WHITAKER GETS PRISON TIME ON PROBATION VIOLATION

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Former boxing champion Pernell Whitaker was
sentenced to 27 months in prison Tuesday for violating probation on a
cocaine conviction.

Circuit Judge Thomas S. Shadrick said Whitaker "arrogantly thumbed his
nose" at probation rules after he was given a four-year suspended
sentence in August.

Whitaker was charged with cocaine possession in August 2001 for
bringing the drug into a courtroom during a hearing on a traffic
violation. He pleaded guilty in January 2002 and was given
first-offender status, which allowed him to avoid a felony conviction.
He violated the terms of that arrangement and was convicted in August
of cocaine possession.

Whitaker turned himself in to police in January. While he was free on
bond, he was arrested for driving under the influence on Feb. 14.
Whitaker has been in jail since then.

He now will be moved to Indian Creek Therapeutic Center, where he will
serve his prison sentence while receiving treatment.

Whitaker, nicknamed Sweet Pea, won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics
and was a champion in four weight classes. In two of his biggest
fights, though, he got the bad end of disputed decisions, losing to
Oscar De La Hoya in 1997 and getting a draw with Julio Cesar Chavez in
1993.

Whitaker's last big fight was in February 1999, when he lost to Felix
Trinidad for the welterweight title. He fought only once more, losing in
the fourth round to Carlos Bojorquez on April 27, 2001, when Whitaker broke
his clavicle and had to quit.