Pernell Whitaker Sr.[2] (January 2, 1964 – July 14, 2019)[3] was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2001, and subsequently worked as a boxing trainer.

[5] As an amateur, Whitaker won a silver medal in the lightweight division at the 1982 World Championships, followed by gold at the 1983 Pan American Games and 1984 Olympics.

He crowned his amateur career with an Olympic gold medal in 1984, beating Puerto Rican Luis Ortiz to obtain it.

In just his eleventh and twelfth pro bouts, Whitaker defeated former world champion Alfredo Layne on December 20, 1986 and former WBA and lineal Super Featherweight and WBC Light Welterweight title holder Roger Mayweather on March 28, 1987.

In 1992, he began his ascent in weight, winning the IBF light welterweight title from Colombian puncher Rafael Pineda on July 18.

[12] The now-defunct “Bert Sugar's Boxing Illustrated" magazine had a heading on the cover of its post-fight edition telling readers not to buy the issue if they really believed "The Fight" was a draw.

[13] Whitaker continued on to dominate for the next few years, defending his welterweight title against Santos Cardona on April 9, 1994 and in a rematch against McGirt on October 1, 1994.

In his next fight on March 4, 1995, Whitaker added Julio César Vásquez's WBA super welterweight title to his collection.

[19][20][21] Whitaker's next bout was against Russian-born fighter Andrey Pestryayev in a world title elimination fight, where the winner would earn an automatic #1 contender spot for the WBA Welterweight crown, held at the time by Ike Quartey.

Whitaker originally won the fight, but the win was nullified & changed to a No Decision after he failed a post-fight drug test.

On December 7, 2006, Whitaker was inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame along with contemporaries Roberto Durán and Ricardo López.

He was not a particularly hard puncher or knockout artist, but applied a consistent offense while being extremely elusive and difficult for his opponents to hit with a solid punch.

While the decline of speed and agility pushed him into retirement, his knowledge of the ring and competitive boxing's components led him to seek out up-and-coming boxers to train to fight in the manner in which he did.

[citation needed] Pernell married Rovanda Anthony on December 21, 1985 in the boxing ring at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Convention Center.

[citation needed] Pernell graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1982 and later received an honorary bachelor's degree from Norfolk State University.

He sponsored many events at Norfolk State University and spent countless hours training youth at boxing camps and gyms.

He also remained active in Norfolk and spoke at city council meetings on behalf of the residents in support of community improvements.

[29] In February 2014, Pernell made national headlines after he evicted his mother, Novella Whitaker, out of the house he purchased for her shortly after he turned pro.

Pernell's lawyers said that he is not making the same kind of money as a trainer that he was as a boxer, and needed to sell off the home to satisfy the tax debt owed in order to prevent the property from being seized and put into foreclosure.

"[30] At about 10 p.m. on July 14, 2019, Whitaker was crossing the street in Virginia Beach, at the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Baker Road, when he was struck and killed by a vehicle.