Former four-division champ Pernell Whitaker will be working the corner of IBF junior welterweight titleholder Zab Judah for the second straight fight when the 33-year-old veteran meets WBA counter part Amir Khan in Saturday night’s HBO-televised bout at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Nicknamed, “Sweet Pea,” Whitaker (41-4-1, 17 KOs) fought his last bout in 2001, ending a hall-of-fame-bound career that saw him hold the WBC, WBA and IBF lightweight belts, the IBF junior welterweight strap, the WBC welterweight title, and the WBA junior middleweight crown.
The 47-year-old southpaw’s credentials includes defeating world titleholders such as fellow hall-of-famer Azumah Nelson, James “Buddy” McGirt, Julio Cesar Vazquez, Roger Mayweather, Jorge Paez, Greg Haugen and Freddie Pendleton. He also split victories with Jose Luis Ramirez, and battled to a disputed draw with recent hall-of-fame inductee Julio Cesar Chavez.
In March, Whitaker paired for the first time with Judah (41-6, 28 knockouts), guiding the fighter to his fifth straight victory and the IBF’s vacant belt against South Africa’s Kaizer Mabuza (23-7-3, 14 KOs), whom he vanquished by seventh-round knockout at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Mabuza had won eight straight times, with six of them being by knockout, including February’s sixth-round stoppage of Kendall Holt (26-4, 14 KOs), the man against whom WBO and WBC king Tim Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs) had to rise from the canvas (twice) to dethrone as WBO titleholder in April of 2009.
Prior to the Mabuza fight, Judah, a former unified/RING welterweight champ and two-time junior welterweight beltholder, scored split decision over then-unbeaten puncher Lucas Matthysse last November.
As a result of his work with controversial strength and conditioning guru and former BALCO founder Victor Conte, fans will see a more chiseled and muscular Judah against Khan (25-1, 17 KOs), who is coming off of May’s sixth-round, technical unanimous decision defense over previously unbeaten southpaw Paul McCloskey (22-1, 12 KOs) of Northern Ireland.
Whitaker will also get his chance to match wits with Khan’s coach, five-time Trainer of The Year Freddie Roach, who said recently that “Zab Judah’s bitten off more than he can chew in this one.” Whitaker spoke about all of the above in the Q&A with RingTV.com.
