Pernell Whitaker is a retired professional boxer and former world champion. He was born on January 2, 1964 and started his boxing career at the age of 9. During his amateur days he had 214 fights, of which he won 201. Roughly a little less than half of these victories were by knockout. In the final of the 1982 World Championships, he lost to then Olympic gold medalist Angel Herrera , but managed to defeat him later on in his career. In 1984, he won the Olympic Gold Medal. Soon he ventured into professional boxing, gaining his first major victory over Alfredo Layne in December 1986 and a few months later, over World Boxing Association featherweight champion Roger Mayweather in March 1987.

In March 1988, he challenged the WBC Lightweight champion José Luis Ramírez for his title. The fight took place in France, and the match was a close call, with Ramírez emerging as the victor. Many fans and critics challenged the decision and felt that Whitaker was the deserving winner. He fought Ramírez again in August the following year, and was able to emerge victorious this time. He also won the IBF Lightweight title in February of the same year by defeating Greg Haugen. In 1990, he became the undisputed lightweight champion by defeating Juan Nazario in just one round.

In 1992, he won the IBF light welterweight title by defeating a Columbian boxer named Rafael Pineda. The following year, he became the WBC Welterweight Champion. One of the biggest fights of his career was against Julio César Chávez in September 1993. The fight took place in San Antonio, Texas. In a controversial decision, the fight was labeled a majority draw, much to the chagrin of fans and critics. Many popular sports and boxing magazines such as Boxing Illustrated and Sports Illustrated criticized the decision. Whitaker was finally able to defeat Chávez and win the WBA light-middleweight title in March 1995.

He successfully managed to defend his WBC title against Gary Jacobs in 1995. In 1997, Pernell Whitaker fought an aggressive Cuban fighter named