Hopkins vs. Wright: What does Hopkins want to prove?

LOS ANGELES (May 10) . . . A five-city press tour is planned for “Coming To Fight,” the highly anticipated match-up between light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 KOs) and Winky Wright (51-3-1, 25 KOs) for Hopkins’ Ring Magazine light heavyweight belt. The tour kicks off Tuesday, May 15 at the ESPN Zone in New York City and continues on to Tampa, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The fighters will conduct press conferences, interviews and photo opportunities as part of the excitement leading into this summer’s hottest event.

Hopkins vs Wright “Coming to Fight” will take place Saturday, July 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, in association with Winky Promotions, and sponsored by Southwest Airlines, Tecate beer and Rockstar Energy Drink. HBO Pay-Per-View will televise the fight live at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT.

Tickets for the July 21 battle for supremacy at the Mandalay Bay Events Center are priced at $850, $650, $450, $250 and $100, and are now available at any Mandalay Bay box office and Ticketmaster.

“I love this fight, I’m ready for this fight,” said Hopkins. “I’m in tremendous shape, and I’ll show my fans once again how I dominate the ring.”

Wright stated, “I respect Bernard Hopkins for what he’s accomplished in his career but I’m looking forward to showing him I am the best in this business.”


HOPKINS VS. WRIGHT TOUR DATES AND CITIES

TUESDAY, MAY 15—NEW YORK CITY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16—TAMPA
THURSDAY, MAY 17—WASHINGTON, DC/ PHILADELPHIA
TUESDAY, MAY 22—LOS ANGELES

Hopkins vs Wright

By Dan Scog: A number of mainstream sources are now reporting that the ink is dry on a deal that will see B-Hop come out of his brief retirement to fight Winky Wright. You probably don’t need me to tell you how little sense this makes, but I’d still like to count the ways. After all, it just may be the biggest lose-lose fight scenario in years.

1 – Wright gains nothing from beating Hopkins. Sure, it’s another big-name feather in his cap, but it doesn’t bring him the champion status that has eluded him most of his career. And that’s not all. Even though Hopkins has defied conventional boxing wisdom by aging like a fine wine, the day that Old Man Hopkins stops a’rollin’ along his conqueror will still be derided for beating a geriatric. Winky isn’t getting any younger and forcing Hopkins into a second retirement isn’t the sort of achievement he needs for his own legacy. Not to mention it can’t be his best payday either..

2 – Even B-Hop’s detractors will concede that he has nothing to prove at this point. Any rewards Hopkins might reap for beating Winky aren’t worth the risk of his legacy. He doesn’t need to beat Winky to prove that he’s at the top of the boxing game – that’s exactly where he bowed out less than a year ago.

3 – Anyone who knows the phrase “Styles make fights” must know that this is a horrible match up. Yeah, you’ve got the two big names for HBO to promote, but anyone who knows a lick about boxing knows that putting two veteran defensive counterpunchers together is a surefire snoozefest recipe. And I say that as a huge fan of both fighters. If the Hopkins-Taylor fights can generously be called chess in the ring, then this match up will be like Scrabble without an hourglass timer.

4 - Speaking of Jermain Taylor, there are fights out there that make loads more sense for both guys. Taylor would actually be a reasonable choice for either one. But it’s the most logical choice for Winky. It’s unfinished business plain and simple. And if finding a more neutral location is the sticking point, you’d think that both camps could agree to Nevada…or New York…or anywhere outside of the Bible Belt.

Though most people (myself included) would rather see the Taylor-Wright rematch, the idea of Hopkins coming back for revenge on the young kid would still be a better fight (and sell) than this. If not, then fighting Joe Calzaghe would be one for the record books: coming out of retirement to personally stop someone else from breaking your record. Plus, it promises to be more explosive. Hopkins-Jones is also a great setup, even if the match up isn’t as exciting for purists. Hopkins could finally get that stone out of his shoe and end the cocky Jones’s ridiculous comeback attempt at the same time. Or fail trying to avenge the one loss that has haunted him from so many years ago. At least that prospect would make sense to stake his legacy on since RJJ is already a part of it.

5 – Hopkins’s return marks the true breaking of a deathbed-caliber promise to his mother. Make of it what you will – it can’t be a good omen. And it definitely doesn’t make sense either.

Wait a minute…“Make sense?” What am I talking about? This is the wide world of boxing. Hopkins by SD – see you at heavyweight

Hopkins & Winky: The timing just isn’t “Wright”

By Geoffrey Ciani In boxing, timing is everything. Whether it’s timing an opponent’s rhythm, timing a perfect punch, or carefully choosing an opponent at the proper time, timing is an essential part of boxing both inside and outside the ring. As such, I was most perplexed when rumors first surfaced regarding a potential match-up between pound-for-pound elites Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright. Now that it appears this fight is about to become a reality, all I can ask is—WHY?

This is one fight that really makes no sense to me. Hopkins and Winky are both in the twilight of their respective boxing careers, and as such, I sincerely believe that each would be better off pursuing different avenues—especially Winky Wright. This is a lose-lose situation for Wright any way you slice it. If he loses, it may jeopardize some lucrative matches down the road; if he wins, he won’t get the proper credit he deserves because Hopkins will retroactively be labeled as a “shot” fighter.

What was Winky thinking when he signed on for this fight? Even if the money is right, it makes much more sense for Winky to pursue a rematch with Taylor. A win over Taylor would mean much more for his legacy than a win over Hopkins at present time. The timing truly is all wrong for this one—it’s awful!

At one point in time, I would have loved to have seen this fight. The perfect timing for this one would have been in mid-2005 after Winky annihilated Trinidad and Hopkins was slated to face Jermain Taylor. Back then, it would have been perceived as a battle between two pound-for-pound greats and would have drawn much attention as a chess-match between two of the best defensive fighters in the boxing business. But one thing happened to both of those fighters since that time which changes everything—Jermain Taylor.

When Hopkins lost back-to-back decisions to Taylor, it appeared the ageless wonder had finally reached the end of a long and illustrious career. He followed that up with his one-sided boxing exhibition against light-heavyweight king, Antonio Tarver. This appeared to be the perfect swan song for the aging pugilist. He had moved up two weight classes at the age of 41 and proceeded to dominate the division’s best. Making matters even sweeter, he humiliated the man who twice bested former rival, Roy Jones Junior.

That Hopkins decided to comeback isn’t that surprising for it’s hard to walk away after such a dominating performance. Additionally, Hopkins looked great at 175, which suggested that perhaps he would have best served his own interests by abandoning the middleweight boxing division a couple of years earlier. The thing of it is, at 175, Hopkins should be gunning for something that will further enhance his own legacy, and Winky isn’t the fighter that’s going to do that. Of course, one can’t blame Hopkins for Roy Jones Junior’s refusal to grant him a rematch, as that would have been the most logical route for Hopkins to take. Given that, he should probably aim for someone established in the 168-175 pound range—someone like Joe Calzaghe, for example.

Meanwhile, Winky had decided to make the move to 160 pounds to take on Taylor in an attempt to take the crown he took from Hopkins. (Incidentally, I thought Hopkins was the clear victor in his rematch with Taylor, but that’s neither here nor there). Winky fought as good of a fight as he could have fought that night, but in the end, he fell short as the bout was ruled a draw. Taylor and Winky still have unfinished business and were clearly the two best names in the middleweight boxing division. Common sense dictated that there needed to be a rematch between the two. Sadly, it appears that will never happen.

Now, the unlikely match-up between Wright and Hopkins is about to become a reality. Too bad it’s two years too late. While it should still prove to be a great tactical match-up between two of the best boxing technicians in the sport, it just doesn’t make sense. Both would better serve their own interests pursuing different paths.

As for the fight itself, I think Winky may have bitten off more than he can chew in this one. For starters, he has no business fighting at 170 pounds. He looked small when he fought at 160, so I’m hard-pressed to see him carry ten extra pounds with any measure of success. Hopkins carried extra weight brilliantly in his boxing bout with Tarver, whereas, Winky looked awkward and uncomfortable at 160. Beyond that, Winky’s also about to face a technically superior boxer who feasts on southpaws.

While it’s true that Winky and Hopkins are two of the best defensive wizards in the game, Hopkins has Winky beat in this regard, too, and their respective bouts with Taylor proved this. Winky relies on his freakishly long forearms to block punches, and does this sensationally well, albeit, one-dimensionally. Hopkins, on the other hand, is slippery and elusive, not to mention, extremely versatile. He’s a master at using body movement, slipping punches, blocking punches, and most impressively, rolling with punches—he’s multi-dimensional. Hopkins is a much better equipped defensive boxing fighter, and frankly, a much better offensive fighter, too. Winky has nothing on him.

Maybe Hopkins will finally “get old over night”, and Winky can sneak away with a victory, but I highly doubt it. I suspect Hopkins will outclass Winky come July 21. I just don’t think this fight makes much sense for either fighter, especially Winky Wright. In fact, I think Winky is making a huge mistake.