05.12.06 – By Alden “The Kid” Chodash: Did you notice the CompuBox punch count for the main event in Tampa on Saturday night? How does Ronald “Winky” Wright, whose defense is as impenetrable as anyone’s in the fight game today, turn into an all-action punching machine?
It was only last May when Wright displayed a most disciplined, effective fighting style versus the rejuvenated living-legend in Felix Trinidad and shut him out over the course of twelve rounds. How could the same Winky Wright end up throwing 1000 plus shots, landing 27%, and taking 27% from Ike Quartey?
Wright did exactly that and in impressive fashion as well, dropping Quartey twice, and jamming the “Bazooka” for the majority of the battle. But Quartey fought back, especially in the closing two rounds, and got through Wright’s less-than-impregnable guard more than expected. It’s hard to judge by this fight alone but this may be the New Winky.
Wright isn’t the only pugilist to modify his style to become more exciting for his fans. Most notably, Chris Byrd did the same thing. Early in Byrd’s career, he was virtually untouchable, bitterly frustrating his opponents to the point that they forfeited the fight or were stopped due to fatigue and lack of confidence. Then in Tacoma, Washington 1999, Byrd went up against the Nigerian slugger Ike Ibeabuchi. For four rounds Ike cut off the ring and made contact on Chris to the body until a shocking left uppercut ended the night for Byrd in the fifth.
After Byrd struggled in beating Vitali Klitschko and then got annihilated by brother Wladimir, Byrd decided to base his career on pleasing crowds and cutting out some of his defensive wizardry. Although this new style resulted in a roller-coaster ride that was marked with controversial victories and an unexpected draw against Andrew Golota, Byrd was at least interesting. Earlier this year, however, Byrd’s style backfired as Klitschko (the younger) blasted him out in seven.
Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker modified his style late in his career though he wasn’t aiming to please fans. Many of the circumstances in which Pernell, the once outstanding, untouchable defense-minded fighter, decided to engage was when opponents were too young, too quick, and too strong for the aging legend. Most notably, the bout with Diosbelys Hurtado.
Hurtado kept Whitaker at bay with his jab, floored him twice until the reckless and desperate Whitaker finally landed a big left hand in the 11th that finished the rising prospect. Whitaker, in his bout with Trinidad, also decided to try to out-hustle the young superstar but was unsuccessful and lost a lopsided decision.
Oscar De La Hoya has had several incidents in which he modified his style, though not always into a crowd pleasing, aggressive style. Early in his professional career “The Golden Boy” was set on destroying his antagonists as quickly as possible. That style backfired against extremely tough former champion John John Molina as Molina out-muscled De La Hoya but was unlucky not to get a decision. De La Hoya then focused on defense and dramatically improved, registering great victories against Rafael Ruelas, Genaro Hernandez, and “Jesse” James Leija. After winning two more world titles, De La Hoya was controversially defeated by Felix Trinidad and then slugged it out with “Sugar” Shane Mosley but lost a razor thin decision.
After taking nearly a whole year off, De La Hoya returned under the tutelage of Floyd Mayweather Sr. Mayweather, once an exceptional defensive fighter and contender, improved De La Hoya’s underused right hand and added a shoulder roll to his arsenal. With those modifications, De La Hoya destroyed Arturo Gatti inside five rounds, shut out the durable Spaniard Javier Castillejo, and won in more impressive fashion than he’d ever had in stopping Fernando Vargas in eleven rounds. De La Hoya then went out to avenge his 2000 defeat to Shane Mosley and fought very well, impressing most viewers watching except, of course, the judges who unanimously scored the bout for Mosley in highly disputable fashion.
Though Wright’s unexpected “switch-a-roo” resulted in a win against Quartey, hopefully Wright understands the danger he’s in if he were to use the same strategy to try to dismantle the undefeated middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. The Quartey fight was the perfect opportunity for Winky to gain admirers of whose who once were critics of his near perfect, yet sometimes dull fighting technique and he took advantage of it. Wright once again did his work in style, even though he left the ring with battle wounds.