Columnist Dean Juipe: Trainer says ex-champ needs a life

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, April 24, 2001 | 10:03 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

While allowing for some discomfort, we take it for granted that professional athletes will handle retirement when the time comes and eventually get acclimated in what is casually referred to as the "real world."

They buy bars, restaurants, or, if they haven't stockpiled a vault full of savings, they work as sales reps or maybe drive a truck.

In some cases they may not even feel a need to work at all, and, instead, play golf or tennis every day.

Or, out of boredom, they get into trouble.

Pernell Whitaker, a former world champion in two weight classes and one of the most renowned fighters of the last 20 years, was finding retirement meant having too much time on his hands. Lacking any other interests, drugs and their ancillary problems moved to the front and center of his existence.

It's a situation that distresses his longtime trainer, Lou Duva. And in a remarkably candid interview Monday from Lake Tahoe, where Duva is helping Whitaker train for a nationally televised "comeback" fight Friday with Carlos Bojorquez, Duva said boxing is the least of Whitaker's worries.

"I don't want him to become another Darryl Strawberry," he said. "Pernell has got to pick the right direction for the remainder of his life, and he just hasn't been able to do that yet.

"So he's gotten into trouble at home (in Virginia Beach, Va.) a few times, and been into rehab and lost his license, all because he doesn't know what he wants to do.

"He's got plenty of money but no direction."

Duva, quite clearly, is looking to provide that direction.

"He still thinks he can fight, but that's not the issue," he said. "The real trouble is that the only thing he knows is boxing. But I think he's got to straighten out mentally and physically and then maybe come to work with us as a man who can speak to youngsters about the dangers they face in the world today."

If Duva had his way, the 37-year-old Whitaker would abandon his boxing comeback and become a youth counselor.

"One day he's going to wake up and say 'Where the hell am I going?' " Duva said. "Maybe I'm being too dramatic, but Pete and I have been close for many, many years and I think he understands something needs to be done.

"If he chooses to fight again, fine, but we're not going after any titles. What he needs to do is get involved with kids and do something productive with his life.

"He can come to work for us as a speaker for Duva Boxing."

Likewise, Duva feels another fighter he worked with for many years, 38-year-old former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, needs to come to grips with reality.

"He's got $200 million and he still doesn't know where to go with his life," Duva said. "Why not become a great role model and maybe do some work with school kids or maybe even the Olympics?

"He should be done with boxing. Same thing with Pernell."

That's good advice and there's little doubt Whitaker has heard it first-hand from the outspoken Duva.

Thus far, however, it hasn't registered.

Maybe he still needs Strawberry to call in from prison with his two cents' worth on the subject.