Pernell Whitaker without Lou Duva?

fightingrabbit

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There was a Whitaker fight i watched recently where Lou Duva could not be in his corner. I believe it was the Jorge Paez fight, and Lou Duva was recovering from some heart condition or something.

George Benton was really always the one instructing Whitaker between rounds as far as strategy and technique was concerned. I always heard that Duva was just a cheerleader. So I was wondering if he ever made a difference being in Whitakers corner. Or if not having Duva in his corner that night even affected him at all? Could he have done fine throughout his career without Lou in his corner?
 
the duvas had the connections and power, as far as boxing knowledge I don't think they had all that much. George Benton was one of the all time great trainers, but the guys they worked with were talented and accomplished before they joined. Whitaker, Holyfield guys like that were improved but already promising. As far as the Duva organization, I've heard different things and don't know what's true. Just yesterday I read an article about Rocky Lockridge in which he accused them of stealing money, probably isn't true but who knows.
 
the duvas had the connections and power, as far as boxing knowledge I don't think they had all that much. George Benton was one of the all time great trainers, but the guys they worked with were talented and accomplished before they joined. Whitaker, Holyfield guys like that were improved but already promising. As far as the Duva organization, I've heard different things and don't know what's true. Just yesterday I read an article about Rocky Lockridge in which he accused them of stealing money, probably isn't true but who knows.

pretty much this. Will never forget duvas freakout after the meldrick-chavez fight as well as the Bowe-Golata riot
 
At a certain point, Pernell was like every other great great boxer... You could put a potato head with an eye patch in his corner and he would do just fine... A good example would be Floyd.. if Floyd's dad quit and he chose Ellerbie to be in his corner.. I don't think we'd notice by the way he fights because at this point for him.. all coaches are just cheer leaders..

same think with Evander Holyfield.. at one point he was coached by one of the greatest coaches ever... but later in his career he was quoted as saying he can't justify paying a lot of money for a coach at this point in his career because they can't teach him anything about boxing that he doesnt already know..
 
Serious undervalue of Benton's work in the corner here.
 
I agree and disagree w/ Cracky. He is correct, up to a certain point Mr. Potatohead would be all a guy like Pernell would need. However, when things go sideways, having that knowledgeable guy in your corner, who can maybe let you know the correction you need to make, or refocus you, could mean the difference between winning or losing.

Sinister, with out that knowledge Benton wouldn't have been able to talk to Pernell. If he wasn't a hell of a trainer, he wouldn't be believed or trusted to do all those things.

It is like having a good cutman. A good cutman can tell you the eye is fine don't worry about it and you will believe it because you know he is good and you trust him.
 
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