Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 80
- Honours
- 84
- Statistics
- 86
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 4 | |
| 1986 | 5 | |
| 1987 | 4 | |
| 1988 | 4 | |
| 1989 | 4 | |
| 1990 | 3 | |
| 1991 | 3 | |
| 1992 | 3 | |
| 1993 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 0 |
Data sources
- BoxRec
- The Ring
- IBHOF
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Pernell Whitaker ranks #34 in Boxing
Pernell Whitaker ranks 34th among Boxing athletes on GOAT Rank and 414th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 85.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 90, Longevity 80, Honours 84, Statistics 86. Those categories are normalised against the full Boxing reference universe of 267 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1984–2001 with 16 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1986, which sets the Peak component at 90. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 90 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes professional wins 40, career losses 4, world titles in weight classes 4, olympic golds 1.
Immediately ahead sits Sandy Saddler on 84.9, a gap of -0.3 points. Directly behind is Nicola Adams on 85.7. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Pernell Whitaker GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Whitaker stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Boxing cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1986. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity80/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 17 years of competition and 16 recorded seasons. Scored 80/100.
- Honours84/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 84/100.
- Statistics86/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 86/100.
Top Whitaker comparisons
Pernell Whitaker — frequently asked
- Is Pernell Whitaker the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Pernell Whitaker ranks 34th in Boxing with a GOAT Score of 85.2, behind Sugar Ray Robinson on 94.3.
- What is Pernell Whitaker's GOAT Score?
- 85.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 80 (20%), Honours 84 (20%), Statistics 86 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Pernell Whitaker rank all time?
- 414th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 34th within Boxing.
- Pernell Whitaker vs Sandy Saddler: who ranks higher?
- Pernell Whitaker, on 85.2 against Sandy Saddler's 84.9 — a margin of 0.3 points.