OSCAR DE LA HOYA vs. PERNELL WHITAKER (Site) 

Description : Here we have an original Caesars Palace commissioned onsite poster for the mega-fight held at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas.

This bout featured the two top ranked pound 4 pound fighters in boxing. The 33-year old Pernell Whitaker had been the WBC welterweight champion for four years, captured world titles in four different divisions and had been among the top pound4pound fighters in the sport since 1989, with The Ring magazine listing him number one in their annual pound4pound rankings for three consecutive years from 1993 to 1995. The 24-year old Oscar De La Hoya was a perfect 23-0, had already become a three-division world champion and came into this fight as the reigning WBC Light/Welterweight champion.

Oscar De La Hoya would ultimately win the bout by unanimous decision with two scores of 116-110 and 115-111. There was controversy, however, as the bout appeared closer then what the lopsided scores showed. (In fact, there were a lot of ringside observers & sportswriters who felt that Whitaker won the fight. Whitaker outpunched De La Hoya, landing 232 punches to De La Hoya's 191 and dominated with his jab, scoring 160 while De La Hoya only landed 45. Whitaker also scored the fight's lone knockdown, as he caught De La Hoya off balance with a left hook late in the ninth round, De La Hoya quickly rose up as if he had slipped, but referee Mills Lane ruled it a knockdown. Though De La Hoya did not land as many punches or jabs as Whitaker, he had a distinct advantage in power punches, landing 146 to Whitaker's 72, which may have swayed the judges in his favor. Whitaker did not agree with decision, stating that he "could not have performed better" and he the decision should have been a "blowout" in his favor.....

Postage: £10.00 UK Special Delivery... £20.00 International.