Experience Takes On Youth Whitaker Hopes To Show He Isn’t Over The Hill Just Yet

Pernell Whitaker dropped his hands, stuck out his chin and wiggled his hips in the middle of the ring as Jeff Mayweather came after him.

Sweet Pea was feeling fine, and he couldn’t resist one last bit of showmanship in his final sparring session before he defends his WBC welterweight title Saturday night against Oscar De La Hoya.

“I feel like a young man again,” Whitaker said. “The way my legs have come back, I feel like a kid again. I’m ready to do the things I used to do as a lightweight.”

At 33, Whitaker is trying to turn back the clock for one last great performance against De La Hoya, a fighter nine years younger who many think could be a boxing superstar for years to come.

Whitaker may be a step slower, but he’s as fit as he’s been since his days as a lightweight champion. And he’s just as quick with a quip as he has been in a pro career that has now spanned 13 years.

“This is not the music awards or a concert of some kind,” Whitaker said at Wednesday’s final prefight news conference. “This is the Academy Awards. And I figure about 8:00 or 8:30 Saturday night I’ll be picking up my Oscar.”

Whitaker finds himself in the unfamiliar role of an underdog in what is being promoted as the best welterweight fight since Sugar Ray Leonard stopped Thomas Hearns in their epic first fight in 1981.

The oddsmakers have their reasons for making De La Hoya a 3-1 pick, despite the fact that only a disputed decision loss to Jose Ramirez in 1988 and a questionable draw with Julio Cesar Chavez in 1993 mar Whitaker’s otherwise perfect record.

The 1984 Olympic gold medalist has looked very beatable in recent fights, however, particularly in his last fight when he came off the canvas twice and was trailing on the scorecards when he stopped Diobelys Hurtado Jan. 24 in Atlantic City, N.J.

“Right now I’m still the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world until someone proves otherwise or I retire,” Whitaker said. “I’m ready for this fight like I’ve never been ready. Physically and mentally, this is the best I’ve ever felt.”

Whitaker was up to his old tricks in his final sparring session Tuesday against Mayweather. Though he was hit repeatedly with right hands, he looked flashy while wiggling his hips, squatting and taunting his sparring partner.

“I know I can do the things I once did,” said Whitaker, who has held titles in four different weight divisions. “The quickness and agility have come back to me, and I thank Oscar for that. Nobody else could have gotten me there.”

It may take more than the flash and dazzle and Whitaker’s awkward left-handed style, however, to keep the younger and bigger De La Hoya away during the scheduled 12-round bout at the UNLV campus arena.

De La Hoya, who holds the WBC 140-pound title, is moving up in weight but is taller and has a longer reach.

“The end is definitely near for him,” De La Hoya said of Whitaker. “He fought Hurtado, who had no power, and Hurtado dropped him. When I put my combinations together he’ll see a fighter he’s never seen before.”

De La Hoya will make $10 million for the fight, while Whitaker, whose title is on the line, is guaranteed $4 million. The purses are reflective of the pay-per-view popularity of De La Hoya, who won his Olympic gold medal eight years after Whitaker.

Whitaker, meanwhile, has never drawn a big following outside his native Norfolk, Va. That may be due more to his style, which favors defense over offense and has never been crowd-pleasing.