'It was just a case of they were embarrassed because Whitaker beat the crap out of a world champion.' 'No, no gun was ever used,' said Steward. Steward said that, counter to rumors, he never pulled a gun from his office to get Giles and Camacho to leave his gym. Giles and I had a lot of bad words, and he and I almost got into it right there in the ring.' 'We had enough fighters around to break it up, but things got ugly after that. 'Hector grabbed him around the head from behind, held his head under a rope and tried to hit him. 'Giles told Hector to go get Whitaker,' said Steward. When the bell rang after the third and final round, Whitaker turned his back and prepared to exit the ring. 'Camacho and Giles were embarrassed and really mad.' He beat up on the Macho Man, Hector couldn't touch him. ' Steward said, 'but he beat the hell out of Camacho for three rounds. He said everybody stopped what they were doing to watch the sparring session. Steward said there were about 10 people in the gym that day, including Mark Breland and Meldrick Taylor, Whitaker's teammates on the Olympic team and both current world champions. 'Camacho was training for a fight against a left-hander, and I suggested that maybe Whitaker, being a lefty, might want to go a few rounds with Camacho and help him get ready.' 'Some Americans on the 1984 Olympic team were training at my gym,' said Steward, 'and Whitaker came to Detroit to see his Olympic teammates. Steward, whose World Boxing Organization light-heavyweight champion, Michael Moorer, fights on a card Saturday night at the Convention Center at Trump Plaza featuring Camacho against Vinny Pazienza and Whitaker against Freddie Pendleton, said the Norfolk amateur embarrassed the champion. 'I'm the only one who can tell you the real story because, except for a few fighters and handlers, I'm the only one who saw it,' Steward said Thursday. Some of the stories involved the owner of the gymnasium chasing Camacho and then-trainer, Billy Giles, out of the gymnasium with a gun.Įmanuel Steward, owner of Kronk's Gym in Detroit, was there. Most of the stories were told second or third hand about Whitaker embarrassing the world champion. KRONK'S OWNER DETAILS WHITAKER'S CAMACHO ENCOUNTERĪTLANTIC CITY - This story has been told before, about an 18-year-old amateur from Norfolk named Pernell Whitaker who scrapped with World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Hector 'Macho' Camacho in Detroit in 1984. Oscar De La Hoya had won a unanimous decision.Click to expand.It's a sparring story, so make of it what you will, but for what it's worth. De La Hoya was clearly the aggressor in the final three minutes of action and the busier of the two fighters.Īfter the final bell sounded, the judges’ scorecards read 115-111, 116-110 and 116-110. The 12th and final round saw Whitaker boxing, moving, and firing his right jab. The jab remained the weapon of choice in a scratch and sniff tactical affair. Each fighter was careful in pursuing and throwing power punches. The late rounds proved to be more cautious than action packed.

Clear eyed and ready to continue, Lane finished the standing eight count and the action continued. It was a good call by Lane in recognizing that De La Hoya’s right glove as well as his right knee grazed the canvas. Merchant roared, “That could have been scored a knockdown! It is a knockdown!” De La Hoya staggered and used his glove to keep from going all the way down to the canvas. With just under a minute to go in the ninth round, Whitaker, wearing lavender colored trunks, stepped forward and cracked De La Hoya with a pair of short, crisp left hands. As Lampley noted, “A scorer’s nightmare.”Īfter six rounds, unofficial scorer Harold Lederman had the bout scored three rounds apiece. De La Hoya was now doing the pursuing and although he was being out-thrown and out-landed, he was landing the heavier bombs. The middle rounds slowed to a tactical battle, each picking and choosing their spots to unload heavy artillery.

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