NEW YORK -- Buddy McGirt and Pernell Whitaker are gym rats who love to practice and talk about their sport of choice for hours on end.
But while World Boxing Council welterweight champion McGirt's love is boxing, junior welterweight champion Whitaker prefers basketball. That doesn't make him less of a boxer, however, and he is a 12-5 favorite to win his third title Saturday night when he faces McGirt at Madison Square Garden.
While McGirt is described as a throwback because of his dedication to boxing, Whitaker excels on natural ability and instinct. He trains hard, but leaves boxing behind when he leaves the gym.
Eddie Futch, the 81-year-old trainer of heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, said McGirt is the only present champion whose dedication matches his predecessors of 30 years ago.
'When Buddy was out in Las Vegas last year the minute he finished his workout, he would sit down and watch the other fighters work,' Futch said. 'He had a gleam in his eye. He said, 'This is great, I got a chance to watch some pretty good fighters.' Most fighters can't wait to go home after they're finished.'
Like Whitaker. Unless he's watching tapes of former featherweight champion Willie Pep -- to whom both McGirt and Whitaker have been compared -- Whitaker has no interest in watching boxing. The only time he shows up at a boxing match is if one of his buddies like Evander Holyfield or Meldrick Taylor is fighting. He made a promotional appearance at the Garden's Paramount Theater for McGirt's Jan. 12 title defense against Genaro Leon, but left for a night on the town before the opening bell.
'I never watch boxing,' Whitaker said. 'I'm not a boxing fan.'
Whitaker, a speedy southpaw, will play basketball whenever he can. In fact, his boxing career was once put on hold for five months because of a broken foot suffered in a pickup basketball game. That never stopped him from playing when he healed. He thinks up moves to use in the boxing ring when he watches basketball, too. McGirt gets his moves from talking to old champions like Pep, Jersey Joe Walcott and Joey Giardello in his manager Al Certo's Secaucus, N.J., tailor shop.
You never hear about punching power or chins when people discuss the McGirt-Whitaker fight. The issue is who is the better technician.
'Buddy's not the easiest guy in the world to hit,' Certo said. 'He's the sharpest guy with the sharpest reflexes in boxing.'
Whitaker's trainer George Benton said the most impressive thing about the fight could be the boxers' defense.
'This is gonna be a throwback fight,' he said. 'You're gonna see guys doing things you haven't seen in 10 or 12 years. The old fights, guys would be fighting like mad but neither guy's getting hit. They make each other miss.'
Both boxers are 29 years old and 5-foot-6.
Whitaker, who is moving up in weight, weighed in Friday night at 146 pounds, while McGirt weighed in at 147 -- the division limit.
McGirt, of Brentwood, N.Y., has a big edge in experience. He is 52-2- 1 with 44 knockouts, compared to Whitaker's record of 31-1 with 15 knockouts. But Whitaker, of Norfolk, Va., is fasterand has more championship bouts (11 to 5) than McGirt. His resume also includes a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.
Whitaker considers himself a showman, while McGirt has a working man's attitude.
'I feel I owe it to them to put on a show,' Whitaker said. 'One thing they know for sure, when they see me they get their money's worth. '
McGirt describes the fight as 'just another day in the office.'
'When you've heard it all and seen it all, it's like drinking coffee every day,' he said.
This cup of coffee is worth $1 million to McGirt, $1.25 million to Whitaker and gives the winner a solid claim to the title of best pound- for-pound boxer in the world.
