Ringside Boxing Show: Why Freddie Pendleton was poison to Julio Cesar Chavez, Shane Mosley, and other legends

By the time he won the IBF lightweight championship in 1993, Freddie Pendleton already had 17 losses — the kiss of death for potential opponents who had a future to protect. No manager or promoter in boxing wanted to match his world-ranked hotshot with Pendleton, whose superb skills and lethal power belied his pockmarked record. What was the upside?

In an in-depth, wide-reaching interview, the 21-year ring veteran explains why he was routinely ducked by the biggest names in the sport — Julio Cesar Chavez and Shane Mosley among them — but somehow wound up fighting 78 times and nine world title bouts in three weight divisions against the likes of Pernell Whitaker, Ricky Hatton and Felix Trinidad.

Pendleton — always his own man — is currently compiling his memoirs for a pull-no-punches autobiography guaranteed to be jam-packed with fabulous stories like those he told on this week’s Ringside Boxing Show. You’re gonna love this interview.

We also get our weekly fix from expert analysts Travis Hartman, Rizwaan Zahid, and John J. Raspanti on multiple topics, including …

And we also hear from our British correspondent, Paul McLaughlin, who delivers another outstanding report from the United Kingdom’s lively boxing scene.

Dennis Taylor is host of The Ringside Boxing Show, editor-publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of “Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy,” currently on Amazon’s Bestsellers list.