15.03.04 – By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: When Sugar Shane met Winky Wright Saturday night in Las Vegas, the betting odds were stacked 4-1 in favor of Shane Mosley.
Winky Wright is a good, solid fighter who has waited patiently to get his shot at a big name fighter that could take him to the promised land of undisputed Championship status. Watching Winky over the years, I have lots of respect for his boxing ability but he’s been in some unexciting fights.
It seems like there are two separate 154-pound divisions, one for the big Stars and one for the non-famous. Winky has been king of the non-famous division for quite some time now. He proved it against JC Candelo, Angel Hernandez, Jason Papillion, Robert Frazier, Keith Mullings and a host of other less than stellar names. He has a few losses he picked up along the way, most notably to Fernando Vargas, who many thought was losing to Wright until the late surges by Vargas, who won a questionable decision. With Vargas’ colorful personality, he was bound for the Star division. Winky also lost to (then unbeaten at 16-0) Harry Simon, in a Split Decision in South Africa. Back in 1994, he lost to veteran Julio Caesar Vasquez by UD12.
Guys who have more than 25 professional fights and no losses on their records are suspicious. Losing fights makes guys learn the best lessons that help them upgrade their wares. Winky has been a work in progress. His day has arrived, in part thanks to the “hype machine” that created Shane Mosley.
Sugar Shane is an interesting story in boxing. Without having fought the best fighters, he was knighted by the ‘establishment boxing media’ as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in all of boxing after he barely out boxed Oscar De La Hoya (at 147-lbs) in their first meeting back in November of 2000. I thought Mosley won that fight by one round. Shane was faster and scored more then Oscar. That was the biggest win Mosley ever had.
Mosley went on to fight a three not-so-tough opponents afterwards, (Antonio Diaz, Shannan Taylor and Adrian Stone) beating them all convincingly. Critics were starting to question Shane’s choices of opponents and it was clear that he would have to take on someone worthy if he were to continue to wear the status bestowed upon him by the media. It would be either Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis, or Vernon “The Viper” Forrest. Lewis opted to fight unknown Ricardo Mayorga instead for way less money.
In January of 2002, he fought Vernon Forrest, who beat the tar out of him in their first fight and won convincingly in the rematch six months later. The notion that Mosley was one of boxing’s ‘Greats’ was starting to wear thin. Unless you were an unwavering Mosley fan, you could see that hype and not accomplishment manufactured Shane’s supposed greatness. He sure didn’t earn it fighting the best fighters.
Why wasn’t Forrest so knighted after he beat Mosley twice? Well, Forrest doesn’t have that million-dollar photogenic smile.
After Forrest kicked his butt, Mosley moved up to 154-pounds, a division absent of Vernon Forrest, where he might have a chance to win a title. At Super Welter, Shane fought Raul Marquez, a member of the Non Famous club, though a fairly respectable fighter. Due to some head butts that bloodied Marquez badly early on, the fight was stopped and rendered a No Contest.
Mosley still did not get a win since losing to Forrest as he headed into a September 2003 rematch against the man who made him a household name, Oscar De La Hoya, this time at 154-pounds. Oscar controlled the fight, out-boxed Shane and outscored him. Shane had some good moments in the rematch, but was losing most of the rounds. In the end, the Judges gave the decision to Mosley, who looked like he just won the Irish Sweepstakes upon hearing the scores. In the eyes of fans with 20/20 vision, Mosley did NOT win that fight. The Judges had robbed Oscar.
Then came the almost quiet controversial issue of steroid use by Mosley, who’s name ended up being connected with the investigation of a company named Balco, who supposedly laced nutritional supplements with steroids that were untraceable. Mosley has denied intentionally taking any steroids. He has been rumored to bench press some 300 odd pounds. Unusual for a man who only weighs 154 or thereabouts. Being noticed in these scenarios is one price you pay when you’re famous.
Shane could have fought a third fight with DLH but choose instead to take on the much deserving Winky Wright–for a lot less money. For that, I give Shane a lot of credit. When you’ve made a few millions in Boxing, money shouldn’t be the motivating force behind every match up decision. I give Mosley credit for behaving like a Champion in that regard. A fight with Trinidad would be waiting in the wings if Mosley were to beat Wright, so there were still plenty of chips to play for.
The Fight
Round 1
Mosley came on aggressively, bypassing the feel-out stage. Wright scored a big left hand that stunned Shane. Mosley flurries, but mostly missed or was blocked. Winky kept coming forward, defensively, looking to counter and keep Mosley out of proper range. Wright did more damage.
10-9 Wright.
Round 2
Wright worked his (southpaw) jab well and caught Mosley often. Mosley was open for counter lefts from Wright and was paying for it. Mosley developed a cut by his left eye. Wright scored more and looked in control.
10-9 Wright.
Round 3
Mosley came in jabbing and it was a jabbing contest for a while, until Winky kept getting the better of the exchanges. Mosley looked nervous and frustrated as Winky effectively controlled the tempo and scored the most.
10-9 Wright.
Round 4
More of the same, with Wright the boss and Mosley’s confidence evaporating. Winky cracked Mosley with some good shots, continuing to out-do Shane in all regards. Mosley rallied late with some flurries of punches that mostly hit the outsides of his target. Mosley did not throw any straight punches, mostly hooking or wide winging punches that Wright could see and block on time. Mosley needed to make some adjustments.
10-9 Wright.
Mosley looked defeated as he sat in his stool between rounds as his father Jack gave him advice that varied from round to round. Jack was heard saying, “Don’t say that” to his son. Mosley’s body language suggested what he said. He was losing this fight, much the way he was losing to DLH and Vernon Forrest, piece by piece.
Round 5
Mosley came into the 5th looking to change things and he worked real hard and scored some good shots on Wright, who scored too, but with less desperation. There was a head butt, a brief pause, and then more of Mosley outworking Wright and sealing it with a big right hand with five seconds left in the round.
10-9 Mosley.
Round 6
Both exchange in the center ring. Wright scores better. Winky was being overly gentlemanly with Shane, constantly touching gloves for little infractions even the ref wasn’t making any issue of. Winky regained control over the fight tempo and Mosley was back to losing rounds.
10-9 Wright.
In the corner of Wright, Dan Birmingham, (his trainer) tells him; “you can make friends AFTER the fight!” Referring to all the glove touching.
Round 7
Wright cracked Mosley and sent him backward into the ropes. The crowd was starting to chant, “Winky, Winky!” He was in charge. Mosley looked confused and unable to get anything going offensively.
10-9 Wright.
Jack Mosley tells Shane to go in and let his hands go, to punch, to bang.
Round 8
Target practice for Wright, who scored at will over Mosley, who was going backwards most of the round. In the words of Doctor Evil, Shane looked like he ‘lost his Mojo.’ Wright was running away with the fight, with Tito Trinidad watching in the audience.
10-9 Wright.
After the round, Jack Mosley tells his son to, “ just box, you’re the superior boxer, use it.” Conflicting advice from the last round.
Round 9
More of Mosley backing up and getting hit. All Wright, all night.
10-9 Wright.
After the round, Birmingham tells Wright not to waste time in the last 30 seconds but to go jab crazy, whether Mosley is doing anything or not. Birmingham started reminding Winky that they were in Vegas, where they love Mosley.
Round 10
More of the same, with Wright doing most of the scoring and Mosley looking more and more demoralized. Wright rocked Mosley all around the ring. I got to thinking that in a way, Mosley had given up after the third round.
10-9 Wright.
Round 11
The beating continues, with Winky dictating the terms. Mosley was being outclassed by Wright.
10-9 Wright.
Birmingham reminds Wright that, “Here in Vegas, they score the 12th like six rounds here! You know how they are with Mosley here in Vegas!”
Round 12
Mosley, in desperation mode, summons whatever energy he has and goes after Wright, who seemed to forget what Birmingham just told him. Shane scored a few good shots but didn’t have enough left in him to hurt Wright, who kept a safe distance with superior footwork. Mosley won the 12th on sheer effort until with 5 seconds left, Wright catches Mosley with a left upper cut to the head that sends Mosley flying into the ropes. It was ruled a slip. A slip caused by a punch. Birmingham was screaming that it WAS a knock down. The HBO announce team of Merchant, Lampley and Stewart all agreed it wasn’t a knock down.
It was a knock down. But it shouldn’t have mattered. I didn’t count the knock down since it wasn’t officially recognized.
10-9 Mosley. (Should have been 10-8 for Wright)
Dan Birmingham was screaming. “That was a knockdown!”
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That was a mismatch.
Mosley was no match for Winky, who beat him to the punch and out-boxed Shane all night. Now, it was a question of how the official Judges were going to call it. I know what I saw but that isn’t always a factor in the official decisions.
The fighters embraced before the score cards were read. There was nothing about Mosley’s body language that suggested he thought he won this fight.
Judge Chuck Giampa had it: 117-111 for Wright.
Judge Dave Morretti had it: 117-111 for Wright.
Judge Paul Smith had it: 116-112 for Wright.
I had it 118-110 for Wright, with Mosley winning only two of twelve rounds.
You have to wonder if Winky so easily handled Mosley, how would he have fared against DLH, who, like the rest of the crop’s cream, never showed any interest in fighting Wright.
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Congratulations to Ronald “Winky” Wright, the new unified Champion at Super Welterweight. Unless DLH is planning to fight Hopkins at 160, which I have a hard time believing, he will have to go through Winky if he wants to wear the 154-pound belts before he retires. I can’t see Tito Trinidad coming back after such a long lay off and taking Wright’s titles. Wright is technically sound and has good footwork, something Trinidad never really had. A well conditioned Trinidad might catch him with a power shot and knock him out but Wright’s defense and southpaw style promises to be a problem for anyone in the division. There is Daniel Santos, owner of the lesser-regarded WBO title. Santos is a member of Winky’s alma mater at the Non-Famous club. Maybe Oscar will opt to fight Santos?
Right now, Winky Wright is on par with his friend Bernard Hopkins, who owns all three major titles a few short pounds north of Super Welter division.
With Roy Jones Jr. promoting Winky Wright, it has been a slow road to glory but now–he is there. (Jones was too busy to attend the biggest fight of Winky’s career as he was doing ‘some music related activity,’ while one of his fighters made boxing history.) Luckily for Roy, there are VCRs.
Wright said he wants to fight Trinidad, DLH and maybe Hopkins, then call it a career. He’s been fighting as a pro since 1990. He says he wants to make some big money and, “be up outta here.” Winky is a true success story in today’s era of boxing. He did it all the hard way. He didn’t have the benefit of a powerful, ambitious promoter to make him look invincible with a steady feed of soft opponents.
Though Mosley has a rematch clause in the contract, I don’t think he can beat Wright without a little help from the Judges. Mosley should consider returning to Welterweight, where Vernon Forrest no longer rules.
Lastly, I want to thank the Boxing Gods for allowing an honest decision to decide the consequence of Winky Wright’s great performance. The scores were what they should have been. For today’s boxing game, that is amazing.
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Agree or disagree?
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