Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, former welterweight boxing champ, went through his latest battle in court to evict his mother from her house in what he described as a "beautiful moment," according to ABC News.
Whitaker, who has a history of drug abuse and arrests, has his final falling out with his family which came to an ugly end in a Virginia court on Wednesday, according to ABC News.
On Wednesday, a Norfolk General District Court judge ruled in Whitaker's favor, ordering Novella Whitaker and two other children and their families also living in the home to leave the house by March 31.
Whitaker had been going head to head against the matriarch of his seven-child family since last fall when he began eviction proceedings after unsuccessfully trying to convince his mother to move, his lawyer, Bruce Gould told ABC News.
"It's sad for him to have to take action against his mother, but none of the family would contribute to the real estate and he had no alternative but to use the court process," Gould said, according to ABC News.
Whitaker, 50, bought the two-story brick home near the Botanical Garden in Norfolk, Va., for his mother in 1984, ABC News reported.
The former millionaire boxer and 1985 Olympic gold medalist is now struggling to pay his bills and needed to sell the house which he gave to his mother nearly 30 years ago, according to his lawyer, ABC News reported.
"He's limited to what he can make training other boxers," Gould said, according to ABC News. "It's significantly diminished over the years and he's not able to maintain this $400,000 house for his mother and siblings to live in."
The house was always listed under Whitaker's name and as there was no written lease or deed of gift, the son's oral promise to his mother is not enforceable under Virginia law, Gould said, ABC News reported.
Whitaker now intends to sell the house to retain the $150,000 of equity in the home to recoup $18,000 in overdue taxes he paid on the building on behalf of his mother and two siblings living there, his lawyer said, according to ABC News.
Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Whitaker appeared happy with court ruling to evict his mom and said to ABC News affiliate WVEC-TV that it was "a beautiful moment," according to ABC News.
"I'm going to survive...I'm a survivor..I'm going with my daughter...she is taking me in," said Novella Whitaker, ABC News reported.
ABC Entertainment News
