Winky Dominates
I have to include myself among boxing fans who were afraid to make a prediction about the Wright/Trinidad fight. I figured, if it went 12 rounds, Winky had a good chance of winning, but if it went less, it would probably be a result of Tito knocking Winky out. I never would have guessed that Winky would utterly and completely dominate every round of that fight, but that's exactly what he did.
I had it scored 120-107, giving every single round to Winky. Two of the three judges gave round 12 to Tito. I don't know if that was a courtesy round to Tito, but in the end it really doesn't matter.
When I heard that the only fear Winky had was that he'd beat Tito so badly a rematch would be out of the question, I laughed at his seemingly boundless confidence. But as it turns out, Winky's worst fears may have come to pass. When he mentioned a rematch after the fight, HBO commentators almost laughed at him. I have to admit, I did too. No way anyone is going to pay to see that fight again. I know I'm not alone in wondering what Tito will do next. Was he really that bad, or was Winky really that good?
I think I believe the latter, and the very plausible idea that Winky might have knocked Tito back into retirement. What are Tito's options otherwise? If he decides to go back down to Welterweight, he's got another crafty southpaw in Zab Judah who has a good chance of making him look almost as bad as Winky did. A shot at the winner of Hopkins/Taylor seems unlikely, too. I don't think I'm the only person who'd rather see Winky Wright get that fight before Tito Trinidad. Throw into that mix the fact that everybody seems to want a piece of Oscar De La Hoya, if for no other reason than the enormous PPV draw.
I sincerely hope that after this fight, Winky will have earned the respect he deserves. I'd pay to see him fight a top contender - Hopkins, Taylor, De La Hoya, Ouma, Mosely - he's a good enough and smart enough fighter to beat any of those guys. Yes, even Bernard Hopkins.
Finally, I think the fact that this fight occured on the heels of the Corrales/Castillo fight illustrates a unique juxtaposition of boxing as a sweet science vs. boxing as a blood and guts test of manhood and endurance. It's akin to those who prefer a pitcher's duel of a baseball game, as opposed to a high scoring home run derby. Watching Winky completely dismantle one of the great fighters of our time was watching pure artistry - the sweet science at its best. As I wrote in my essay about the Corrales Castillo fight, it was everything beautiful and ugly and breathtaking about the sport of boxing. While I might say the same thing about Wright/Trinidad, I'd also add the word pure. Winky Wright is a pure boxer, and a pleasure to watch for a pure boxing fan.
******
As a postscript, all I have to say about the Judah/Rivera fight is this: This fight illustrates exactly why the alphabet organizations really get on my nerves. In order to keep his belt, Zab is forced to fight a guy so far beneath him, it's a joke. I want to see Zab fight Antonio Margarito, period. Or at least someone who deserves to be in the same ring with him. Hopefully, Zab soundly kicked Cosme Rivera and his idiot grin permanently out of everyone's top ten rankings, just so we never have to see him fight again.
I had it scored 120-107, giving every single round to Winky. Two of the three judges gave round 12 to Tito. I don't know if that was a courtesy round to Tito, but in the end it really doesn't matter.
When I heard that the only fear Winky had was that he'd beat Tito so badly a rematch would be out of the question, I laughed at his seemingly boundless confidence. But as it turns out, Winky's worst fears may have come to pass. When he mentioned a rematch after the fight, HBO commentators almost laughed at him. I have to admit, I did too. No way anyone is going to pay to see that fight again. I know I'm not alone in wondering what Tito will do next. Was he really that bad, or was Winky really that good?
I think I believe the latter, and the very plausible idea that Winky might have knocked Tito back into retirement. What are Tito's options otherwise? If he decides to go back down to Welterweight, he's got another crafty southpaw in Zab Judah who has a good chance of making him look almost as bad as Winky did. A shot at the winner of Hopkins/Taylor seems unlikely, too. I don't think I'm the only person who'd rather see Winky Wright get that fight before Tito Trinidad. Throw into that mix the fact that everybody seems to want a piece of Oscar De La Hoya, if for no other reason than the enormous PPV draw.
I sincerely hope that after this fight, Winky will have earned the respect he deserves. I'd pay to see him fight a top contender - Hopkins, Taylor, De La Hoya, Ouma, Mosely - he's a good enough and smart enough fighter to beat any of those guys. Yes, even Bernard Hopkins.
Finally, I think the fact that this fight occured on the heels of the Corrales/Castillo fight illustrates a unique juxtaposition of boxing as a sweet science vs. boxing as a blood and guts test of manhood and endurance. It's akin to those who prefer a pitcher's duel of a baseball game, as opposed to a high scoring home run derby. Watching Winky completely dismantle one of the great fighters of our time was watching pure artistry - the sweet science at its best. As I wrote in my essay about the Corrales Castillo fight, it was everything beautiful and ugly and breathtaking about the sport of boxing. While I might say the same thing about Wright/Trinidad, I'd also add the word pure. Winky Wright is a pure boxer, and a pleasure to watch for a pure boxing fan.
******
As a postscript, all I have to say about the Judah/Rivera fight is this: This fight illustrates exactly why the alphabet organizations really get on my nerves. In order to keep his belt, Zab is forced to fight a guy so far beneath him, it's a joke. I want to see Zab fight Antonio Margarito, period. Or at least someone who deserves to be in the same ring with him. Hopefully, Zab soundly kicked Cosme Rivera and his idiot grin permanently out of everyone's top ten rankings, just so we never have to see him fight again.
posted by curlygc at 1:56 PM
3 Comments:
Congrats to Winky. But, I don't think we should be so quick to celebrate. I did not see Winky do much to get crazy about in the Trinidad fight. Yes, he won easily, he also refused every invitation to fight given to hinm by Trinidad. Trini stood in front of him and even circled in the direction favoring Winky, yet winky did litltle but remain in his defensive shell, and flick a jab out occassionally amnd when really brave he threw a combo and immediately hid behind his turtle shell defense. Whiele many are exstatic about this victory, very few can be genuinlly exstatic about this style of fighting.
i payed to see a fight, not a peek-a-boo match. Trini gave him many openings, and this is key to this fight, Trini gave hime many openings in hope of creating a fan friendly fight with lots of excitement and offenseive slugging. It did not happen, and it was not the fault of Trinidad. I would pay to see see trini fight mosely rather than hopkins fight wright. Niether Hopkins nor winky could care less what the fans want and it reddily shows in their non-fighting style, and being a fan, I could care less what they want from, us, the fans: support and money.
I'm just curious about your comment. Was it the fact that Winky was defending himself that upset you, or the way he did it? In other words, would bobbing and weaving and avoiding punches be ok rather than the earmuffs defense? Or should fighters not defend themselves at all and just punch and be punched? Just wanted to clarify where you were coming from.
On the Judah-Rivera fight, don't be so sure Rivera won't re-emerge in the top ten. Unfortunately there are too many Riveras scattered throughout the ratings of each of the sanctioning bodies.
http://jeboxing.blogspot.com/2005/05/judah-successfully-defends-against.html
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