Pernell Whitaker vs. Julio César Vásquez, billed as Showdown of Champions, was a professional boxing match contested on March 4, 1995 for the WBA super welterweight title.
Background In February 1995, reigning WBC welterweight champion, American Pernell Whitaker, officially announced that he would be moving up in weight to challenge Argentine Julio César Vásquez for the latter's WBA super welterweight title.Whitaker Expects to Fight and Have Fun, NY Times article, 1995-02-23, Retrieved on 2020-04-17 Whitaker was seeking to become the fourth man in boxing history to win a world title in four different divisions joining only Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Durán.Sweet Pea Wins Crown, Daily Press article, 1995-03-05, Retrieved on 2020-04-17 Vásquez had reigned as super welterweight champion for over two years and had made 10 successful title defenses, but was virtually unknown to American audiences and had never been on as big a stage as he would be for his fight with Whitaker, something Whitaker claimed would be a detriment for him. Whitaker's time in the super welterweight division was expected to last only this fight, as he announced his intentions to go back down to welterweight should he win.Whitaker Says Bright Lights Will Hurt Bigger Opponent, NY Times article, 1995-03-04, Retrieved on 2020-04-16 Prior to the bout, Whitaker's long-time trainer George Benton had departed following a dispute with Lou Duva, whom both managed and co-trained Whitaker under his company Main Events. Benton's split from Main Event was acrimonious, claiming that Duva "didn't know boxing" and Whitaker was "arrogant and stubborn." To fill the void left by Benton, Ronnie Shields took over as Whitaker's head trainer.Whitaker to Unveil New Showboating Plan, Daily Press article, 1995-03-05, Retrieved on 2020-04-17
The fight Whitaker would have little trouble with Vásquez, winning by an easy unanimous decision. However, for the second consecutive fight, Whitaker was knocked down by his opponent. Vásquez would score the knockdown after Whitaker showboated by dropping his hands and was caught off balance with a left hand from Vásquez, though he would recover. As the fight went on, a frustrated Vásquez was warned numerous times for holding and hitting and was deducted one point in each of the ninth and 11th rounds. When fight ended and went to the scorecards, Whitaker won clearly on all three with scores of 118–107, 118–110 and 116–110.Whitaker Beats Vasquez for Junior Middleweight Title, NY Times article, 1995-03-05, Retrieved on 2020-04-18
Aftermath Shortly following his victory, Whitaker would vacate the super welterweight title and announced that he would return to the welterweight division to make a mandatory defence of his WBC welterweight title against top ranked contender Gary Jacobs.Whitaker returning to welterweight, Baltimore Sun article, 1995-03-06, Retrieved on 2020-04-18
Fight card Confirmed bouts: Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round NotesSuper Welterweight154 lbPernell Whitaker def.Julio César Vásquez (c)UD12/12Welterweight147 lbIke Quartey def.Jung-Oh ParkTKO4/12Welterweight147 lbGary Jacobsdef.José Miguel FernándezUD10/10Heavyweight200+ lbDavid Tua def.Bruce BellocchiTKO1/10Lightweight135 lbJulien Lorcydef.Tommy BarnesTKO1/8Super Welterweight154 lbAníbal Santiago Acevedodef.Vidal RodriguezKO5/8Heavyweight200+ lbDavid Izondef.Ali AllenKO2/6
Broadcasting Country Broadcaster TV Azteca Sky Sports HBO
References