Sweet Pea leaves sour taste

Pernell Whitaker's life is at the crossroads

BBC Sport Online's Kevin Asseo's regular look at the American boxing scene takes in the unfortunate demise of one the sport's greats.

Sad End for Sweetpea

Pernell "Sweetpea" Whitaker's attempted comeback came to a swift end when he suffered a fourth-round TKO at the hands of Carlos Bojorquez in Lake Tahoe, Nevada on 28 April.

Whitaker, returning to the ring after a two-year layoff, injured his left shoulder in the second round and struggled through the next two rounds as a one-armed fighter.

When he grabbed his shoulder early in the fourth, veteran referee Joe Cortez had seen enough.

The ring doctor examined Whitaker's shoulder and called a halt to the action.

"It was a combination of the doctor and myself. We made the call together," Cortez said.

"Fighting with one arm is a serious handicap. We didn't want any serious injury."

Afterwards, when his injury was diagnosed as a fractured shoulder, Whitaker declared this to be his last fight. "I am done," he said.

Things took a turn for the worse for the 37-year-old Whitaker when, two days after the fight, he was admitted to a hospital in Virginia after an emergency call from his girlfriend for what she thought to be a cocaine overdose.

Right now, he just needs a lot of help. A lot of medical help, a lot of mental help

  Trainer Lou Duva on Whitaker

Whitaker claimed a mixture of pain medication and alcohol led to his hospitalisation. "I had an allergic reaction and a small seizure, and I'm thankful for my girlfriend that she saved me, and that's that."

Sadly, it is not the first time Whitaker has been the subject of reports of cocaine abuse.

He failed two drug tests during his career, once in 1997 and again in 1998, and rumours persisted that his long absence from the ring could be attributed to substance abuse problems.

What does the future hold for Sweetpea? Lou Duva, his long-time manager, has offered him a position in his organisation working with young fighters, an offer in which Whitaker has expressed interest.

"Right now, he just needs a lot of help. A lot of medical help, a lot of mental help," Duva said. "We'd like to help him, but if he doesn't help himself, we got nothing."

For a man once considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, surely this is not the manner in which he would have chosen to leave the ring.

But the memories of Whitaker's glory days and his epic clashes with the likes of Chavez and De La Hoya should be enough to cement Sweetpea's place in boxing history.

Hilton loses belt

It is official - the World Boxing Council has stripped convicted sex offender Davey Hilton of his super middleweight title.

That leaves either Britain's Glenn Catley or Canada's Eric Lucas as his possible successor.

The WBC has given the two fighters until Monday to work out details on a bout that would crown the winner as the new titleholder.

Whether Catley and Lucas can agree on the location and purse remains to be seen.

Rest for Barrera

Marco Antonio Barrera, fresh off his defeat of Prince Naseem Hamed, has decided to take a brief rest from boxing.

Following what he says was a strenuous physical and emotional build-up to the Hamed fight, Barrera has no plans to return to the gym before July.

However, he hinted that when he does return, chances of a rematch with Hamed are good. "The fight created a lot of interest, and I'm sure the public would want to see if I can repeat my performance," said Barrera.