young.RIP
I wonder if he tried to beat the car. Man it is not worth risking your like for those extra seconds you Are trying to save.
Eric Hancock, this is not about who you think it won the boxing match. In times like this, keep your comments to yourself, even if we agree to disagree. I was a chavez fan, but always respected the fact that Whitaker was and will remain in our thoughts as one of the best of his era or boxing career. I did enjoyed his fights, so elusive and sleek (I’m not sure if is the correct words) . But is like he saw the punches in slow motion. Rip. And my condolences to his family. God Bless his family and provide the comfort as needed.
SAD NEWS !!! RIP CHAMP !!!
RIP that man was a legend very crafty fighter
It’s especially gut wrenching when the fighters you grew up watching pass on. I miss you so much, champ!
RIP champ. One of best to lace them up.
I’ll never forget his Hurtado fight ….that knockout was incredible. RIP Champ!
A True legend, defensive wizard and great boxer. Rest in peace sweet pea!!!!
I’m heart broken. Pernell was thee best defensive fighter period. One of the greatest fighters ever. Loved watching all his fights. Also part of the greatest USA Olympic boxing team ever.
Death had to use a car because if he tried to do on his own, he wouldn’t be able to touch Pernell. Rest in Peace brother. Thank you for all you did for boxing.
Eloquent
He beat de la hoyas ass too! An got robbed! Made him look foolish!!!
Man, This breaks my heart. One of the best fighters of all time. Much love my Hommie from the Mexican Barrio. RIP
RiP champ
At such a young age, one of the best fighters ever is gone. Whitaker may not have been a popular fighter, but I believe he would be good enough to school Mayweather in a prime to prime mythical match up. Such an under-appreciated fighter who was tough as nails but fought a defensive style. His upper body movement was so good and only made small steps to make angles to avoid punches. He never needed to run to fight.
RIP, Champ!
Geez, these assholes not watching where they are going while driving. I’m surprised they stuck around too, instead of fleeing the scene. Nonetheless, it is done and the boxing community lost one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. RIP sweet pea.
10:30 at night itâs hard to see what is ahead. And I doubt he was wearing light reflecting clothing.
Best fighter along with Roy Jones jnr seen in the last 30 years plus . Simply head and shoulders above the rest. Only fighter had a similar skill set in that time is Floyd Mayweather . Sweetpea also stopped Mayweather Floyd snr. R.i.p champ !
Sweet Pea never fought Floyd Sr. but he beat Roger and almost stopped him
Yes i know a mere slip of the fingers. thanks for the correction. i still have a fight collection in my loft of videos from 1984 up to a bout 5 years ago.
R.I.P Sweet Pea.1984 Olympics were the first time I saw him and never looked back. The Louie Lomeli fight was my favourite fight of his. Perfection.
Savage
The state of VA is one of the more crooked states in the union. We the people have a right to know who the driver is that KILLED one of the best boxers of all time. Was he an illegal? Was he a hitman? Was he under the influence?
I want to see this mother fucker arrested and locked up. And if my suspicions are correct … DEPORTED !!
Jonathan, dude calm down. All articles written in this clearly state the driver stayed and was cooperating. No drugs or alcohol were involved and although they were still investigating it was an accident. Sounds more like pernell thought he could beat the traffic.
Let’s see who runs VA. Liberal criminals. The 2 senators are scum bags. The governor is a scum bag. The prior governor is REALLY a scum bag. The LT governor is a rapist. The secretary of state is a scum bag.
The driver is likely an illegal. If it turns out he or she is an illegal, VA will lose blue voters, who will WALK AWAY. Poor Sweet Pea died at the hands of someone who should have NEVER been in the United States. Was the car checked for guns and drugs? VA is sooooooooooo fucked up.
Regardless, it is the DRIVER’s responsibility to watch for pedestrians. The minimum sentence for INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER should be 5 years in a State Penn.
LOCK THIS MOTHER FUCKER UP !!
Bro youâre a knowledgeable fight fan who knows his stuff. Please keep it to boxing here. No one wants to talk politics here.
How do you know the driver was illegal?
Shut you racist butt up you dog! You donât care about sweet pea Youre just trying to turn this tragedy into a political rant
You are a racist
This is horrible news. From the olympics to the pros this was one intelligent great sweet fighter. The boxing world lost one of it’s greats, I saw him live in several of his fights. My condolences to his family, R.I.P champ, I know you’ll be welcomed up there.This is a terrible shock.
I don’t know why but some folks were jealous of this dude because he really should have been undefeated in all of his bouts he was the best at not getting hit. Mayweather was good but sweet pea was better, NO POLITICS in to fighting he fought anybody that wanted to fight him real fighter fought 3-4 times a year these pre madona’s fight maybe once every15 months or so !!!
Very sad news. One of my favorite all time fighters.
He was the best fighter of his era. He out muscled and battered Chavez in their fight. Chavez never wanted a rematch cause he was surprised at how strong Sweet Pea was. He knew he could never beat Sweet Pea ever. Sweet Pea’s first lost was bogus too. We all saw what happened when they had a rematch. De la Hoya beat him on points, but barely laid a glove on Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea lost cause he didn’t punch enough. He only really took a clear whipping in his fight with Trinidad when father time had caught up with him.
An amazing talent- especially for being undersized for all the divisions he competed in. The only clear loss he suffered was a decision to the great FÊlix Trinidad when the larger Puerto Rican champion was in his prime and at his best fighting weight. Prime Pernell would have been a threat against anyone in the history of the 135 and 140 lb. divisions.
RIP Sweet pea.
Pernell Whitaker was the sharpest, most accurate puncher I have ever seen in the right. His precision was extraordinary, and it was really a sight to watch the heads of his opponents snap back repeatedly because of the extraordinary timing and precision of Whitaker’s punches. His defensive abilities were genius. Pernell Whitaker was a great man. He was small in stature, but such a majestic, dignified, poised, gifted athlete and fighter. I feel fortunate that during my lifetime, I saw him. Pernell is gone, but will never be forgotten, and he will always be among the greats.
Thank you for all your great fights!