- 13 minutes ago
Pernell Whitaker returns to the ring to face Andrei Pestriaev in a WBA Welterweight Title elimination fight on HBO Boxing.
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00:00:11You
00:00:34In our 25th year, the following is a special presentation of HBO Sports.
00:00:42Hello, and welcome to Boxing View, brought to you by HBO and HBO Sports.
00:00:49If you know the name of the fighter that you'd like to see, press or say 1 now.
00:00:54You have selected Whitaker, rated R.
00:00:57For a preview of this movie, press or say 2 now.
00:01:03In a controversial decision, Whitaker lost his last hour and went up against the golden boy Oscar de la Hora.
00:01:10It was a horror-filled match-up, and with suspense, betrayal, and drama.
00:01:16And new!
00:01:17The world champion of the world, Oscar de la Hora!
00:01:25Evil forces thank Whitaker medium to return, but at 33, the sun is not yet set up as six-time
00:01:32world champion.
00:01:33Whitaker is out.
00:01:35He's still the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
00:01:39Don't miss this action-packed thriller, when Whitaker takes on Andre Pespa.
00:01:43For showtimes, press 3 now.
00:01:48This bout is scheduled for 9-15.
00:01:51Also showing on tonight's double feature is Mike Forte.
00:01:56For a preview of this bout, press or say 4 now.
00:02:00If the peacemaker's not for you, check out the bazooka-hike, Forte.
00:02:06Out of all the credit, this undefeated lowerweight champion from Ghana brings you what might be his best performance ever.
00:02:12His starring role against Jose Luis Lopez.
00:02:15Lopez, a devastating power puncher, has left former champions dazed and confused.
00:02:21Forte vs. Lopez is rated X.
00:02:24Playtimes for this bout are 10 o'clock.
00:02:27For previews of future bout, press or say 5.
00:02:31For more information, press or say 5.
00:02:43This bout, press or say 5.
00:03:03Essa date dove
00:03:27Tonight, from Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut,
00:03:31HBO Sports presents a double-header edition of World Championship Boxing.
00:03:36Our evening begins with six-time world champion Bernal Whittaker taking on Andrey Pastrayev,
00:03:42followed by our main event title fight, welterweight champion Ike Porte defending his crown against Mexican challenger Jose Luis Lopez.
00:03:52Both bouts are scheduled for 12 rounds.
00:03:55And you get a good exterior look at the giant Foxwoods Casino here in rural Connecticut,
00:04:00where we've been treated to the fabulous spectacle of changing colors in the fall leaves all this week.
00:04:06Now the crowd moves inside for this boxing double-header, which could provide a big measure of excitement to the
00:04:12casino tonight.
00:04:17And hello again everybody, I'm Jim Lampley.
00:04:19We welcome you to this edition of HBO's World Championship Boxing, which features two significant pieces of welterweight business.
00:04:25In the first fight, Bernal Whittaker seeking to regain the status he lost in his title loss to Oscar De
00:04:32La Hoya several months ago.
00:04:34In the second fight, Ike Porte of Ghana and his continuing quest for status and money to go with his
00:04:40extraordinary talent.
00:04:41Here to work with us, the man designated this month by one major boxing publication as the number one pound
00:04:48-for-pound fighter of all time in boxing.
00:04:51Maybe a little soon for you to be wearing that particular law, Roy Jones Jr.
00:04:55But Roy, as we get ready to watch another man who would like to take that title from you somewhere
00:05:00down the road, Ike Porte.
00:05:02Porte continues to struggle to gain the notoriety and the public demand for his services that might get in big
00:05:08fights against the better-known welterweights like Oscar De La Hoya, like Felix Trinidad.
00:05:13What must Ike Porte do to get into the ring with one of those two guys?
00:05:17Well, first of all, most of it is political.
00:05:19You know when certain guys have certain guys, they don't want to take a chance of losing their guy or
00:05:24getting him beat before something big can happen.
00:05:27Ike Porte is the guy suitable to beat all of the big welterweights out there now.
00:05:31He doesn't have the name or the reputation that they have, but he can fight.
00:05:35And they don't want none of him.
00:05:37And if he beats Jose Luis Lopez tonight, is that a significant enough step forward to move him closer to
00:05:43one of those big fights?
00:05:44It is significant enough, but I don't think they still accept a challenge from Ike Porte.
00:05:48It's just sometimes guys do not want to fight the best guy.
00:05:52They don't want to prove who's the best in that division.
00:05:55We already know who's power for power the best, but they don't want to prove who's the best in their
00:05:59division.
00:06:00I know Ike is willing, and I'm sure some of those other champions inside know that the right thing to
00:06:05do is go ahead and step forward and prove who's the best welterweight power for power today.
00:06:10Well, maybe the first big-name welterweight who will get into the ring with Porte is Purnell Whitaker.
00:06:14That could happen as soon as next year, and as we look toward this first bout of the evening, working
00:06:19with us as always, HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant.
00:06:22Larry, we talked about Porte's quest for status and money. Whitaker's quest right now would be to get a rematch
00:06:29with Oscar De La Hoya.
00:06:30What must he do to fulfill that desire?
00:06:33Well, first it would be a pretty good idea for him to win tonight.
00:06:36And next, it would even be a better idea, probably, to look good while doing it.
00:06:43To convince everyone that a rematch doesn't mean a rerun.
00:06:48Because even those who thought that Whitaker made a much closer fight, or even won the first fight with De
00:06:54La Hoya,
00:06:56aren't eager to see a rematch of what was a tactical showdown.
00:07:02But if the rematch doesn't happen, then what happens tonight could be even more significant.
00:07:07Because then we might get a more appealing attraction, in my judgment, of Whitaker versus the man who was everybody's
00:07:16nightmare in the division, Quirte.
00:07:19Providing that he wins.
00:07:21We know this much about Purnell Whitaker, Jim.
00:07:23He's ducked a lot of punches in his day.
00:07:26He's never ducked a tough opponent.
00:07:27And conventional wisdom is that he doesn't have a particularly tough opponent tonight, although Pestriyev does have a good record.
00:07:34But a lot of people expect Purnell to win, if his mind is here on his business in the ring
00:07:40tonight,
00:07:40instead of still on what happened in Las Vegas against De La Hoya six months ago.
00:07:51Purnell Whitaker and Oscar De La Hoya met in the ring April 12 for the World Welterweight Championship.
00:07:56On that night, in a less than convincing performance, the Golden Boy took Sweet Pea's title belt.
00:08:03A belt many experts felt should never have changed hands.
00:08:06You know, and everybody else knows he's going to fall.
00:08:10And that's where it comes.
00:08:11All I do is see him running backwards.
00:08:13All I do is knock him down, attack him, and expose him.
00:08:16That's all I do.
00:08:18I was at my best.
00:08:19But Purnell's vest was not good enough.
00:08:22At least not in the opinion of the three judges who scored it.
00:08:27And Whitaker ends at the fight backing up and clowning, which may or may not serve him well.
00:08:34It's a clown.
00:08:35A clown is a person who wears makeup and do little tricks for kids.
00:08:39You know, I don't do tricks for kids.
00:08:41I try to hit and not do it.
00:08:43That's the object of the game.
00:08:44While Whitaker is in denial about having done anything to hurt his chances, Lou Duva, his long-time trainer, is
00:08:51a bit more objective.
00:08:53After the fight, I went up to his suite upstairs, and I didn't pull no punches.
00:09:01And as was Pete, I thought we were going to fight close.
00:09:04But I thought we could have made the fight much easier if we were to pull more punches.
00:09:09And he goes, you know what?
00:09:11He goes, you know what?
00:09:11I think you're right.
00:09:12He goes, you know what?
00:09:12I think you're right.
00:09:13Now Purnell wants to avenge his loss to De La Hoya the same way he did with Jose Luis Ramirez
00:09:18in 1989.
00:09:19It's a chance he never had with Julio Cesar Chavez after their controversial draw in 1993.
00:09:26A fight Whitaker clearly won going away.
00:09:29Purnell Whitaker is all too familiar with frustration.
00:09:33I want to fight the kid again because the kid doesn't want to fight me.
00:09:36One thing you can't do, I can't make him fight me.
00:09:39Whitaker now plays a waiting game, hoping De La Hoya will give him the rematch.
00:09:44Tonight's fight is his first trip into the ring since he lost his title.
00:09:48So could Whitaker be caught looking past Pastraev?
00:09:51You know, it's my first fight since that tragedy.
00:09:55I'm looking forward to this because I know that the world is waiting for me.
00:10:00Just to see me.
00:10:02And see what I do.
00:10:05Because I'm coming out.
00:10:07You don't know what can happen in cases like this.
00:10:10And you don't know what Purnell will turn up.
00:10:12But Mitch Purnell will turn up.
00:10:14The one where he was three-time champion.
00:10:18The one where he was in trouble.
00:10:21But they'll further reveal.
00:10:22You don't know.
00:10:23You don't know.
00:10:24Whitaker will turn 34 in January.
00:10:26And whether he does get his desired rematch or not,
00:10:301998 could very well be his last year as a fighter.
00:10:33The Mariners still have the seven years before their time.
00:10:36All right.
00:10:37Nothing's enough.
00:10:39And I'm doing it.
00:10:40He's doing it.
00:10:41The fighters never retire satisfied.
00:10:44They'll never retire satisfied.
00:10:45They always figure there's always one more fight.
00:10:47One more thing to do out there.
00:10:49And all good things must come to him.
00:10:52Even though you don't want them to.
00:10:53It must come to him.
00:10:55You just have to accept it.
00:10:57Accept it.
00:10:58You know.
00:11:00And be happy with it.
00:11:01When he does retire, Whitaker will walk away as one of boxing's most proven modern champions.
00:11:06An Olympic gold medalist who won professional titles in four weight classes.
00:11:11And who for at least five years claimed the mythical title of best fighter pound for pound.
00:11:17You know.
00:11:17I've done everything, you know.
00:11:18There is nothing else I've got to do, you know.
00:11:20This sport has been good for Pernod Whitaker.
00:11:23And Pernod Whitaker has been good for the sport.
00:11:25Even if he never gets the chance to erase the haunting memory of his loss to Oscar de la Oya.
00:11:31Ronell Whitaker's place in boxing history is secure.
00:11:34For now, he will continue to function in the only job he's ever had.
00:11:38He knows that soon, maybe very soon, he'll lace up the gloves for the last time.
00:11:43And if you search the horizon for his inheritance as a stylist, you're still searching.
00:11:51Back live at ringside in the Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut.
00:11:55And you see the tail of the tape.
00:11:57Seven-year age advantage for Pestriyev.
00:11:59And a six-inch height advantage for the very rangy welterweight.
00:12:03They agreed to fight over the limit at 148, give or take a pound.
00:12:07And Whitaker took that as far as he could take it.
00:12:09As he enters, having weighed in at 149.
00:12:12A four-inch reach advantage for Pestriyev as they go into the ring.
00:12:16Punch that numbers, Larry.
00:12:19Alright, here's a look at the activity of the fighters.
00:12:22And you can see that Pestriyev is a very, very busy, aggressive fighter.
00:12:28Doesn't land a high percentage.
00:12:30Comes forward.
00:12:31But these numbers, we have to remember, are against club-fighting type opposition.
00:12:39And here are the numbers of punches they've been hit by.
00:12:42And those club fighters have hit Pestriyev.
00:12:45More than half of the punches they've thrown at him.
00:12:48So something is going to happen in this fight.
00:12:51And it might not be good for Pestriyev, given the caliber of opposition he has faced.
00:12:57Next Saturday night, Harold Letterman will be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame tonight.
00:13:03He scores the fights unofficially at ringside for us.
00:13:06Rules, Harold.
00:13:06Well, thank you, Jim.
00:13:07I'm starting to feel the tension.
00:13:09The part I win at the Andre Pestriyev fight is scheduled for twelve rounds non-titled.
00:13:13There is no standing day count.
00:13:15No three knockdown group.
00:13:17Only the referee can stop the fight.
00:13:18And you cannot be saved by the bell at any round, including the twelfth and final rounds.
00:13:23And Jim.
00:13:24All right.
00:13:25Here comes some of the shortest fighter entries into the ring in the history of modern boxing,
00:13:30or at least of our telecast.
00:13:32This is a tiny bandbox style theater with about 1,700 seats.
00:13:38And the distance from dressing rooms to the ring is, as you can see, about, oh, 15 seconds.
00:13:44Pestriyev, born in the Ural Mountains, raised in the Soviet amateur boxing system,
00:13:49has lived in Brighton Beach here in New York City, over in Brooklyn, but recently living in Paris.
00:13:57And there's the record 20 wins, one loss, 15 KOs.
00:14:00He's won his last six fights against extremely questionable opposition.
00:14:04But he's ranked number one by one of the governing bodies, which now ranks critical number two.
00:14:10So this is seen as a title elimination bout.
00:14:14And to produce a mandatory contender for Quarte's title,
00:14:18and that's why this bout is now scheduled for 12 rounds.
00:14:22One of those extremely questionable governing bodies.
00:14:27Questionable ranking, questionable governing bodies.
00:14:37Wively welcome for Sweet Pea.
00:14:54Right now, Whitaker 40 wins, losses to Delahoya and Jose Luis Ramirez.
00:14:59The draw with Chavez.
00:15:01Only 17 KOs.
00:15:03Six times.
00:15:05He's won world championship belts.
00:15:06This is his first non-titled fight in five years.
00:15:11And let's go to ring announcer Michael Buffer for the official introductions.
00:15:18Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Foxwood's Cosima Resort here in the Green Hills of Eastern Connecticut.
00:15:24Good night.
00:15:25Main Events Monitor and your undisputed, undefeated King of Mears, Budweiser.
00:15:30This Bud's for you.
00:15:32In association with A.B. Stars Promotions present a double rumble in the welterweight division.
00:15:38And this card is dedicated to the memory of Art Cavalier.
00:15:42These bouts are sanctioned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Gaming and Athletic Commission.
00:15:48The three judges assigned to ringside for the first bout, scoring it on a 10-point bus system will be
00:15:54Glenn Feldman, Tommy Kazmarek, and Don O'Neal.
00:15:58And when the bell rings, the referee in charge of the action, Jim Santa.
00:16:03And now, for the first of two times this evening, from Foxwood's Casino Resort of Connecticut, ladies and gentlemen, let's
00:16:13get ready to rumble!
00:16:18Twelve rounds of boxing for a WBA official championship elimination bout in the welterweight division.
00:16:26Sanctioned by the World Boxing Association, WBA Supervisor Ringside James J. Vins.
00:16:34Introducing first, heading out of the red corner.
00:16:37He's wearing red and weighs in at 148.25 pounds.
00:16:42He comes to the ring with an excellent professional record of 20 victories.
00:16:46Fifteen victories by knockout with only one defeat.
00:16:50Ladies and gentlemen, from Stelatymik, Russia,
00:16:53introducing the WBA number one-ranked weatherweight in the world, Andre Pestraeel!
00:17:06He's yours, he likes it.
00:17:09And across the ring, heading out of the blue corner.
00:17:12Wearing emerald green, his weight is 149 pounds even.
00:17:17In 1984, he captured Olympic gold.
00:17:21And now, as a professional, he has 40 victories.
00:17:24Seventeen of those by knockout with two losses and one draw.
00:17:28And he has captured four world championships in four different great traditions.
00:17:34He's always been considered by many as pound-for-pound one of boxing's best.
00:17:39Ladies and gentlemen, from Norfolk, Virginia,
00:17:42presenting the four-time champion of the world,
00:17:48Bernal, Sweepy Whittaker!
00:17:52And you ready?
00:17:53Pound-for-pound!
00:17:54Pound-for-pound!
00:17:55You got it!
00:18:02Let's go!
00:18:06Good evening, gentlemen.
00:18:07We went over all the rules and the dressing rooms.
00:18:09Let's cross and have a good fight.
00:18:14Well, we're about to see Bernal Whitaker, a certain hall of famer.
00:18:19Probably for one of the few more times he'll be in the ring.
00:18:24You ready?
00:18:25The most decorated fighter of his generation.
00:18:28Starting with the Olympic gold medal and all of the amateur accomplishments that preceded it.
00:18:33And proceeding on to his string of world championships.
00:18:37But we've seen him look very troubled a couple of times in the past few years.
00:18:42In his first fight against Roberto Rivera, he was obviously under-trained, sick.
00:18:47He tells us that week in San Martin, fought poorly against Cuban Diavales Hurtado early in 1996.
00:18:55He was horrendous late in 1996.
00:18:59Ultimately scored a late knockout of Hurtado to salvage what could have been a disaster's loss.
00:19:05So you never know which Hurtado is going to show up at this stage of his career.
00:19:11I think the comeback against Diavales Hurtado was one of the best fights in history.
00:19:17Probably because of the fact that he had come from so far behind.
00:19:22He was knocked down on the first round by Hurtado.
00:19:25Trailed on the scorecards when he knocked Hurtado out.
00:19:29Pastrya likes to throw a lot of punches.
00:19:32It'll be interesting to see if he's able to get off more than 70 or 75 punches per round.
00:19:37Which is his average against Brunel Whitaker.
00:19:43He may be able to get him off but I don't think he will land many of them.
00:19:47Especially to the head.
00:19:50Well even at his best against the weak opponents he's been fighting.
00:19:53Pastrya lands about 30% of his punches.
00:19:56So if he were able to land that many against Whitaker he'd be doing extremely well.
00:20:09That was a good move by this guy.
00:20:11That was a good job.
00:20:13Watch your legs guys.
00:20:19Watch it out.
00:20:19Watch it out.
00:20:20Come on.
00:20:24No punches.
00:20:25No punches.
00:20:25Step back.
00:20:26Let's go.
00:20:26Come on.
00:20:31Let's go.
00:20:47Let's go.
00:20:47Let's go.
00:20:48Let's go.
00:20:48Let's go.
00:20:48Let's go.
00:20:49That's it.
00:20:49Box it out.
00:20:50Keep boxing fellas.
00:20:51Don't hold it.
00:20:51Come on.
00:20:52Let's go.
00:20:53Box it out.
00:20:53Box it out.
00:20:54Box it out.
00:20:54That's it.
00:20:54Sort of an awkward first round as Whitaker tries to find openings against the gangly
00:20:59pass by.
00:20:59And Pastrya and Pastrya resorts to holding Whitaker frequently when he comes close.
00:21:05Whitaker throw some good body shots this close round.
00:21:08I love it.
00:21:09I love it.
00:21:09I love it.
00:21:11I love it.
00:21:12Come on.
00:21:13I love it.
00:21:14I love it.
00:21:18Left hand lands for Whitaker, Pestriyev trying to get his jab working but he throws it very
00:21:26tempted to play, now tries a right hand across the top, might do well to dispense with the
00:21:32jab against the south cross dial of Whitaker, and when we go to Pestriyev's corner between
00:21:36rounds, if they choose to speak Russian there, our interpreter is Alex Giroux.
00:21:50He must be smart, if you are smart, no the other.
00:21:58You do it, you do it.
00:22:02What do you want to keep you weak?
00:22:07Keep your hand moving, stay low.
00:22:09Go get up now with this guy.
00:22:11Beautiful round baby.
00:22:12You're boxing diva like this, stay low, that's all.
00:22:14Keep the jab going, because he can't set, but if he can't set, he can't be jabbing, okay?
00:22:18Keep like that.
00:22:20You guys, you guys gotta come up with this.
00:22:22Work the way you're working baby, don't say nothing.
00:22:25Let's go, come on.
00:22:26What I'm hoping to see, Ray, is work about making his opponent miss, but punching off those
00:22:34misses, counting some.
00:22:36I'm sure once he gets settled in, he will count some.
00:22:38A lot of times, when you don't know a guy, or you haven't seen him much, you have to
00:22:43first see what you're getting with.
00:22:44See how hard he's punching, see what's his best punch, so you're going to run into it
00:22:47while you're trying to count.
00:22:49You saw how tentative Pestryoff looked in the first round.
00:22:53By CompuBox punch count, he threw 25 deads and landed none of them.
00:22:59Whitaker trying to get the left hand to the body.
00:23:01Pestryoff has made a conscious effort to come out and be more aggressive here in round two,
00:23:05but now he begins reacting to what Whitaker's doing, as he did in the first round.
00:23:15Whitaker's jab seems to be working from here tonight.
00:23:18I think he'll be able to use feints to get Pestryoff out of position pretty easily.
00:23:22And he's keeping his jab on top of Pestryoff's jab.
00:23:40Kurt Duva in the future, he's suggesting that he wished Whitaker had thrown more left hands
00:23:45against De La Hoya.
00:23:47One of the things his corner will be watching for tonight.
00:23:49Not just the left hand, but the right hook.
00:23:53How a punch off the front foot that he's been working on in the gym with Ronnie Shields.
00:23:56No.
00:23:59Well, rule claims that Pinel is amphibian, meaning don't be dexterous, and that his right hand
00:24:08is as good as his left.
00:24:13Oh, good shot.
00:24:15Left hand shot by Whitaker.
00:24:23I think Whitaker is really hurting Fishtribe's body, and there's a lot of it to hurt.
00:24:31That's a good right hook he's working on.
00:24:36Come on guys come on.
00:24:48Come on.
00:24:56Penel Riddickle won his gold medal in 1984.
00:25:01The Russians didn't show up in Los Angeles for that Olympics, but nobody could have ever imagined that he would
00:25:08one day be fighting a Russian in a professional prize fight.
00:25:11Effective combo along the ropes by Whitaker there.
00:25:14You can see that Whitaker's body punches are occasionally backing Fishtribe up.
00:25:18There you go, there's that quick right hook inside.
00:25:23Landed for Whitaker on the chin.
00:25:25Now he misses wildly with the left.
00:25:27Ten laughs about it.
00:25:34Still to come in the second half of our doubleheader, Ghanaian superstar, Ike Quartey.
00:25:40Comes from Africa, continuing to seek status, glory, money in the United States.
00:25:47Tonight's opponent Jose Luis Lopez of Mexico.
00:25:50One of the toughest names on Cuartes Dossier so far.
00:25:59He's making a physical fight
00:26:00He's making a deep fight.
00:26:01He's doing what you're throwing, throwing behind you there with a big coat, a left hand you can...
00:26:03He's dealing with that left hand, all of the things going.
00:26:06Right?
00:26:08That right hook's going to be a difficult.
00:26:10And then higher and higher you're going to hit him on the chainsaw all over.
00:26:12It's good. No, you look good.
00:26:14You look good.
00:26:14You look good.
00:26:15You look good.
00:26:21Don't suck.
00:26:22Don't do this up.
00:26:25Penel Whitaker is known for playing little ball, but sometimes he loads up and plays big ball.
00:26:31You look good.
00:26:39By CompuVox statistics, in the first two rounds, Pestriath has landed only 12% of his punches.
00:26:4511 out of 89.
00:26:47In the first round, he landed 5.
00:26:49In the second round, he landed 6.
00:26:51So he's not finding Whitaker.
00:26:53And that's nothing new.
00:26:55The overwhelming majority of Whitaker's opponents have faced exactly the same problem.
00:27:00Now a little counter left inside lands for Pestriath.
00:27:03And Whitaker goes back to work on Pestriath's body.
00:27:06There's a left and a right and a left all together by Pestriath.
00:27:11Whitaker suddenly seems to want to retaliate.
00:27:22Whitaker having his championship mentality.
00:27:24There's nothing that this guy has come in.
00:27:25He's not a big deal.
00:27:26He's not a big deal.
00:27:29And I guess we could say that it's easy enough for Whitaker to unload on a fighter of this caliber.
00:27:37He might have been a little bit less eager to throw those big punches against Saskatchewan O'Hara because of
00:27:43what might come back out.
00:27:50Pestriath, 26 years old, will be 27 in December.
00:27:54Raised in the town of Sturlatinik in the Ural Mountains, north central Russia.
00:28:02Yeah, that's a town right near the town where Pestriath came out of, the former junior welter race champion.
00:28:18Pestriath fought for Russia at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
00:28:22But he was not an amateur star like so many before him from his country.
00:28:28Hard left hand you saw by Whitaker.
00:28:30Pestriath bounces back and lands a little left of the zone.
00:28:45There's that right hook again.
00:28:48You know this makes me feel good about Whitaker.
00:28:50To see him go back and pick up some of the things that he used to do in his old
00:28:53days and pull him back out.
00:28:55That lets you know that a guy is still interested in being the best that he can possibly be.
00:29:02Whitaker says that his gym work has been rejuvenated in the last couple of years by the presence in his
00:29:08training scene of the young fighters that main events and new duva are bringing along.
00:29:15Notably Zab Judah, 140 pounds. Arturo Gatti, 130 pounds star.
00:29:22Fernando Vargas, 147 pounds star in weighting.
00:29:26Come on, come on, come on bro.
00:29:29Five seconds.
00:29:31No punches, no punches.
00:29:35Round three comes to an end.
00:29:39It's good.
00:29:40Yeah.
00:29:41It does good now.
00:29:45I want to be able to see you then, okay?
00:29:47I want to be able to see you then, okay?
00:30:02Go.
00:30:04Go.
00:30:05Go.
00:30:06Close.
00:30:07No jump.
00:30:07Because when you jump, it touches you.
00:30:09Okay?
00:30:10You are close, you move your body.
00:30:12One, two, two, snap.
00:30:13One, two, two, snap.
00:30:15At least you have a good now.
00:30:16Go.
00:30:16Good now.
00:30:17Go.
00:30:17Go.
00:30:17Go.
00:30:18Go.
00:30:26Let's go seconds, come on, let's go.
00:30:27Long about now you start wondering whether Pasterak has a plan B.
00:30:39Well conventional wisdom in the sport is if he produces a plan B, he'll be the first Eastern European fighter
00:30:46ever to have done something.
00:30:50Harold Letterman, your scorecard for the first three rounds.
00:30:53Jim, so far I think this was easy.
00:30:5530-27, three rounds for nothing.
00:30:57Carnell sweeped me with it.
00:30:58Boy, in that first round Pete out-boxed him beautifully.
00:31:01In his second and third he out-fought him.
00:31:03And you know something, to follow up on what Larry said, Jim,
00:31:05if there was ever a softball with a better right hand than Carnell would have died in this story.
00:31:09Just keep watching that right hand because that's what the judges are seeing.
00:31:12That right hand is beautiful.
00:31:13Snap, great hook, good right hand.
00:31:15Hard left hand by Pestraev.
00:31:18Backs Whitaker up.
00:31:20He landed three or four punches in that stage.
00:31:23And another hard left hand up top.
00:31:25So Pestraev has begun to find an opening for his left hook.
00:31:30I guess this is plan B.
00:31:32I guess so, given the fact that De La Hoya struggled so mightily to land even one left hook against
00:31:39Whitaker.
00:31:40But of course, De La Hoya spent the evening circling away from the opportunity to throw his best punch and
00:31:46later acknowledged that he had the wrong fight plan.
00:31:49What if you're sticking to right in Pestraev's face as the Russian moves in?
00:31:54Yes!
00:31:55No punches!
00:31:56No punches!
00:31:57No punches!
00:31:57No punches!
00:31:58No punches, okay?
00:31:59Watch this, alright?
00:32:00Let's go, come on.
00:32:01It's almost as if Pestraev was desperately nervous the first couple rounds, Roy, and now has begun to loosen up
00:32:07a little bit.
00:32:08Yeah, he had to have been nervous, Jim.
00:32:09He's never been in with a guy the caliber of a Premier Whitaker.
00:32:13He's never had this big of an opposition in front of him.
00:32:16And I'm sure it was a shock to him.
00:32:17I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on him.
00:32:19Now he's starting to say, hey, I can't stay in his hole.
00:32:22Let me see what I can do if I'm in here.
00:32:24I'm going to see what he may as well try to make the best of it.
00:32:26And that's exactly what he's doing right now.
00:32:27Let's go, let's go.
00:32:28Come on, guys.
00:32:30A lot of the top professionals you talk to say the last guy in the world they want to fight
00:32:35is Kamal Whitaker.
00:32:36Most of them said he never even heard of him until three, four years ago.
00:32:45Went through his entire amateur boxing career.
00:32:48According to him, without knowing anything about professional boxing or boxers in the United States.
00:32:54Now Whitaker roughing up Pest 5 along the ropes.
00:32:58No punches, let's go.
00:32:59You'll learn a little bit about him tonight, though, that's for sure.
00:33:08He's doing that with a tall percentage.
00:33:09He's going to stop he's going to hit him.
00:33:10And a foot coming to steal him.
00:33:19He knocks out you SANDEN.
00:33:22One hundred and three times Mexicans are then getting paid.
00:33:29This is what got me.
00:33:29But he on fact is heavily arms and
00:33:33Time, your punches!
00:33:39Look, you're trying to put up your feet up your face over here.
00:33:43Look, don't abandon your jam, man.
00:33:45Right? Whatever you do, don't abandon your jam.
00:33:47Now stay with your jam, let's do it.
00:33:50Look, don't abandon your jam.
00:33:55Stop doubling up on your jam, man, just a little.
00:33:57Right?
00:33:58Stop moving your head a little bit with your jam.
00:34:00When you throw a combination, you got to get down.
00:34:02You can't get up back.
00:34:03Because if you got up in the house,
00:34:04and you hit for the couple shots.
00:34:06Okay?
00:34:06Now stay away from fighting with this guy.
00:34:08We've got to keep passing this guy.
00:34:09You're passing it out of folks too.
00:34:11Alright, here's plan B for Pesterov
00:34:13as he landed a nice furry early in the round.
00:34:21Whitaker perhaps looking to land something big
00:34:24and walk into some punches.
00:34:26Let's go, guys.
00:34:27You can't quite get a look at the feet,
00:34:29but there was some notion that he might have been stepping on
00:34:35Whitaker's shoes during that play or part of it.
00:34:42Well, here's a good full length view
00:34:44and a chance to see the foot interaction.
00:34:46Of course, when you're fighting against a southpaw,
00:34:49Roy, the conventional piece of advice from the trainer
00:34:51is keep your foot outside of his lead foot.
00:34:53Here, because if you don't,
00:34:55then you're lined up to be right down the pipe between punches.
00:34:58In other words, your hands are lined right between your hands.
00:35:06Bestriath seems quite content
00:35:07to put his foot right in front of Whitaker's.
00:35:09He doesn't seem to be making any conscious effort
00:35:12to stay outside of Whitaker's lead foot.
00:35:13Because he's talking to Whitaker,
00:35:15he doesn't have to do that.
00:35:17The hype advantage gives him room
00:35:19to react to whatever Whitaker does
00:35:20because Whitaker has to travel
00:35:21a little further than he normally would.
00:35:33As Bestriath has gotten a little bit braver
00:35:35through rounds three and four
00:35:37and into the fifth,
00:35:38he's become more effective.
00:35:40And you heard Whitaker's corner
00:35:42urging him to keep his head moving
00:35:44as they felt as though he'd allowed his head
00:35:45to get a little bit still
00:35:46and got to careless
00:35:48and that's why Bestriath was landing punches.
00:35:52Bestriath has tried some different things now.
00:35:54She gained confidence as she stood
00:35:56and that would make a fighter try different techniques.
00:36:06Bestriath and his trainer, Luisa Carries
00:36:08were at odds on the question of whether
00:36:10he'd ever fought a Southpaw as a professional.
00:36:12Carries said, oh yes, certainly has.
00:36:14Bestriath said, no, I don't think I have.
00:36:17If this is legitimately the first time
00:36:18he's ever fought a Southpaw as a professional,
00:36:20he's not doing too badly in the technique area.
00:36:23Not badly at all.
00:36:30Hasn't been able to land those straight right hands
00:36:33that both fighters try to use
00:36:34as the heart of the arsenal against the Southpaw.
00:36:37Now Whitaker looking for uppercocks against Bestriath.
00:36:41Whitaker was hoping that the uppercock
00:36:43would score heavily for him in this bout.
00:36:47And that thing's been doing pretty good so far.
00:36:48And that thing's been doing pretty good so far.
00:36:52Got a tall opponent who crouches over to get at you.
00:36:56Perfect uppercut target, right?
00:36:58Yeah, once you can get him to crouch over.
00:37:00First, you have to pin him against the ropes
00:37:02to make him crouch over.
00:37:03Then you throw that.
00:37:06Whitaker landed a jab.
00:37:16No punches, no punches, no punches, no punches.
00:37:18Watch me, I'm all going to stop, come on.
00:37:28Great punches in the corner.
00:37:29Let's run it up, let's run it up.
00:37:31Solid blows on both sides.
00:37:33It's going to be a very powerful right hook, dude.
00:37:38The right hook.
00:37:40An improving punch in the Whitaker arsenal
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00:38:10You're a good one.
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00:38:25You're a good one.
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00:38:29I'm reminded watching this slide that
00:38:32it's easy enough for us to say
00:38:35the other guy doesn't look that good
00:38:37he doesn't have a good record
00:38:39he oughta win easy.
00:38:41You know what I think?
00:38:42The other part of it is he's gotta go out and do it.
00:38:45The guy doesn't have a bad record
00:38:47he's just not against noticeable opposition.
00:38:49Right.
00:38:51In fact, the next to last fighter he knocked out
00:38:56two fights ago
00:38:57had been knocked out six consecutive times
00:38:59coming into the fight.
00:39:01Yes!
00:39:02He would win!
00:39:03He would win!
00:39:07Which means that Peswaya
00:39:08for the record of 18-1
00:39:10was fighting a guy who had been knocked out six consecutive times.
00:39:14Yes! He would win!
00:39:16That probably wouldn't happen with a contender here in the U.S.A.
00:39:19One up team!
00:39:21Yes again!
00:39:23Yes again!
00:39:24Although, of course, it's boxing so you never want to say never.
00:39:27Never care, say what will not happen.
00:39:33Hard left hand to the chest by Whitaker.
00:39:51Hard left hand to the jaw by Whitaker.
00:39:54That's why I'm momentarily stunned by that left.
00:39:57Frank, no punches.
00:39:58No punches.
00:40:00Okay.
00:40:00What Whitaker's doing is he's landing his right foot outside of Pestrov's foot.
00:40:05That lets his left hand be right down the middle of Pestrov's grudge.
00:40:09Then he can land that straight left hand with no problem.
00:40:14My last thing, much.
00:40:15I got no.
00:40:16Come on, tap.
00:40:18Hey, good job.
00:40:19Back on him.
00:40:20Back on him, sir.
00:40:20Punch him.
00:40:21Punch.
00:40:21That's it.
00:40:22Oh, no, no, no, no.
00:40:23I just let?
00:40:24I just makan.
00:40:34Blaine!
00:40:35Come on, let go.
00:40:37Hey, good job.いっかい!
00:40:51Hold张! OK!
00:40:52He said, for now, just go.
00:40:55Jim Santa, former Maryland Terrapin football player,
00:40:58who now lives in New York,
00:41:00saying, I'll do the refereeing here, Pete.
00:41:05Straight right hand by Pestlove,
00:41:07countering right hand by Whitaker in close.
00:41:15Let's go, let's go.
00:41:18Pestlove has a good history.
00:41:19I mean.
00:41:22He needs to get it off more frequently.
00:41:24Come on, Pestlove.
00:41:25Let's go.
00:41:26Let's go.
00:41:29He waited until the guy got his man to the ropes.
00:41:31Just as he said he would.
00:41:33I see him, okay?
00:41:34Let's go.
00:41:35Talk to you guys.
00:41:36Watch this, okay?
00:41:41Yes, yes, yes.
00:41:43Try to do a little bit more.
00:41:45Go closer.
00:41:45Go closer.
00:41:46Do a little bit more.
00:41:47Let's go.
00:41:47Let's go.
00:41:48Let's go.
00:41:51He's having a little bit of trouble breathing.
00:41:54You've got to try to start to breathe a little easier.
00:41:56Just watch yourself.
00:41:58Because, and also try to extend him out a little bit.
00:42:00Extend him out.
00:42:06I believe you can do it.
00:42:08Stay now.
00:42:09Stay now.
00:42:09Not too far.
00:42:11Not too far.
00:42:12Not jump.
00:42:13Stay.
00:42:14You move your body.
00:42:17I need combination.
00:42:19I need jump and combination.
00:42:21Okay.
00:42:23Come on.
00:42:23I need the body punches.
00:42:25Stay big with the jab.
00:42:26Stay big with the jab, all right?
00:42:28Stay big with the jab.
00:42:31Tester obviously seems to be breathing very heavily.
00:42:34Trying to get him to a latch.
00:42:37But he has a lot of pressure on him here tonight.
00:42:39Being the first time that he's in against this kind of opposition.
00:42:42Then Whitaker's also throwing some pretty good body punches.
00:42:50He's scheduled for 12.
00:42:51We're halfway through.
00:42:53Harold Letterman, what do you have so far?
00:42:54Okay, Jim.
00:42:5659, 55.
00:42:57Five runs to one.
00:42:59Pernell's sweep.
00:42:59He will hit it.
00:43:00I did give the 50-on to Andre Pestriyev.
00:43:02I thought Pernell just didn't punch enough that I wrote.
00:43:05But basically, Pernell's taking it to him.
00:43:07He's the effective aggressor.
00:43:08And he's out fighting him.
00:43:09Breaking the funny shots.
00:43:10That's a horrible...
00:43:11Oh, no, no.
00:43:12Come on.
00:43:13Go home.
00:43:13Come on.
00:43:14Let's go.
00:43:14That's all right.
00:43:14Let's go.
00:43:15And Whitaker may have been frustrated there because Pestriyev landed a hard count right inside.
00:43:20Yeah, but Whitaker's also counted with a hard left inside.
00:43:26Pestriyev, performing at the height of his capability as is indicated by this, Whitaker through six rounds landing 34%
00:43:33of his punches.
00:43:34That's a normal connect rate for me.
00:43:36I'm sorry, don't do that.
00:43:37But the last two opponents against Pestriyev landed half the blows.
00:43:4250%.
00:43:42And those were lesser known people.
00:43:44Well, not the kind of fighters that Pernell Whitaker has been throughout his career.
00:43:48Let's get it in here.
00:43:49You want to go?
00:43:50I think Pestriyev is rising to the occasion a little bit here.
00:43:53Certainly in the past few rounds, he's gotten much better at dealing with Whitaker's stuff.
00:43:58But he's got to be a lot more cautious because he knows what he's in against here.
00:44:04So he's fighting more defensively?
00:44:06Much more defensively and much more careful.
00:44:16And again, defense defense is offense.
00:44:19And he throws pretty good defensive punches.
00:44:22And this is how he throws 24-3 punches.
00:44:24And that hits you, like that.
00:44:26There's a good defensive punch.
00:44:29Five seconds.
00:44:43That was a good counter-neck by Whitaker.
00:44:49You couldn't tell him Whitaker's shot with it.
00:44:50Let's go.
00:44:51Let's go.
00:44:59Let's go.
00:45:12We can literally hear Pestriyev breathing from here on ringside.
00:45:25That's the last.
00:45:30Five seconds.
00:45:31Step back.
00:45:31Let's go.
00:45:32Five seconds, Mark.
00:45:35Time.
00:45:36And this time it is the end of the round.
00:45:39Seven rounds in the box.
00:45:44And Pestriyev starting to pick up a little fan support here.
00:45:47That's the way you do it.
00:45:49That's the way you do it.
00:45:50And look, sometimes you're just standing right in front of him a little bit too much in time.
00:45:53If you don't do that, then you've got to grab with this guy.
00:45:55Right?
00:45:56You've got to grab with this guy.
00:45:56You've got to grab with this guy.
00:45:56You've got to grab with this guy.
00:45:57You've got to grab it.
00:45:58You've got to grab it.
00:45:58You've got to step around him.
00:46:00Alright?
00:46:00We've been brilliant.
00:46:01There he goes.
00:46:02There we go.
00:46:03Give me one more like that.
00:46:04T-Wil.
00:46:05You're free?
00:46:06Huh?
00:46:07You're free?
00:46:07Yes.
00:46:08You're free?
00:46:09No.
00:46:09I'm the guy.
00:46:10Yeah.
00:46:10You're free.
00:46:11No, no, no.
00:46:11I will go!
00:46:13Go, Spock!
00:46:17You're away.
00:46:18I'll keep you.
00:46:18I'll keep you.
00:46:19There are two fighters countering each other.
00:46:22Pestriyev starting it.
00:46:24Excuse me.
00:46:25Pestriyev starting and finishing.
00:46:26Pestriyev getting in a nice right hand.
00:46:29between Whitaker's punches.
00:46:31Let's go, come on, let's go.
00:46:33You might have seen Pesterov
00:46:36laugh in the corner as he was trying
00:46:38to get on the same
00:46:39language track.
00:46:41He was a trainer.
00:46:43He said,
00:46:44you're going to go after him?
00:46:45No, no, no, yes, no.
00:46:46He couldn't quite get in line.
00:46:48He's a great kid. He had three years of college.
00:46:51Good athlete.
00:46:53If he'd have been raised in America
00:46:54or some other countries,
00:46:56he's a good superstructure
00:46:59and prizefighter,
00:47:00he might have turned out to be
00:47:02a real good fighter.
00:47:05So what are you saying there?
00:47:07Well, he's got athletic ability
00:47:09and you see he's got some
00:47:11want to, he takes
00:47:13the punch well,
00:47:14just doesn't have the kind of
00:47:17skills he might have got if he'd have been
00:47:19brought up to be a fighter in a country
00:47:21with more fighters.
00:47:22A professional fighter.
00:47:24In his early teenage years,
00:47:26he was involved in both boxing
00:47:27and hockey.
00:47:29And of course,
00:47:30he eventually chose
00:47:33boxing as his sport
00:47:35and has not played much hockey
00:47:37in the last seven years.
00:47:43He may have a little bit more skills
00:47:44than it seems
00:47:45that you're showing tonight,
00:47:47but when you're fighting a guy
00:47:48like Tony L. Ripper,
00:47:49you can never show too much.
00:47:50He made one of the best fighters
00:47:51in the world up there,
00:47:52and they were just off in the world.
00:47:54Yep.
00:47:54So you know he can make anybody
00:47:55look to be less skillful
00:47:56than they really are.
00:48:03Sometimes including himself.
00:48:08There's something about him,
00:48:09South Pole.
00:48:14West drive.
00:48:14Our left hand lands
00:48:15over the top for Whitaker.
00:48:17It's hunting peck now
00:48:19for Brunel
00:48:19in the eighth round
00:48:20because he is reduced
00:48:22to trying to land
00:48:23one punch at a time
00:48:24against the awkward
00:48:26dog hit.
00:48:26No punches.
00:48:27Okay, let's go.
00:48:28Watch it.
00:48:29No punches.
00:48:30No punches.
00:48:30All right, let's go.
00:48:32Oh, come on.
00:48:33Come on.
00:48:35West drive may,
00:48:37in fact,
00:48:37be tired,
00:48:38but he isn't going anywhere.
00:48:40Well, he's here to fight.
00:48:42Continues to dig in
00:48:43and try to land
00:48:44those straight right hands
00:48:45against Whitaker.
00:48:46Let's box.
00:48:47Let's box.
00:48:48Let's box.
00:48:49That's it.
00:48:50Box it out.
00:48:50Box it out.
00:48:51Come on,
00:48:51let's go.
00:48:52Let's box.
00:48:52L going back to the body
00:48:53and driving West drive
00:48:55up against the ring post
00:48:56with hard body shots.
00:48:58And this is the best type of
00:48:59Peter at this point
00:49:00because he's a short-hand
00:49:01fighter,
00:49:01so he needs to be inside
00:49:02close to land his punches.
00:49:09And this is going to
00:49:10kind of like that.
00:49:29Go ahead and try to hit me
00:49:31right in front of you.
00:49:38Two-thirds of the way
00:49:39to a full 12-round route.
00:49:42And there is
00:49:43the fighting surfer,
00:49:45Jose Luis Lopez
00:49:46of Durango, Mexico.
00:49:49He once dyed his hair blonde
00:49:51for a fight with
00:49:52Diori Boy Campos.
00:49:54And despite the
00:49:55groovy impression
00:49:56he made with that,
00:49:58he knocked Campos out
00:49:59in a hurry.
00:50:00He showed his extraordinary
00:50:01punching power
00:50:02in doing so.
00:50:03We could have some fireworks
00:50:04in this second bout.
00:50:07Larry?
00:50:08Here we get an overhead
00:50:09look at what happens
00:50:10when a conventional fighter
00:50:12in a softball fight.
00:50:14You can see these are not
00:50:15good dance partners
00:50:16sometimes
00:50:17as they step on
00:50:18each other's feet.
00:50:21Well, nobody seems
00:50:22to be bothered by it,
00:50:23but it could lead
00:50:24to something bad
00:50:26for someone.
00:50:27And sometimes
00:50:28it can make somebody
00:50:29stay still in the middle
00:50:30if you know.
00:50:30Go!
00:50:31Second time, let's go!
00:50:38Peace!
00:50:41Peace!
00:50:46Through 8 rounds
00:50:47by Compu Box
00:50:48numbers,
00:50:49Vernel Whitaker
00:50:50has landed
00:50:51twice as many punches
00:50:52is that Andre Castraev has thrown 100 more punches
00:50:56than has Castraev, but Castraev has raised his connect percentage
00:51:00from 10%, 11% in the early rounds, up to 19%.
00:51:04He's done a little better in the middle stages of the fight.
00:51:07The best thing for Castraev is to put punches together.
00:51:10He usually can reach Whitaker before Whitaker can reach him, just like that.
00:51:19Good one-two by Whitaker.
00:51:22Castraev backs up as Pradell comes in with more hard left hands.
00:51:29Whitaker's shooting the eighth round very aggressively.
00:51:32Whitaker's much too strong on the inside for Castraev.
00:51:36He's a short and more compact fighter.
00:51:38Inside is exactly where he wants to be.
00:51:40Let's go, let's go Andre, let's go, let's go.
00:51:43Let's go, let's go Andre, let's go, let's go.
00:51:44Let's go, let's go.
00:51:45Let's go there.
00:51:50A canned lamb for Whitaker.
00:51:54As they stood shoulder-to-shoulder and muscled for fronting room.
00:52:01He's having too many occasions in his career when Pradell Whitaker
00:52:03could out-muscle a man who's playing for fronting room.
00:52:06And he can do it here.
00:52:07Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
00:52:13Tissue is starting to swell around Pestraev's eyes.
00:52:16That's a good job.
00:52:17As Whitaker continues to land the right hook, the jab, and an occasional left hook.
00:52:28Technically, you're supposed to get under your opponent when you get inside.
00:52:31Let's go, Andre, let's go.
00:52:32Because he's four inches shorter, he's already automatically under Pestraev when they come together.
00:52:37That's why he appears to be so much stronger.
00:52:39And then, he really is probably physically stronger than Pestraev because he's got lower to the floor.
00:52:45He's thicker.
00:52:46He's more of a short-take type guy compared to Pestraev.
00:52:51He's more of a short-take type guy than Pestraev.
00:52:53He's more of a short-take type guy than Pestraev.
00:52:54He's more of a short-take type guy than Pestraev.
00:52:55He's more of a short-take type guy than Pestraev.
00:52:57And at 33, he's had more time to season and settled into his strength.
00:53:01Some guys continue to get stronger as they get older.
00:53:03At least up to a point.
00:53:07I don't know.
00:53:08I think George is still getting stronger.
00:53:10Yes.
00:53:11Certainly Gord believes that.
00:53:12Hey, let's go.
00:53:13Hey, let's go.
00:53:14Hey, let's go.
00:53:14Hey, let's go.
00:53:16Hey, let's go.
00:53:19Hey, let's go.
00:53:20Hey, let's go.
00:53:23Hey, let's go.
00:53:28Hey, let's go.
00:53:32Hey, let's go.
00:53:32Five seconds.
00:53:39At left hand by Whitaker.
00:53:41Well after the belt.
00:53:42Louisa carries jumping into the ring to yell at Tim Santa.
00:53:46And Santa takes over.
00:53:49Come on, guys.
00:53:55Nice shot.
00:53:56Nice shot.
00:53:58Look, get now, get now.
00:54:00Stay back.
00:54:01Stay back.
00:54:01Stay back.
00:54:05No rings, no punches.
00:54:07Look at stuff.
00:54:08You said this, Mr.
00:54:11You're getting much too low.
00:54:13You don't want win.
00:54:14You don't want win?
00:54:15You win!
00:54:17You're getting much too low.
00:54:20You're having a lot of problems now.
00:54:21Hold up your arms.
00:54:23Here we're watching what happened at the end of the round.
00:54:26In slow motion.
00:54:29Now fired in real speed.
00:54:34Unbeat after the bell.
00:54:39Perhaps some frustration on Whitaker's part.
00:54:41We've seldom seen that in the past.
00:54:45And an interesting moment, as you heard Brunel asking his corner men,
00:54:49How many rounds are we going?
00:54:56It is a 12 round bout, designated as such by the governing body that ranks
00:55:01Aswaiyev number one, and Whitaker number two.
00:55:03Harold, how you got it through 10?
00:55:05Jim, 88, 83.
00:55:07I mean through nine.
00:55:0888, 83.
00:55:09Seven rounds through two.
00:55:11Parnow sweep, he went with a commanding 5-1 lead.
00:55:14Jim, let me tell you something.
00:55:15Parnow Whitaker had an open glove, an open right hand.
00:55:18And when that bell rang, he looked darn well.
00:55:20If he was going to measure him with that right hand,
00:55:21he was going to cut the left hand loose,
00:55:23and that's exactly how he cracked him with it.
00:55:24But, you know what the judges are saying?
00:55:26They're seeing RJ Pastrya grab.
00:55:28You see, he lands three punches and he grabs.
00:55:30The judges watch that.
00:55:31That's one of the things they look for,
00:55:33and that's why they give the rounds to win it.
00:55:35The Parnow's winning this one big.
00:55:36Man, and nothing's you do,
00:55:44Have you been on a job?
00:55:47Give him up.
00:55:48Give him up.
00:55:48He's Aunque.
00:55:48Give him up.
00:55:48Give him up, let's go.
00:55:49Give him up.
00:55:50Keep him up, let's go!
00:55:50It's OK, we're here really soon tonight.
00:55:52You've got a part of shot.
00:55:57MIZ'll must be where we are.
00:56:00Watch your feet.
00:56:01Watch your feet
00:56:03Whittaker loading up left hands and firing them across the top, able to land against
00:56:10Pestriot, and there's a typical piece of Whittaker's slate of hands as he gets away
00:56:17from the barrage of punches by Pestriot, Whittaker skips back into position, and he
00:56:22comes back with the jab.
00:56:26No punches, no punches, let's go.
00:56:27That's it, homie, let's go.
00:56:31Pestriot's line caught up into the same thing that most Whittaker opponents get caught
00:56:35up in, which is trying to hit his head, but not hit Whittaker with many punches to the
00:56:39head.
00:56:39He's one of the best defensive fighters of all time, why go out there and get yourself
00:56:44focused on the head?
00:56:46So you should focus on the body.
00:56:48And then what's the way up to his head if you're ever going to try to land this one?
00:56:53Pestriot's hook to let guys like this hit him with flush, cool head shots.
00:56:56One or two every now and then, maybe, but not hit him.
00:57:03That's why he's still around so long.
00:57:05That's the punch, that's the punch, that's the punch, that's the punch, that's the punch.
00:57:07And of course, Pestriot's punches wind up looking tentative often because he starts
00:57:12the punch, aiming at Whittaker's head.
00:57:14He realizes as the punch is halfway there that the target is gone.
00:57:17Or it may not be there with the punch, that's the punch.
00:57:21Come on, Pestriot, come on.
00:57:29Let go, let go, let go, Pestriot, let go, Pestriot, come on, Andrea.
00:57:32No Pestriot, no Pestriot, step back, step back.
00:57:35Go on, man, go on, man, go on.
00:57:37No, man, go on.
00:57:40No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:57:42No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:57:48I don't know about that.
00:57:50Look, this guy's duster, baby, alright?
00:57:56I don't know about this.
00:57:57The guy's duster, by the way, you can keep baffling, yeah.
00:58:00Using that good job, don't let him get shot, alright?
00:58:02And keep stepping around, you got.
00:58:04I can't even walk away from this guy.
00:58:07He's walking around this guy.
00:58:11Don't let him take the plane away.
00:58:13You alright? You alright?
00:58:14This guy ain't got nothing for you.
00:58:16Nothing at all.
00:58:18This guy only doing the sound of four punches.
00:58:21Only thing he can adjust to the show right now.
00:58:23He keeps using this guy and sticking around this guy.
00:58:25Every night, they'll fight at him.
00:58:26Get him with the left hand and come back with the hook.
00:58:28And then walk back around him.
00:58:28Go back to the gym.
00:58:41That was originally scheduled for 10 rounds.
00:58:44Then later changed to 12.
00:58:46So now Pernell Whitaker and Andre Pestriak go into the championship rounds.
00:58:55He blocks that number still and Whitaker landing still.
00:58:58More than twice as many punches.
00:59:00That's just five.
00:59:04That's a good job, good job.
00:59:08Let's go for now.
00:59:08Let's go for now.
00:59:09Let's go for now.
00:59:10Let's go for now.
00:59:11That's it.
00:59:11Good job.
00:59:12Good job.
00:59:12The WBA wanted you to have them, Larry.
00:59:16I'd like to see Smith for you next.
00:59:19Let's go for now.
00:59:20Boxing for now.
00:59:21Let's go for now.
00:59:21Let's go for now.
00:59:23Watch your heads.
00:59:24Watch your heads.
00:59:24Watch your heads.
00:59:25Watch your heads.
00:59:26Watch your heads.
00:59:28Watch your heads.
00:59:30Come on.
00:59:30I'll get your head in the way.
00:59:31Let's go.
00:59:34Come on.
00:59:34Fuck you.
00:59:35You alright?
00:59:36Come on.
00:59:36Daniel, what are you doing?
00:59:38One.
00:59:39Two.
00:59:40What's going on, Larry?
00:59:41Three.
00:59:42Four.
00:59:42You have to go up to you back here.
00:59:44Six.
00:59:45Seven.
00:59:45Hey.
00:59:45Hey, are you okay?
00:59:47Let's go.
00:59:47Hey, are you okay?
00:59:49A knockdown scored against Whitaker.
00:59:53By Pestrayev.
00:59:54Let's go.
00:59:55Boxing.
00:59:56Let's go.
00:59:57It's a ninth time in Whitaker's career that he's been knocked down.
01:00:00He's no stranger without experience.
01:00:02Obviously, he's going to say, wait a minute.
01:00:03What are you talking about?
01:00:04That was no knockdown.
01:00:05He got himself tangled in the rope.
01:00:08Went through to the other side of the rope.
01:00:10Santa told Pestrayev to keep fighting.
01:00:12But he seemed to be playing here.
01:00:14What was he doing in that?
01:00:16I don't know what.
01:00:17Part of the figure.
01:00:18Part of the figure.
01:00:19Hey.
01:00:20Hey.
01:00:21Hey.
01:00:21Hey.
01:00:22Let's go.
01:00:23Let's go.
01:00:24Let's go.
01:00:28And a now eager Pestrayev may believe that he has Whitaker in trouble as he launches heavy
01:00:35right hands coming forward.
01:00:37And Whitaker lands that counter right hook.
01:00:46No punches.
01:00:47No punches.
01:00:48Come on.
01:00:49Come on.
01:00:49Let's go.
01:00:50Let's go.
01:00:50Let's go.
01:00:50Let's go.
01:00:50Let's go.
01:00:50In the background, I see a Carol Gaddy, the junior lightweight champion, cheering for Whitaker,
01:00:57his stable mate.
01:00:58Trying to get him to be a little bit moral selfish.
01:01:06Nobody has to tell Gaddy to be moral selfish.
01:01:12Gaddy coming off his spectacular fifth round knockout of Bieber and Willis.
01:01:16The undercard of Luis Galata.
01:01:19A fight in which Willis performed brilliantly despite being knocked out.
01:01:25Gaddy was just that good that night.
01:01:27I'm there.
01:01:33Well, take his poster back.
01:01:36Oh, man.
01:01:42A place without guard.
01:01:42Come on.
01:01:42Let's go.
01:01:44Jएøe, the third round was a six year fromTrad.
01:01:48This is Indianapolis a
01:01:58What's the fun thing in the world right now is that don't lose a coup with a coup.
01:02:04Don't lose a coup, okay? Don't let nobody lose a coup.
01:02:09They can lose a coup and they let the guy lose a coup.
01:02:11You box, baby, box. Let's box two of this round.
01:02:13Use that jazz combination for this guy.
01:02:16The guy ain't got nothing left over here.
01:02:17The number of lines was landed coming off to 11 at that round.
01:02:28Let's see what's called a knockdown here.
01:02:31I don't know.
01:02:33Do I look like a knockdown to you?
01:02:35It's a technical knockdown because Penel, for whatever reason,
01:02:39bend itself between the ropes and lay there for a few seconds.
01:02:42I'm sorry. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
01:02:48So Vestriyev goes to the 12th round for only the second time in his career.
01:02:53Whitaker has lived in the 12th round.
01:02:57They hear literally dozens of times.
01:03:03Round gets into it a little bit as the track round begins.
01:03:06Step back. Let's go response.
01:03:17Step back. Let's go response.
01:03:24Now step back. Step back.
01:03:24The whole thing is hysterical.
01:03:25But remember, he elected not to fight hard.
01:03:30And, uh, Mr. Fox showed off a little bit in the 12th round against De La Hoya.
01:03:35And, although technically it didn't cost him the fight because he had already lost it.
01:03:41He scored for about one side of that night.
01:03:44It was a powerful argument for people who said afterwards that they felt Oscar had wanted to fight more than
01:03:50Notre Dame.
01:03:51So far.
01:03:55Whitaker electing to continue to throw punches tonight.
01:04:01Even while attempting to choke his spine up a little bit by dancing away from him.
01:04:08Pretending to be wobbly.
01:04:14He always wanted to have fun fighting.
01:04:16Yeah, early in his career he used some of his showboating tactics to bring attention to himself.
01:04:22And he was a good marketing device.
01:04:25For a middle aged man, I think it's a little passe.
01:04:29I don't see that it kills anybody anymore.
01:04:32No punches. Come on. Come on. Come on.
01:04:34Let's go. Come on.
01:04:34Larry, he's middle aged at 33.
01:04:38He's old at 33 in this game.
01:04:40Come on. Step back. Step back.
01:04:42Step back. Step back.
01:04:42Step back on over there.
01:04:44Okay?
01:04:44I'm good.
01:04:44I'm good.
01:04:46I'm good.
01:04:46I'm good.
01:04:50I'm good.
01:04:51I'm good.
01:04:51I'm good.
01:04:52I'm good.
01:04:52I'm good.
01:04:54All right.
01:04:55Hand by Pestrayev.
01:04:57Now goes to the mouthpiece of Pestrayev.
01:04:59No punches, guys. Step back.
01:05:00Let's go.
01:05:01Let's go.
01:05:01Watch out.
01:05:02Watch out.
01:05:02Let's go.
01:05:04Mouthpiece is lying on the canvas behind Pestrayev.
01:05:07Go on, baby!
01:05:09Santa picks it up.
01:05:10Time.
01:05:11Time.
01:05:12Time.
01:05:12Time.
01:05:12Time.
01:05:17Let's go.
01:05:21Let's go.
01:05:23Come on.
01:05:24Time in! Time in!
01:05:38Uppercut lands for Whittaker as Bestrae as he beams over and comes in.
01:05:44Bestrae is very precise as though he's looking to out-front Whittaker.
01:05:47And that's not the answer. I think he's far too far behind to out-front Whittaker at this point.
01:05:55But what if a couple of the judges did have him close?
01:05:58If a couple of the judges had him close, and Pasqualev got a two-point round in the 11th,
01:06:05as a result of Santa Cruz rule the knockdown...
01:06:10Well, I don't want to say stranger things have happened, but lots of strange things have happened.
01:06:18Let's look at a scorecard that probably isn't terribly strange.
01:06:23Okay, Jim.
01:06:25115, 112, 8 rounds to 4.
01:06:27Pernell sweeping Whittaker.
01:06:28Jim, let me tell you something.
01:06:30It was a questionable call in the 11th round.
01:06:32I understand what Jim Santa did, but let's get reality.
01:06:35If a guy slips into the ropes, I mean, he couldn't let Andre Pestriot hit Whittaker while Whittaker was caught
01:06:39up in the ropes.
01:06:39Be sure to call Pestriot take a step back and let Whittaker get out of those ropes, not caught with
01:06:44a knockdown.
01:06:45Because Whittaker didn't go in there for the 3rd and 5th round.
01:06:48But because it may, you were right, you've got to give him 10, 8, 11th round.
01:06:51Pestriot probably won the 12th round, so I gave Pestriot 4 rounds.
01:06:55It's a stealthy critical.
01:06:56Wins it by 3 points.
01:06:57There's no question Pernell should get this position.
01:07:01We'll see.
01:07:03Louisa Carries, Pestriot's trainer, was trying to lift him up in the air in a victory lift, but Pestriot would
01:07:10have none of it.
01:07:15I thought the same thing that Howard said.
01:07:18I thought the referee should have stepped in when he got a chain in the rope.
01:07:21Make the guy back better step back.
01:07:22That's how two accidents happen.
01:07:24If the referee doesn't say anything, that guy's job is to try to get Whittaker out.
01:07:27It's like Whittaker's job is to try to get him out.
01:07:29So they're only going to react to the command of the referee.
01:07:32The referee should have stepped in and said stop when he saw Whittaker first turn it up in the ropes,
01:07:36then everything would have been okay.
01:07:37Well, let me play devil's advocate and I'll offer you what I think was going through Santa's mind.
01:07:43I think he believed that Whittaker went into the ropes intentionally and that he ruled a knockdown because Whittaker was
01:07:49intentionally putting himself between the ropes and wouldn't follow his order to get out.
01:07:54Not originally.
01:07:55Not originally.
01:07:55Hey, look.
01:07:56If you're hung up in the ropes and you've got a six-foot monster standing over you, ready to whack
01:08:00you with a right hand or drop a right hand down on you, you know, you're going to stay there
01:08:03until the referee tells the guy to step back.
01:08:05That's what he said.
01:08:06And that's what Pete did.
01:08:07He stayed in the ropes.
01:08:08Santa should have yelled step back and that would have been the end of it.
01:08:11And now Pastranath is a monster, huh, Harold?
01:08:13No, he's six foot tall.
01:08:14I mean, you know, Pete's a little guy.
01:08:16Alrighty.
01:08:17Let's go to Michael Buffer and hear the scores.
01:08:20Ladies and gentlemen, we go to the Budweiser scorecards.
01:08:23Glenn Feldman scores the bout 115 to 103.
01:08:28Pardon me, make that 113.
01:08:30Pernell Whittaker.
01:08:32Donald O'Neal scores the bout 114 to 113.
01:08:35Tommy Cosmary scores it 115 to 112.
01:08:38For the winner by unanimous decision, Pernell, Sweet Pea Whittaker.
01:08:47And that's the other Akari's brother, Luis Akari's brother, Michelle Akari's, who is so violently angry at the decision and
01:08:58is helping to create the ruckus in the center of the ring.
01:09:02Cardi's brother, Kenny, Gary!
01:09:07A carry seems to believe that the scores have been added in correctly.
01:09:13Land's trying.
01:09:17Promoter Dino Duva.
01:09:20Whitaker's promoter, there helping to straighten out the scoring in Brollio, if he can.
01:09:27along with WBA observer Jimmy Benz
01:09:30the man in the pinstripe seat there
01:09:31who's often called Jimmy Pinstripes
01:09:35final punch stat numbers
01:09:37and you'll see Whitaker's numerical dominance
01:09:39in these numbers
01:09:42Sweet Pea smiling at the entire fair
01:09:45Whitaker landed 117 more punches
01:09:48threw 81 more punches
01:09:50and nearly doubled the connect percentage
01:09:51of the dogged Pestriyev
01:09:54who just wouldn't go away
01:09:58and final jabs
01:09:59and you'll see that Whitaker totally dominated that category
01:10:02as Pestriyev would land only 12%
01:10:05of the jabs he threw despite his big height and reach advantage
01:10:08let's go to Larry Merchant with Sweet Pea Whitaker
01:10:11Hi, thank you Jim
01:10:13Sweet Pea, a little bit of a ruckus behind you
01:10:16I guess the Russian-French contingent
01:10:18thought that their man had won the fight
01:10:22and thought it happened again for the second time of the road
01:10:25I don't know what would have happened Larry
01:10:27Tell us what happened when the referee
01:10:31gave me a knockdown because you went outside the ropes
01:10:34what was the point there?
01:10:35I think it turned into something like I was fighting against both of these guys
01:10:40First of all, the referee was real rough on me
01:10:43Plus, you know, once I went out the ropes, he hit me again
01:10:46and you know, I thought, you know
01:10:49I thought once you're outside the ropes, you're not supposed to do it
01:10:51Well, maybe that's true, but the referee said if you go outside the ropes, it's a knockdown
01:10:57I accepted it
01:10:58I accepted it
01:10:59You know, and I accepted it
01:11:00What am I supposed to do?
01:11:01I accepted it, you know
01:11:02Tell us, is this guy just too big, too awkward?
01:11:07A little bit of a top-
01:11:08No, no, no, no, no, no
01:11:09Oh, very tough, tough opponent
01:11:11You know, all the opponents
01:11:13Plus, he was the number one contender
01:11:15You know, as you know, I come in with no titles
01:11:18So, you know, and I still, after being robbed in April
01:11:22I still came back to fight the best
01:11:25The number one contender
01:11:26And I won
01:11:26And that's what counts
01:11:28And I'm sure my HBO audience enjoyed it
01:11:31Would you challenge the script?
01:11:33Penel Whitaker
01:11:35Were you satisfied with your performance?
01:11:37And do you think that this is the kind of performance that will make Oscar Del Hoya want to fight
01:11:44you again?
01:11:45I hope so
01:11:45If he's seen that, I'm thinking
01:11:47If he didn't want to fight me, if he didn't fight me by now, he won't fight me
01:11:50So, I know that this performance probably scared him to death
01:11:53Because I had a great time in there, you know
01:11:55I had fun, and that's what the name of the game is, Penel Whitaker
01:11:58Is to have fun
01:11:59I have fun against him
01:12:00I'm going to have fun against anyone who steps in the room with Penel Whitaker
01:12:04Now, listen, don't lie, I want to say hi to my boys
01:12:07All my sons, my four sons back at home
01:12:09Before I let that slip past me
01:12:11I want to say hi to everybody in Virginia and my family and everybody
01:12:14You told us yesterday that you thought that if you fought Delahoe again
01:12:20You would have to throw more combinations
01:12:22And you might even have to knock them out to win the fight
01:12:26Given what happened in the last day
01:12:28I said I would knock him out the next time
01:12:30I didn't say I had to
01:12:31I said I would
01:12:32I don't have to do anything going there to win the fight
01:12:34But since, if I can't
01:12:37If I get robbed when I'm the champion
01:12:38I know I wouldn't get it
01:12:40In the challenge
01:12:41But I'm not much
01:12:42If you don't get the rematch
01:12:44Will you fight the winner of the next fight?
01:12:47Lopez or Cortez?
01:12:49I want all my fans and all the fans across the world to know
01:12:53I'm going to fight one time next year
01:12:56I don't care who it is
01:12:58But I'm going to fight one time next year
01:13:00Like I said, if this is a spectacular fight
01:13:02I'll do it again
01:13:03It depends on what happens
01:13:05But I'm going to fight one time
01:13:06I don't care if it's Corte
01:13:07I don't care if it's Delahoya
01:13:11I don't care if it's Moses
01:13:13It don't matter
01:13:13Alright, thank you Pennell
01:13:15Jim, what Pennell is saying
01:13:17He's going to fight one time next year
01:13:19Unless he wins
01:13:21Back up to you
01:13:23Alright, Pennell Whitaker's been talking for the past couple of weeks
01:13:26About his four boys
01:13:27Ranging in age from 2 to 16
01:13:28And how he wants to devote some time to fathering
01:13:32He's missed a lot of it in the past
01:13:33And he thinks it ought to be a big part of his future
01:13:35Maybe it will be
01:13:36Because part of the problem for Pennell Roy
01:13:38Is that's a pretty good Pennell Whitaker performance
01:13:41That's certainly what he might have envisioned doing in there
01:13:44Short of being able to score a knockout
01:13:46But it's not the kind of fight
01:13:48That's going to cause sports fans around the country
01:13:52To jump off their seats saying
01:13:53Yeah, I've got to see him against Delahoya again
01:13:55No, because boxing fans normally want to see knockouts
01:13:58They think if you go in against a guy
01:14:00With a reputation that Pistrop had
01:14:02Which is, hasn't been facing anybody
01:14:05That they really saw as formidable opposition
01:14:07They think you're supposed to go out there and hit a grand slam
01:14:09You're supposed to go out there and knock him out
01:14:11Pennell has never been loaded for that one knockout punch
01:14:14It has happened a few times in his career
01:14:16But it's something that he just never really possessed in his arsenal
01:14:20A big knockout punch
01:14:21So they get a little bit, you know, underrated of his skills
01:14:24When they don't see him go out and make home run hit some guys
01:14:27That they think he should
01:14:28Yep, alright
01:14:29Well, it remains to be seen what happens to Whitaker
01:14:31As he looks forward to what he says
01:14:33Will be that one fight in 98
01:14:35Do you believe that one?
01:14:36About as much as I believe the Georgia fight one more time
01:14:39Yeah, okay
01:14:40Well, we'll see
01:14:42Larry, do you have something to say about Whitaker and Pestrov?
01:14:45Well, what I have to say is that
01:14:47Jimmy Benz, the WBA representative here says
01:14:51The final scoring is not official
01:14:54He says he looked over the scorecards
01:14:56You couldn't tell who has scored what round for whom
01:15:00And they're going to have to examine the scorecards
01:15:04That's why Michelle Akaris was creating such a ruckus in there
01:15:07So you're saying maybe Akaris has a point
01:15:09Well, it suggests that maybe somebody changed the score in a round
01:15:14I don't know what it means, to tell you the truth
01:15:17I've never come out of the ring not knowing who won
01:15:19I've gone into a lot of rings not knowing who won
01:15:22This is a new one on me
01:15:24I don't think that Purnell
01:15:26You know, it was a Purnell victory
01:15:28But I don't think he did himself a whole lot of good
01:15:32I don't think he convinced us
01:15:33As I said before the fight
01:15:35That a rematch with De La Hara would be any different
01:15:38Well, I was just saying to Roy
01:15:40While you were coming up here
01:15:41It's a tough quandary for Purnell
01:15:42Because that's the kind of performance he would want to produce
01:15:45Against an awkward opponent like Pestrov
01:15:47But it's not the kind of performance that causes sports fans to jump off their sofas
01:15:51And say, yeah, we've got to see him against Oscar again
01:15:54Tough call
01:15:55I would like to see what he can do against the winner of the next fight
01:15:59And what the winner of the next fight can do against him
01:16:01Well, let's talk about the next fight
01:16:03But Ike Corte is unbeaten at 34-0
01:16:06Flick
01:16:06Time
01:16:08Alien
01:16:34Meden
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