Pernell Whitaker trivia: 60 amazing facts about the professional boxer!

Pernell Whitaker was an American professional boxer who died at the age of 55! He was a four- weight world champion!

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about this professional boxer!

1. Pernell Whitaker was born in January 2, 1964
2. He died in July 14, 2019
3. He was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2001
4. And subsequently worked as a boxing trainer
5. He was a four-weight world champion
6. Having won titles at lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and light middleweight; the undisputed lightweight title
7. And the lineal lightweight and welterweight titles
8. In 1989, Whitaker was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America
9. From 1993 to 1997, The Ring ranked him as the best active boxer in the world, pound for pound
10. He currently holds the longest unified lightweight championship reign in boxing history at 6 title defenses
11. Whitaker is generally regarded as one of the greatest defensive boxers of all-time
12. As an amateur, Whitaker won a silver medal in the lightweight division at the 1982 World Championships
13. Followed by gold at the 1983 Pan American Games and 1984 Olympics
14. After his retirement in 2001, Whitaker returned to the sport as a trainer
15. In 2002, The Ring ranked him tenth in their list of “The 100 Greatest Fighters of the Last 80 Years”
16. In 2006, Whitaker was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility
17. Whitaker had an extensive amateur boxing career
18. Having started at the age of nine
19. He had 214 amateur fights, winning 201, 91 of them by knockouts
20. Though he said that he had up to 500 amateur fights
21. He lost to two-time Olympic Gold medalist Ángel Herrera Vera at the final of the World Championships 1982
22. But beat him four other times
23. Notably in the final of the Pan American Games 1983 in Caracas
24. He crowned his amateur career with an Olympic gold medal in 1984
25. Beating Luis Ortiz to obtain it
26. A southpaw, Whitaker was known for his outstanding defensive skills and for being a strong counterpuncher
27. He was not a particularly hard puncher or knockout artist
28. But applied a consistent offense while being extremely elusive and difficult for his opponents to hit with a solid punch
29. As a youngster, Whitaker was known to friends and family as “Pete”
30. And when he began to emerge as a top amateur, fans in his hometown of Norfolk used to serenade him with chants of “Sweet Pete”
31. This was misinterpreted by a local sportswriter as “Sweet Pea”
32. When this erroneous report came out in the local newspaper, the new nickname stuck
33. As of December 2005, Whitaker became a trainer in his home state of Virginia
34. While the decline of speed and agility pushed him into retirement, his knowledge of the ring and components led him to seek out up-and-coming boxers and train them to fight the way he did
35. His first fighter, Dorin Spivey, had several matches scheduled for 2006
36. He trained young prospect Joel Julio
37. Pernell Whitaker was also the trainer for heavyweight Calvin Brock who, as recently as November 2006, fought for the IBF and IBO titles against Wladimir Klitschko
38. There Brock was knocked out in the 7th round
39. In 2010, Whitaker was inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame
40. Honoring those who have contributed to sports in southeastern Virginia
41. Whitaker also became the head trainer of former undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah
42. Who defeated Kaizer Mabuza in March 2011 to win the vacant IBF welterweight title
43. Pernell married Rovanda Anthony on December 21, 1985
44. In the boxing ring at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Convention Center
45. The couple later divorced
46. They had four children together
47. Dominique, the late Pernell Jr., Dantavious, and Devon
48. Whitaker also had a daughter, Tiara
49. From a prior relationship
50. In June 2002, Whitaker was convicted of cocaine possession after a judge found he violated the terms of a previous sentence by overdosing on cocaine in March
51. In February 2014, Whitaker made national headlines after he evicted his mother, Novella Whitaker, out of the house he purchased for her shortly after he turned pro
52. Apparently, back taxes were owed on the house
53. Pernell said that neither his mother nor his siblings, who also stayed in the house, were doing anything to help keep the house afloat financially
54. Pernell’s lawyers said that he is not making the same kind of money as a trainer that he was as a boxer
55. And needed to sell off the home to satisfy the tax debt owed
56. In order to prevent the property from being seized and put into foreclosure
57. The eviction proceedings took place at the Virginia courtroom
58. Whitaker called the ruling in his favor “a beautiful moment”
59. On July 14, 2019, Whitaker was crossing the street in Virginia Beach, at the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Baker Road
60. There he was struck and killed by a vehicle