- 5/19/2025
Pernell Whitaker defends his WBC Welterweight Title against Jake "The Snake" Rodriguez on HBO Boxing
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00Forty-first fight for Larry Barnes.
00:02First time he's ever been knocked out.
00:04First time he's ever been in with an opponent like
00:06Felix Trinidad.
00:07So, that's the first of our two main events.
00:10Much more to come now as we take a look at
00:12one of the other leading lights of this
00:14talent-packed, welterweight division.
00:16A man many record as one of the two best fighters
00:18in the world.
00:22If you think of a boxing ring as a blank canvas,
00:25then Purnell Whitaker is boxing's Picasso,
00:28boxing's Van Gogh.
00:30Each time he fights, Whitaker is out to paint
00:33the perfect picture.
00:35Notice the foundation.
00:37Everything begins with hand speed.
00:40Purnell Whitaker's greatest works are painted
00:42with the quickest hands in the business.
00:55Now observe the vibrant colors.
00:57It's not enough for Whitaker just to win.
01:00He must enthrall us as well.
01:21Scrutinize the fine details.
01:23Beneath the flash and dazzle is Whitaker's
01:25extraordinary defense.
01:27To hit without being hit.
01:29The essence of championship boxing.
01:37Another sensational left inside from Whitaker
01:40after he fought his way out of the corner.
01:43Study him toiling over the canvas tonight.
01:46Because anytime you're in Sweet Pea's art gallery,
01:49you're liable to find a masterpiece.
01:53We bring you back live to ringside in Atlantic City,
01:55where we're moments away from the start of Purnell Whitaker
01:58against Jake the Snake Rodriguez,
02:01who hails from Central Islet, New York.
02:03The second of our two welterweight main events
02:05scheduled for twelve rounds.
02:07Larry Merchant in his last few fights,
02:10Purnell Whitaker has had knockdowns scored against him
02:13in each of the past three fights.
02:15He's actually lost a round here and there.
02:18And some people believe that on the strength of those
02:20performances, they can say that he's about to go off
02:23the diving board.
02:24Is he in reality slipping?
02:26Well, anytime we tell everybody in the world,
02:29including ourselves, that he's the greatest thing
02:31since ball bearings, any bumper in the road,
02:34any scratch is going to be magnified
02:38until we think it's a fatal flaw.
02:40But Whitaker, who is generally recognized
02:42as the best pure boxer of his time,
02:45and perhaps some other times before that,
02:47isn't really fatally flawed.
02:49What he is is thirty-one going on thirty-two years old.
02:53That's certain age when a fighter can no longer
02:56be at his best, his most brilliant every time out.
03:00But he is still young enough to raise the level of his game
03:04when he needs it.
03:06He surely will need it when and if he fights
03:09the young man we just saw.
03:11I'm not sure he's going to need it against Rodriguez,
03:14but it would be a good idea to bring it with him.
03:16Well, Jake the Snake Rodriguez is someone he knows well,
03:19because Rodriguez coming into the fight
03:21has sparred with Purnell Whitaker
03:23for each of his past two assignments.
03:25Jake the Snake says he's got more than a hundred rounds
03:28in the ring with Purnell in the gym.
03:30And he thinks, George, that that's going to give him
03:32the kind of knowledge which can be enough of an advantage
03:34to give him a chance to score the upset.
03:36How does this champion versus sparring partner
03:39psychology work?
03:41It does give him an advantage.
03:43A lot of times when you get into a ring
03:45with a Purnell Whitaker, you are overshadowed so much,
03:47and you're kind of fearful of this shadow.
03:49But you've been in the ring with him once or twice,
03:51you're not scared of that anymore.
03:53So sometimes you can get a little added confidence.
03:55Whether it'll get him to win, I don't know,
03:57but he'll have that extra added confidence you need
04:00by being in the ring so many rounds with him.
04:02What about the notion, though, that sparring partners,
04:04because they're getting whipped every day,
04:06actually develop a self-confidence
04:09and that it's going to be tough for him to go in there
04:11and see Whitaker as an equal?
04:13Well, I have the old philosophy.
04:15When a fight goes to decision with me,
04:17I'm disappointed whether I lose it or not.
04:19With Whitaker, it's the complete opposite.
04:21If a fight, he gets a knockout, he hates it,
04:23so he never tries to hurt anybody in the gym.
04:25So he will not be frightened of him.
04:27He won't know anything about his power
04:29because Whitaker is not that kind of guy.
04:31All right, Jake the Snake, the sparring partner,
04:33George says, gets a chance as a result of that.
04:35Gets ready to go against Purnell.
04:37And we take a look at the tail of the tape.
04:39And you'll see that both guys are beyond the magic 3-0.
04:42Two-inch height advantage for Rodriguez.
04:44He's a southpaw like Whitaker.
04:46In fact, Whitaker's last fight against Gary Jacobs
04:48was against a southpaw.
04:50Fight before that against Vasquez at a hundred fifty-four pounds.
04:52Also against a southpaw.
04:54So Purnell's used to seeing the mirror image at this point.
04:56And the two-inch reach advantage there
04:58for Jake the Snake.
05:00Punch that numbers, Larry.
05:02You can see that the numbers are pretty close here.
05:05Both fighters, southpaws, southpaws,
05:08do have an advantage against right-handers
05:11that maximizes what they do.
05:18And here you get an idea of Purnell-Whitaker's activity
05:22in some fights over the last five years.
05:24I'm not a hundred percent convinced
05:26that Purnell-Whitaker is going to win this fight.
05:30I'm not a hundred percent convinced
05:32of the efficacy of these numbers
05:34because in his last fight against Gary Jacobs,
05:37Jacobs was a cleverly awkward, very good defensive fighter.
05:41The numbers tonight might give us some kind of a clue
05:45as how active he is.
05:47I recall that when he fought Buddy McGirt a year ago,
05:50Whitaker was just as active as he had been
05:52a few years before against McGirt.
05:55Rules of the bout with our unofficial ringside score
05:58Harold Lederman.
05:59The Purnell-Whitaker-Jake Rodriguez fight
06:01is scheduled for 12 rounds.
06:03The usual rules are on the screen again.
06:05The big difference in the rules for the second fight
06:08is that we go to the scorecards
06:09and a cut caused by an accidental headbutt
06:11once the bell has rung to begin the fourth round.
06:15Before that, it's a technical draw.
06:17Jim.
06:18All right. Thank you very much, Harold.
06:20And Jake the Snake Rodriguez
06:23enters to familiar music.
06:28Let's go, Jake.
06:32Slow down. Slow down.
06:35Watch your step.
06:48Rodriguez completed his last sparring session
06:52with Purnell-Whitaker down in Norfolk
06:55on the day that his baby boy, Jake Jr.,
06:58was born three months ago.
07:00He dedicates this fight, and he says,
07:02all future boxing endeavors, to Jake Jr.
07:06Unlike some fighters, his manager says
07:09he has the second dollar he ever made.
07:12He used the first dollar to buy a piggy bank.
07:15Maybe that's because the New York media,
07:18which is one of the last of the intense
07:22boxing observer medias in the country,
07:25has never thought much of Rodriguez,
07:28and so maybe he didn't think he knew
07:30where his next dollar was coming from.
07:32But when he won the IBF 140-pound title for Murray,
07:37it changed everything.
07:38He was not given a chance to win that fight.
07:41He's now considered more than a club fighter.
07:44He's considered a championship-caliber fighter,
07:48albeit perhaps a little bit past his best.
07:51His upset victory over Charles Murray a few years ago,
07:54maybe the biggest upset at a hundred forty pounds
07:58in the last ten years.
07:59One of the bigger ones in the sport,
08:01because Murray was regarded as a lights-out talent,
08:04and Rodriguez was seen as a club fighter.
08:07But he out-hustled him and won the fight.
08:10And the record for Jake the Snake,
08:12twenty-eight wins, three losses, two draws,
08:14only eight K.O.'s. You think Barnes lacked
08:17punching power? This guy takes it to another level.
08:20Got the cup on good, Jake? Got the mouthpiece?
08:24Okay, good.
08:30And just as Trinidad decided to make Barnes wait a little bit,
08:34Ronald Whitaker has decided that he's gonna make
08:38Rodriguez wait just a tad.
08:40I used to take a train out to the eastern end of Long Island
08:45in the summer times and pass the station called West Islip.
08:49Always wondered who lives in West Islip.
08:52Now I know it's Jake Barnes.
08:54You're wrong. He lives in Central Islip.
08:56In Central Islip. Okay. Be careful.
08:58I don't know who lives in West Islip either.
09:00You still don't know. But right now...
09:02If there is such a place.
09:04Right now some of them are angry at you because
09:06you're failing to make the proper distinction
09:08between West and Central Islip.
09:09On the other hand, I've just become a hero there.
09:13Methinks the champion is under way.
09:26There's Sweet Pea.
09:35It's been more than five years
09:37since his last knockout against the New York Jets.
09:40Since his last knockout against a significant opponent.
09:47He had an interesting comment when we spoke to him yesterday.
09:50He said they used to call me the rabbit.
09:52Meaning derisively because he boxed with his feet
09:56moving around the ring.
09:58Now he says they're wondering what happened to the rabbit.
10:02They want to see the rabbit more
10:04because he is more flat footed.
10:07I think he is in general throwing fewer punches,
10:10but he does it from a more flat footed stance
10:13and tries to make each punch more telling
10:16and more effective now.
10:17I think that's been the basic change in his style
10:20over the course of the past few years.
10:29Oh, it's friggin' hot under these lights.
10:36And the record for Pernel Whitaker,
10:38remember the loss to Jose Luis Ramirez in Paris
10:41was generally regarded as a bogus decision
10:44and was later avenged.
10:45The draw against Julio Cesar Chavez in San Antonio
10:48was almost universally regarded as a bogus decision.
10:51In the eyes of his most ardent supporters,
10:53Pernel is effectively unbeaten.
10:56And now let's go up to Michael Buffer
10:58for the pre-fight intros on this one.
11:01Ladies and gentlemen, by way of Bally's Park Place
11:05Casino Hotel on the Boardwalk
11:07here in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
11:09main events monitor in association with
11:12your undisputed, undefeated king of beers,
11:15Budweiser, this Bud's for you,
11:17present part two of a double welterweight rumble.
11:21This bout is sanctioned by
11:22New Jersey State Athletic Control Board,
11:25Boxing Commissioner Larry Hazard Sr.,
11:27and the World Boxing Council.
11:29Supervisor for the WBC at ringside is Steve Crossan.
11:33The three judges scoring the bout
11:35on a 10-point bus system will be
11:37Guillermo Ayon, Bruce McTavish, and Jon Stewart.
11:42And when the bell rings,
11:44the man in charge of the action,
11:46your referee, Frank Cappuccino.
11:51And now, ladies and gentlemen,
11:53from Atlantic City by way of Bally's Park Place,
11:56it's time to do it one more time.
12:00Let's get ready to rumble!
12:0412 rounds of boxing for the WBC
12:08Welterweight Championship of the World.
12:12Introducing first, fighting out of the red corner,
12:15wearing red, trimmed with white,
12:17and weighing 146 and one-quarter pounds.
12:21From centralized slip New York,
12:23he brings an excellent record of 28 victories
12:26with three defeats, two draws, eight KOs to his credit.
12:31Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the challenger
12:34and former junior Welterweight Champion of the World,
12:39Jake The Snake Rodriguez!
12:48And his opponent across the ring,
12:50fighting out of the blue corner,
12:52wearing the lavender trim with black,
12:54and weighing 147 pounds.
12:57In 1984, he captured Olympic gold
13:00and went on to develop a professional record of 36 victories
13:04with only one defeat and one draw, 15 KOs.
13:08Ladies and gentlemen, considered by many to be
13:11pound for pound the best in the world today,
13:15from Norfolk, Virginia,
13:17presenting the WBC Welterweight Champion of the World,
13:23four-time world champion pernil,
13:27Sweet Pea Whittaker!
13:32This is you, baby. This is you. This is you.
13:38All right. Good evening, gentlemen.
13:40You were both given your instructions
13:41by the New Jersey Control Board,
13:43both of youse touch gloves.
13:45One of my spies tells me, Jim,
13:48that because these two fighters have sparred so many rounds,
13:52we just might see Pernil Whittaker
13:54turn orthodox fighter on a few occasions in this fight.
13:59Let's see if he tries it.
14:01Stay in your corner, Jake.
14:02He's never done it before.
14:04Meaning that he'll stand in a conventional stance
14:06and use the left to jab.
14:08He believes that the best possible weapon
14:10against Jake Rodriguez is the straight right hand,
14:13and if he stands in a conventional stance...
14:17...stand in a conventional stance and use the left to jab,
14:20he believes that the best possible weapon
14:22against Jake Rodriguez is the straight right hand,
14:25and if he stands in a conventional stance,
14:27he can throw it more readily
14:29than from his normal left-handed stance.
14:38Rodriguez, a sturdy southpaw,
14:41in good shape, starts out trying to go to Whittaker's body.
14:44Virtually everybody Pernil has fought
14:46over the past few years has said,
14:48I'm gonna wear him out to the body.
14:50So far, it's been done only in short stretches.
14:58All right, let him go. Let him out.
15:04First thing I noticed, Jim,
15:06is that Rodriguez is trying to go to Whittaker
15:09with that right hook,
15:11because Gary Jacobs did have some success with that punch.
15:14Boy, this is no Felix Trinidad fight.
15:19No, this is no Felix Trinidad fight.
15:21There's nobody in there with dynamite
15:23in his gloves this time.
15:30Could become a chess match
15:32between two guys who know each other pretty well.
15:34I remember Sonny Liston
15:36getting ready to fight Lee Otis Martin
15:38from, uh, Philadelphia.
15:40Right.
15:42And his wife saying,
15:44Oh, Sonny's been sparring with this guy for years.
15:46He used to whip him in training camp.
15:48Let me tell you, it didn't work out like that
15:50in a boxing match.
15:52You gotta forget all about ever sparring with a guy
15:54when you fight him in the ring.
15:56You ever fought one of your sparring partners, George?
15:58I did, and it was altogether different.
16:01Hard right hand by Whittaker.
16:08Rodriguez has slowed down
16:10after having come out firing.
16:12And this gives Whittaker a chance to begin
16:14his offensive pattern, jab, jab, jab.
16:21And now Jake Rodriguez,
16:23who said he had to jab with the jabber
16:25to have a chance here.
16:28He'll begin to try to match his right hand stiletto
16:30against that of Brunel Whittaker.
16:41Chopping left hand over the top.
16:43Made contact for Whittaker.
16:54Good short right hand inside by Whittaker.
16:56Brunel, of course,
16:58an acknowledged master of counterpunching.
17:00Rodriguez says,
17:02That's a problem I don't quite know how to deal with.
17:04I'm gonna have to go at him.
17:06So if he counters, he counters.
17:11This is one Larry Merchant
17:13has got to figure out.
17:15You leaving it to Larry?
17:17No doubt about it.
17:23Oh, I think you'll come up with something, George.
17:25Good job, baby. Come on.
17:27Your box beautiful. Box beautiful.
17:29That was a beautiful round.
17:31That's the way to go with the jab.
17:33He's leaning over.
17:35He's throwing left hand at him.
17:37But he's open for the hook
17:39because he's dropping
17:41his right hand.
17:43So all you got to do,
17:45as soon as he hooks, come back with the double hook
17:47because it's perfect for him.
17:49Every time you throw the left hand, just shoot the left hook.
17:51Look, that was a very simple round.
17:53You're a boxer, so you've got to be the boxer.
17:55You're looking beautiful.
17:57Walk away or walk to the side.
17:59Don't just stand in front of him.
18:01Double and triple jab.
18:03One jab.
18:05Three, George.
18:07Get rid of that.
18:09Now get out there and double a jab up.
18:11Keep flipping punches, baby.
18:13Keep flipping punches like that.
18:15Grab that. Come on.
18:1949 jabs in round one for Whitaker
18:21by punch stat numbers.
18:23Landed 23 of them.
18:25That's a good start for Purnell, tactically.
18:35Come on, get him out.
18:37Get him out. Let him go.
18:39Let him go.
18:43Batman never had to worry
18:45about Robin taking over.
18:47Jake the Snake has got to just give up
18:49that old Robin position
18:51and go to be Batman tonight.
18:53You want him to open up and be a little bit more aggressive
18:55than he's been so far?
18:57He just can't be second all the time.
18:59Go up and be number one.
19:01It's there for you.
19:03It's there for you. You're bigger, taller.
19:05Why not fight?
19:11Rodriguez, tough customer
19:13who can take a punch.
19:15Loves to brag that he has fought against
19:17nine unbeaten opponents in his career.
19:19And indeed, that's the case.
19:21And one of them was Felix Trinidad.
19:23And he took Trinidad
19:25to distance.
19:27One of only four fighters that have ever gone
19:29to distance with Trinidad.
19:31This is a guy who's a good professional fighter.
19:33Knows what he's doing in the ring.
19:35And you think about what we just saw,
19:37that's got to be more than impressive.
19:39Go that mile around.
19:41You think Whitaker's at all affected by Trinidad's performance?
19:43Might have in the back of his mind
19:45trying to shine just as brightly
19:47as the younger man did?
19:49Whitaker is so smart.
19:51He's pretty much able to shut out anything
19:53once he gets into that ring.
19:55This guy is extremely smart.
19:57It's like a fox.
19:59If there's one thing he's proven,
20:01it is that he doesn't mind
20:03a little disapproval from the audience.
20:05He goes ahead and fights his fight,
20:07gets the W, and if you don't like it,
20:09well, tune in next time.
20:11What happened in 1991?
20:15Cornell Whitaker turned into a hard puncher.
20:17He started lifting weights,
20:19going to the body, landing hard shots.
20:21Sometimes you forget about combination.
20:23That's what he's kind of gotten into now.
20:25A hard hitter.
20:27He's backing the other guy up now.
20:29There was a time
20:31when he would have had to back up
20:33and land quicker and harder shots.
20:35People talk about your relaxation level in the ring.
20:37How you're able to stay so focused
20:39and relaxed in there.
20:41In the lower weight classes,
20:43this to me is the king of that, George.
20:45He is supremely relaxed in there all the time.
20:47Supremely is exactly what he is.
20:49Maybe too relaxed because people
20:51no longer want to see him win.
20:53They want to see a great performance.
20:55You cannot perform too well as a boxer.
20:57You can only get knockouts.
21:01Whitaker trying for hard body shots here.
21:03So far he's been able to
21:05outthrow Rodriguez
21:07by a pretty significant margin.
21:09Jake the Snake just not getting off much
21:11as Purnell starts
21:13and finishes these exchanges.
21:21Rodriguez trying for a hard left
21:23over the top. It was just short.
21:25And Purnell pats him on the butt
21:27as if to say, yeah, you're working in here.
21:29Give me a few more good rounds like this.
21:33Okay.
21:35It's a little better, but listen to me.
21:37Keep your hands up.
21:39Don't go straight back, alright?
21:41And keep double jabbing.
21:43And what you're doing is you're standing in front of him
21:45too long. Bing, bing, bing.
21:47And then move to the side one way or the other.
21:49Don't drop your hands.
21:51Okay.
21:53It's a good round.
21:59I don't want you on the outside.
22:01When you throw the left hand on the outside,
22:03don't come back with the hook.
22:05I don't think you feel too comfortable.
22:07As soon as you get close, then go with the double hook.
22:09Just one hook at a time.
22:11Let's go with the one.
22:13Start at the bottom, alright?
22:15Don't bang in the body, okay?
22:17Beautiful work, baby.
22:19Way back in the corner.
22:21They told Rodriguez that was a good round.
22:23I'd hate to see a bad one.
22:29Ronell Whitaker, by
22:31punch stat computation, landed 22
22:33out of 26 jabs in
22:35round 2. 84%
22:37connect rate.
22:39Rodriguez coming out, trying to be
22:41much more aggressive in round 3.
22:43He's thrown virtually all the punches, and now
22:45Ronell lands a right-left combination
22:47so it's peppering the jab again.
22:53Big effort by Rodriguez in the first minute
22:55of round 3.
23:17Hard left hand by Whitaker.
23:19It's about as hard a punch as
23:21Ronell lands.
23:23One of the amazing things about
23:25Whitaker, really, is that probably
23:27never in his career, at any
23:29weight level, has he been in
23:31the ring with a fighter
23:33who wasn't at least as strong
23:35and probably stronger than him.
23:39So he's put together his record
23:41against guys always stronger
23:43than himself.
23:45That's what made him
23:47a great boxer. He's had
23:49to overcome so many obstacles.
23:53Once you do away with those obstacles,
23:55you do away with a lot of the skills
23:57you ordinarily needed.
23:59Well, when he was a 12-year-old amateur,
24:01he used to fight against servicemen
24:03in the Navy Yard at Norfolk who were
24:056 and 7 years older and outweighed him
24:07by 40 or 50 pounds. So he came
24:09up learning against the hardest
24:11guys in the world.
24:13He came up learning against the hardest
24:15kind of opposition.
24:17Yeah, it was swim or drown.
24:19215 amateur
24:21fights for Brunel Whitaker.
24:23Everybody talks about the Olympic gold medal,
24:25but he won the Pan Am gold. He won the
24:27world championship. He hit every target
24:29you could put in front of him as an amateur
24:31and came to the professional ranks
24:33expecting to be a champion from the beginning.
24:35This guy's never thought he had anything to learn.
24:43How do you throw out of the window,
24:45Jake the Snake? I appreciate
24:47everything you've done for me, Duva.
24:49I've appreciated Brunel, but I'm going to
24:51take your position.
24:53He's having a rough time throwing it out of the window.
24:57So he's treating Brunel with too much respect.
24:59That's right. Too thankful and
25:01they gave me a chance. What do I do?
25:03He's taken two hard left hands
25:05in this round.
25:07Rare chances for Brunel
25:09Whitaker.
25:11Rare chances for Brunel Whitaker
25:13to exploit his own punching
25:15power, if in fact there is any.
25:17It hardly matters
25:19in most of Whitaker's performances,
25:21but he'd love to make it matter here tonight.
25:33Well, Larry, a lot of people want to
25:35see a confrontation, which will never
25:37take place in the ring, of course,
25:39between Brunel Whitaker and Roy Jones Jr.,
25:41but they are going to do it on a basketball
25:43court, and as recently as Tuesday,
25:45Brunel was working out.
25:47Working out with World B. Free, the former
25:49Philadelphia 76er.
25:53And there you can see
25:55he can shoot that basketball
25:57like he can shoot his jab.
25:59He promises he's going to
26:01rain on Jones for 50
26:03when their two teams are matched
26:05in a charity basketball game on December 9
26:07in Pensacola, Florida.
26:13Let's see that left hand.
26:15The unusual position
26:17of the aggressor.
26:19A straight left hand.
26:23Haven't seen that
26:25orthodox stance yet, have we?
26:27Nope.
26:29Maybe he's holding it
26:31in reserve and doesn't think he needs it yet.
26:33Yeah, I think it's been too easy this way so far.
26:37Whitaker in round three.
26:39Again, 28 out of 38 jabs.
26:4174%.
26:49Jake the Snake needs someone like Lou Duvy
26:51in this corner. Talking about him.
26:53Urging him on.
26:55Yeah, Lou's a good cheerleader, isn't he?
26:57Boy, that Lou Duvy is tops.
26:59Both of you, step out.
27:01Tops, cream of the crop.
27:07You mentioned
27:09earlier, Jim, about
27:11Kamau Whitaker
27:13fighting sailors in
27:15his hometown
27:17in Virginia.
27:19Norfolk
27:21naval base there.
27:23One of the real oddities I find is that
27:25the two top pound-for-pound
27:27fighters both come from naval towns.
27:29And the Navy has always had
27:31great boxing programs
27:33and both of these guys
27:35were involved as youngsters in kid programs
27:37that the Navy put on.
27:43They have a lot in common with their
27:45Olympic gold medals and
27:47other amateur pedigrees. Whoops.
27:49Jones didn't win an Olympic gold medal.
27:51He only should have.
27:53Come on, come on. Get them hands loose.
27:55Get them hands loose. Come on.
27:57Jones, of course,
27:59victimized and sold by the worst
28:01Olympic boxing decision in recent years.
28:05Come on.
28:11Rodriguez still cautious
28:13in this round.
28:15Round 4, much like its predecessor,
28:17Whitaker has landed one hard overhand left.
28:25Jake, someone needs to say to Jake,
28:27Jake, get upset.
28:29You've been hit with the hardest shot in the world.
28:31This man is not your friend.
28:33And Jake is going about this
28:35at such a slow pace that he's giving
28:37Whitaker every opportunity to make it target
28:39practice. That's true.
28:41No brawling.
28:43No holding.
28:45No hitting behind the head. No fouling.
28:47There's
28:49some good stuff inside from Rodriguez
28:51and Whitaker with a straight right hand says,
28:53get out of here.
28:55Come on.
29:01On the other hand,
29:03how do you outbox the best boxer
29:05in the world?
29:07Ronell there
29:09as always with his eyes open
29:11inside, countering
29:13at every opportunity.
29:19Double jab, straight
29:21left hand over the top, all connected.
29:23Rodriguez
29:25lunging forward in increasing
29:27frustration after four.
29:33Okay, the only thing you're doing is what we work
29:35in the gym that you're not doing.
29:37Harold Dottie got it scored through four rounds.
29:39Jim, 40 to 36,
29:41four rounds to nothing, Pernell Whitaker.
29:43Jim, I don't see why he has to go
29:45orthodox. He's the most ambidextrous guy
29:47I've ever seen in my life. No matter which
29:49way he stands, he's going to kill you with both hands
29:51and that's the way this fight is going. He's just
29:53backing up Jake Rodriguez with that right jab,
29:55straight left. I mean, Jake is fading into the ropes.
29:57Pernell's building up a big lead.
30:03Just keep coming back with the left hand.
30:05As soon as you go with the counter left hand,
30:07make sure you're close enough. Don't fall in with this guy.
30:09But the jab is busting him up.
30:11Just keep him up.
30:15Just keep him up.
30:2130-year-old Jake the Snake Rodriguez.
30:25Former junior welterweight title holder,
30:27fighting at welterweight here against
30:31Pernell Whitaker, a man with whom he says
30:33he's had more than 100 rounds in the gym.
30:35Sweetpea says, I'm not sure it was really
30:37that many. But then again,
30:39I don't keep count. Maybe it only seemed
30:41like 100 rounds for Rodriguez.
30:51Rodriguez will look in and think of throwing
30:53and Whitaker just pops him. 1-2.
30:57You make a mistake and Pernell Whitaker
30:59punishes you. He doesn't try to knock you out.
31:01He just punishes you so that you
31:03will not do this again.
31:09It's almost as though
31:11the fact that they know each other so well
31:13has played much more into Whitaker's hands
31:15than Jake's, George. He seems to
31:17have more control of the fight
31:19in his hands than Jake's, George. He seems to
31:21know what Jake is gonna do
31:23before he does it, and he counters before
31:25Jake can even throw. He's definitely
31:27taking advantage of this, being familiar
31:29with him. He's taking advantage of it.
31:31Jake the Snake is not
31:33trying to explore his
31:35knowledge of Whitaker.
31:37Just not being aggressive
31:39enough to do that.
31:41You're gonna take this
31:43guy's title, you gotta knock him out.
31:45Make him get off the canvas.
31:49And no doubt,
31:51knowledgeable boxing fans
31:53in the crowd, as they watch this,
31:55find their minds wandering
31:57to, well, what would happen
31:59if it were Trinidad in there against
32:01Pernell Whitaker? What will that
32:03fight look like if, in fact,
32:05it takes place? Boy, a wonderful
32:07match. But then you bring out the best of
32:09Pernell Whitaker. That's the classic boxer
32:11puncher matchup, huh? Tell you.
32:13I do not believe we've seen the best of that
32:15Felix Trinidad. Let him go, Pernell.
32:17There's more to that storybook.
32:27Matchup at 147 would
32:29have a faint
32:31glimmer of the Leonard
32:33Hearns about it. Whitaker, a
32:35boxer like Ray Leonard, and
32:37Trinidad, a tall puncher like Tommy
32:39Hearns.
32:41But like Hearns, Trinidad
32:43can box. Although
32:45maybe Pernell isn't as hard
32:47a puncher as Ray Leonard was.
32:49That Ray Leonard was
32:51everything you want in a boxer. More.
32:53As he showed in the first Hearns fight.
32:55Break, break. Stop punching.
33:01Round 5 here, much like
33:03its predecessors, Pernell Whitaker patiently
33:05waiting for Jake Rodriguez to commit
33:07or make mistakes, and then penalizing
33:09him for them with counterpunches.
33:12Pernell not quite as active
33:14with the jab in this round as he
33:16is content to bide his time
33:18and wait for opportunities
33:20to pile up the points
33:22against Rodriguez.
33:29And as he walks back to the corner, Pernell
33:31turns and grins openly at George
33:33Foreman and looks at Roy Jones
33:35and then looks to the rafters as if to say
33:37this hall isn't big enough for me.
33:40Look, just keep boxing this guy.
33:42It's just a matter of time. You're just weighing him down. You understand?
33:44Now when you get on the inside, as soon as you get close
33:46let the hands go up high so you can have some
33:48so you can punch. Alright?
33:50Because he's grabbing. As soon as you get on the inside
33:52he's trying to grab you. Okay?
33:54But keep the good jab, but just keep boxing like that.
33:56If you hit him with these shots like that, he can't take this all night
33:58long like that. Okay?
34:00You can fan him and you can go with double jabs with this guy too.
34:02You know, you're boxing beautiful out there.
34:04And go with the feints now. Stay with the feints. Alright?
34:06It's just a matter of time.
34:09Throw your jab and throw that straight left hand
34:11that you like to throw to the body.
34:13Throw that straight left hand right at his liver.
34:15But don't just stay there after you do it now.
34:24Trainer-manager Dave Burke
34:26has been with Rodriguez
34:28from the beginning of his
34:30decade-long professional career.
34:40See if Rodriguez can try to release the
34:42straight left hand to the body that Burke is talking about.
34:51Both fighters trying to reestablish the jab
34:53in the first minute of round six.
35:10Rodriguez getting underneath
35:12to Whitaker's body.
35:14But strictly one shot at a time.
35:16That flurry blocked by
35:18Purnell's gloves inside.
35:22Purnell with a judicious one-two
35:24and then stepping back to await other opportunities.
35:28Hard left hand to the side of Rodriguez's head.
35:40Again, Whitaker blocking
35:42most of those with his arms inside.
35:46Counter right hand inside
35:48for Whitaker. Goes to the body
35:50twice with his left hand.
35:52Purnell doing a lot of damage in this round.
35:54I've noticed something in the last two rounds
35:56that suggests something
35:58to me, George. Every time
36:00or on several occasions...
36:04That was the result
36:06of an accumulation of body blows
36:09He hit him with about six hard shots
36:11to the ribcage in a row.
36:13Exactly what happened.
36:19Jake looked like he was looking for an exit.
36:23He crosses himself as he goes into battle.
36:27And Purnell decides to come upstairs for a moment.
36:29I think he should go back to the body.
36:31That's where he did the damage.
36:35Purnell, Whitaker, like I said earlier
36:38this guy, a knockout is the last thing he wants.
36:42He seems to thrive on just throwing
36:44lots of touches and punishing a guy.
36:46But round six has been a clinic
36:48in body work.
36:58Another body punch
37:00knockdown.
37:023...4...5...
37:04You think Rodriguez wants any more?
37:06I'm not so sure.
37:12It's all over.
37:14He timed it to get up
37:16just in time for the fight to end.
37:18You know, Jim, I was about to say
37:20just as that knockdown occurred
37:22that on three or four occasions
37:24in the previous two rounds
37:26when Whitaker did something wonderful
37:30that Rodriguez gave him a nod.
37:32It was the kind of a nod a sparring partner
37:34does, George, in the gym
37:36saying, good work.
37:38You knew it was going to end
37:40as that happened.
37:42Whitaker was pretty merciful.
37:44If you're going to knock a guy out,
37:46listen, I'm going to knock him out in the body.
37:48He's been my sparring partner.
37:50That's what you do sometimes to your sparring partner.
37:52You want to drop him, go to the body.
37:54It was local knowledge all the way.
37:56He knew what he could do against this guy.
37:58He was utterly patient in establishing
38:00his opportunities and took maximum advantage
38:02once the guy came in close.
38:04Here we go, first knockdown,
38:06and look at the body punches.
38:08Hard left hand there,
38:10and then around to the ribcage.
38:12Yeah, that left hand up top meant something, too.
38:14Not as much as those tremendous body shots.
38:16Here we go again, left hook to the right,
38:18hook to the body, over top,
38:20just enough leverage to come back to the body.
38:24Back into the body, digging hard.
38:26And there had been a hard rain of body punches
38:28for 30 seconds before this,
38:30and it was right in the ribcage as Rodriguez went down.
38:32Sometimes, like I said,
38:34when you spar many rounds with a guy,
38:36he's treated you right.
38:38You want to knock him out, but at the same time,
38:40you do it with a body punch.
38:42That's extreme confidence.
38:44That hurt.
38:46And that was as defining a statement
38:48as Purnell Whitaker's been able to make
38:50in several fights.
38:52We told you, it's been five years
38:54since he knocked out a quality opponent
38:56in a championship fight,
38:58and Purnell, when he won six,
39:00began to at least have a shot at it tonight.
39:02Since 1981,
39:04he's tried to establish to the world
39:06that I'm not only a good boxer,
39:08but I can punch.
39:10He's made me a believer.
39:12I know you believe, George.
39:14Now let's go up to Michael Buffer
39:16for the officials on this particular knockout.
39:18Ladies and gentlemen,
39:20here at Atlantic City's Convention Hall
39:22by way of Bally's Park Place,
39:24the official time,
39:2645 seconds of round number six.
39:28Referee Frank Cappuccino
39:30reaches the ten count.
39:32The winner by knockout victory
39:34and still
39:36WBC
39:38welterweight champion of the world,
39:40Purnell
39:42Sweet Pea
39:46Whitaker!
39:52And we'll take a look at final punch stat numbers,
39:54which will demonstrate Purnell Whitaker's
39:56numerical domination of
39:58Jake the Snake Rodriguez.
40:00He landed 140 more punches,
40:02throwing only four more.
40:04Look at the connect percentage.
40:0661%.
40:08This was more than just the usual
40:10Purnell Whitaker paint job.
40:12This time the paint had lead in it.
40:14And let's go up to Larry Merchant
40:16in the ring.
40:18Purnell, congratulations once again.
40:20Knocking an opponent down twice
40:22with body shots.
40:24Not usually your style. What happened?
40:26Well, you know, I was more or less thinking about the family.
40:28Everybody at 4752
40:30Berrywood Road.
40:32This was for them, for my little boy
40:34Devon Otez
40:36and the rest of my boys.
40:38I love you guys and this was for you.
40:40What did you know
40:42about him from all of your
40:44sparring rounds that you were able to
40:46exploit? Had you known before that he
40:48was vulnerable in the body?
40:50No, I didn't know, Larry. Like I said,
40:52that's Boston with
40:5414-ounce gloves on.
40:56Jake, take nothing away from him.
40:58He's an excellent fighter.
41:00Tonight, the best was at his best.
41:04Tell us what
41:06your thoughts were about
41:08watching Felix Trinidad
41:10tonight.
41:12Like I said, I don't watch
41:14fighters fight. I'm sure my wife
41:16Vaughn has seen them fight.
41:18I'm sure when I get home, she can give me some of hers.
41:20You didn't watch the first fight at all?
41:22No, I didn't. I was back in the dressing room warming up.
41:24I know the fighter. He's an excellent
41:26champion. He's young.
41:28He's a lion.
41:30Veterans always come through.
41:32You've told us that you wanted to fight
41:34meaningful fights. Is he the big
41:36meaningful fight out there?
41:38I'm sure all the viewers and all the fans around the world
41:40would love to see that fight, so let's make it happen.
41:42Let's make that the first priority
41:44for next year. Let's get it on.
41:46I've been asking
41:48for these guys. These guys are now coming out of the
41:50closet, so let's get them off so the fans
41:52can see. Brunel, you've never ducked anyone.
41:54Thank you very much for a scintillating
41:56performance once again.
41:58Now let me call in Jake.
42:00Let me call in Jake Rodriguez. Jake,
42:02thank you very much. You went a lot of rounds
42:04with him in the gym, but did you know
42:06he could punch that hard
42:08to the body? He has caught me with a good shot.
42:10He caught me with a good shot in the chin,
42:12and then I fell.
42:14Sometimes you can't take those punches.
42:16Then when I fell, I woke it up.
42:18I was okay. Shake it off.
42:20The second time, he caught me again, and then he caught
42:22me with a good body punch, and my knee went
42:24down, so I tried to take your time,
42:26but I lost count. I lost count
42:28of the referee, and then when I got out,
42:30it was too late.
42:32I just did my best. You have fought
42:34now both Felix Trinidad
42:36and Brunel Whitaker. Give us
42:38your thoughts about
42:40what might happen if they
42:42meet in the ring.
42:44It's a different fight. You know, talking to
42:46a big guy, skinny,
42:48fighting a short guy,
42:50you know, is most
42:52a lot. So, you know, it should be
42:54a good fight, but, you know,
42:56who's got the power? I think Felix
42:58got a lot of power, so I don't know.
43:00It's a good fight. Well, he's
43:02your countryman. Are you picking him to win?
43:04No, no, no.
43:06I like Whitaker. He's always
43:08been a good guy. He's
43:10given me a lot of work when I need it,
43:12and he never expected it from me.
43:14So, you know, it was a good fight,
43:16and like I told him before,
43:18before the fight, I say, he's gonna go in there
43:20and do the best fight we can.
43:22Whoever's the champ, I hope we'll be friends.
43:24That's what I said before. Thank you very much, Jake.
43:26Back to you, Jim.
43:28All right. Thanks very much, Larry.
43:30Well, George, the doubleheader was called
43:32collision course in the hope
43:34that the business obstacles can be cleared away
43:36and Brunel Whitaker and Felix Trinidad
43:38can face each other in the ring.
43:40I say I think it might look a little bit
43:42like Hearn's Leonard One. What do you think?
43:44No doubt about it. It'll be one of the best fights
43:46we've ever seen. You got two of the right
43:48kind of guys. They're skillful. One can actually
43:50punch good gracious. The only thing
43:52missing is maybe an Oscar De La Haya.
43:54Brunel showed you tonight
43:56that his desire is surfacing
43:58again as he gets ready for
44:00big fights. Is that what you see
44:02in the sixth round knockout, or was it just too easy
44:04against a sparring partner?
44:06It was too easy with a sparring partner.
44:08I didn't see the hunger there that he's gonna need
44:10to get up for a guy like Felix Trinidad.
44:12Great job tonight, George.
44:14Okay. Thank you. Good working with you as always.
44:16Let's turn to Larry Merchant and
44:18the collision course is established.
44:20If in fact the roadblocks can be cleared away,
44:22what do you think? Well, first I wanted
44:24to make note of what I had said earlier
44:26tonight about how many punches
44:28he throws per round. Tonight
44:30against a different opponent, he threw
44:32in excess of maybe seventy-five punches
44:34per round. He can get it up when he
44:36needs it, and he'll need it and he'll
44:38get it up against somebody as
44:40formidable as Felix Trinidad.
44:42But my first thought here is
44:44that a couple of weeks ago we saw
44:46the third fight of
44:48one of the greatest trilogies
44:50in boxing history,
44:52Bo and Holyfield. It happened in the
44:54heavyweight division. Normally
44:56these kinds of rivalries have
44:58happened in the smaller weight divisions
45:00because so many of
45:02the fighters have different promoters and
45:04all of that stuff that we're all
45:06bored by these years. It doesn't
45:08happen as often as it should
45:10in the lower weight classifications.
45:12Hopefully it will start
45:14because these kinds of
45:16collisions becomes
45:18jewels of the sport that
45:20everyone wants to see and is
45:22dazzled by. You want to see it? I want
45:24to see it. Roy Jones wants to see it. George
45:26wants to see it. Let's hope
45:28that it can indeed take place. Well, we'll
45:30be back in a moment with a final word
45:32on what happened in the boxing ring tonight.
45:34First, let's look ahead to some upcoming
45:36programming right here on HBO.
45:40In an era when the National
45:42Football League ruled the roost,
45:44an innovative man with a vision
45:46decided to change the landscape
45:48of professional football forever.
45:50The man was Lamar Hunt.
45:52His idea?
45:54The American Football League.
45:56His intention? To form a
45:58competitor to the established NFL.
46:00From its
46:02genesis in 1959
46:04through its 10-year struggle and rivalry
46:06with the National Football League,
46:08the AFL went from a Mickey Mouse
46:10league that played in third-rate stadiums
46:12to winning a Super Bowl
46:14in one of sports' greatest
46:16upsets. The
46:18physical feeling after
46:20our Super Bowl game
46:22was so
46:24unique.
46:26It's very difficult to describe,
46:28like everything inside was alive
46:30and tingling and wanting to burst
46:32out. Yes, I'm
46:34telling you. And this lasted for
46:36weeks and weeks, and it
46:38still feels good.
46:40The Rebel League engaged in modern-day
46:42trench warfare in the quest
46:44for the best college and NFL players.
46:46As I've often said,
46:48we're like the gorillas in guerrilla warfare
46:50and often said
46:52the gorilla wins if he doesn't lose.
46:54And as long as we hung around,
46:56we were thrown in their side.
46:58They feared us, and we had
47:00quality people. We weren't afraid of
47:02them, and we could handle them.
47:04It was a league that rewrote
47:06the playbook on and off the
47:08field. It was a league that
47:10confronted racism. It was a
47:12league made up of men with nothing to
47:14lose. And it was a league
47:16that became a revolutionary force
47:18in the 60s. There weren't a lot of
47:20people that thought that this thing could be
47:22pulled off.
47:24That's why the people
47:26that started it and
47:28stuck with it have so much
47:30respect for it and always will.
47:32I'm Curt Gowdy,
47:34and I was a part of it, and I
47:36hope you will be too.
47:38Rebels With
47:40a Cause, the story
47:42of the American Football League,
47:44the league that changed the face
47:46of pro football, premiering
47:48next month on HBO.
47:52Mr. Giancana,
47:56is it true that if you have
47:58any opposition from anyone
48:00that you have them stuffed into the trunk of a car
48:02and murdered? Based on
48:04a true story. I decline to answer.
48:06Oh,
48:08life could be a dream.
48:10If I could take you up to Paris.
48:12You would tell me
48:14that I'd be the one to love.
48:16Mary Louise Parker, Sugar Time,
48:18Only Love
48:20will bring the mob to its knees.
48:22Premieres Saturday, November 25th,
48:24only on HBO.
48:50Oscar De La Hoya, December 15,
48:52Madison Square Garden.
48:54Here's what happened tonight.
48:56Felix Trinidad retained his share
48:58of the welterweight championship
49:00with a TKO at 254,
49:02the fourth round over the
49:04outclassed Larry Barnes.
49:06Barnes, a game fighter who had
49:08never been knocked out before,
49:10had never been in with someone
49:12like Trinidad.
49:14And then,
49:16Pernell Whitaker,
49:18Pernell Whitaker,
49:20with a similar display
49:22of body punching, followed up the Trinidad
49:24act, as Whitaker took on
49:26former sparring partner Jake the Snake Rodriguez,
49:28and just as Trinidad
49:30had chopped down Barnes with body
49:32punches, Pernell Whitaker did the same,
49:34scoring his own knockout
49:36in the sixth round
49:38and putting an exclamation point
49:40on the evening's title here in Atlantic City,
49:42Collision Course,
49:44in the welterweight division.
49:46Immediately following tonight's fight,
49:48stay tuned for HBO comedy's half hour
49:50with Steve Harvey, followed on the east coast
49:52by the premiere of Real Sex 13,
49:54and on the west coast by the premiere
49:56of Drop Zone.
49:58Turn to HBO for the show the pros watch
50:00Inside the NFL, hosts Len Dawson,
50:02Nick Buoniconti, and Chris Collinsworth,
50:04joined once again by Jimmy Johnson.
50:06They'll give you the week's first look
50:08at the NFL's upcoming games.
50:10Inside the NFL premieres Thursdays
50:12at 11 p.m. throughout the football season.
50:14With Dave Harman, Harold Letterman,
50:16and our interpreter Hector Garcia,
50:18I'm Jim Lampley saying goodbye
50:20from Atlantic City, New Jersey.
50:32The executive producer of HBO Sports
50:34is Ross Greenberg. Tonight's coverage
50:36of World Championship Boxing was produced
50:38by Dave Harman and directed by Mark Payton.
50:40The associate producers, Kirby Bradley
50:42and Steve Cohen. Assistance to the producer,
50:44John Crystal and Thomas Odelfelt.
50:46The production manager was John McAuley
50:48and the technical supervisor,
50:50Bob Hunter.
51:12♪♪
51:42♪♪
51:58This has been a presentation of HBO Sports,
52:00the network of champions.
52:06Monday, you're ready to take on the world.
52:08Tuesday, you've already taken on too much.
52:10Wednesday, you're ready for a break.
52:12Thursday, you're already broke.
52:14By Friday, you're ready for a fight.
52:16Lucky for you, World Championship Boxing
52:18is moving to Friday night,
52:20starting December 15th
52:22with HBO's 200th fight.
52:24Golden boy Oscar De La Hoya
52:26defends his title against Jesse James Leija.
52:28If you move us to Friday night,
52:30you're gonna have a fight on your hands.
52:32Ha, ha, ha.
52:34Next on HBO,
52:36it's time for a...
52:40♪♪
Recommended
1:20:36
|
Up next
1:12:21
1:24:26
1:05:41
1:00:05
1:15:37
1:01:02
1:19:50
1:06:58
55:21