07.04.09 – Doveed Linder – photo by Jan Sanders/ Goossen Tutor -This Saturday at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Paul “The Punisher” Williams (36-1, 27 KOs) and Ronald “Winky” Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs) will square off in a significant match up at 160 pounds. Paul is coming off a recent TKO victory over tough veteran Verno Phillips, while Winky hasn’t fought since a decision loss to Bernard Hopkins in July of 2007.
On paper, this is a close, tough match up between two southpaws and should prove to be a competitive fight. Winky is by far the more experienced fighter. He’s been in there with some of boxing’s best and holds convincing victories over two legends in Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad. But Paul is on a hot streak and has a great deal of momentum on his side. He’s been very active in recent years and has a respectable decision win over Antonio Margarito..
Winky is the man boxing fans are most familiar with. When Winky started out in the game, he didn’t make a giant splash. He just sort of waded into the water with decent wins over good but not great opposition. Along the way, he suffered two decision losses to Julio Cesar Vasquez and Harry Simon. Winky showed some potential early on, but his accomplishments never left the impression that he was bound for greatness.
The fight that put Winky on the map was a decision loss to an undefeated Fernando Vargas, a fight that many people felt Winky won. After the Vargas fight, Winky picked up where he left off, fighting and defeating halfway decent opposition. It wasn’t until his first fight with Shane Mosley that Winky made a serious mark on the game. Winky went into the fight an underdog, but he took care of business and won a very convincing decision.
A rematch with Mosley came eight months later. This fight was closer than the first, but Winky won a majority decision. Next on his plate was a fight with former thee-division champion Felix Trinidad, who was fresh off a TKO victory over Ricardo Mayorga. This fight was something of a toss up going in, but Winky put on a dominating performance winning practically every minute of every round.
Winky’s next fight of significance resulted in a draw against undefeated middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. This was a very exciting, physical fight where a lot of people made an argument that Winky deserved the decision, but it was by no means highway robbery. Winky followed this fight up with a win over Ike Quartey and then a decision loss to Bernard Hopkins.
Paul Williams is a fighter who can fight anywhere from 147 to 160 pounds. He hasn’t had near the experience or media exposure as Winky, but it’s to be taken into consideration that he has a KO victory over a very good fighter in Sharmba Mitchell and a decision win over Antonio Margarito. Regardless of how you feel about Margarito’s “handwrap situation”, the accomplishment is still very admirable. Paul’s only defeat was a decision loss to Carlos Quintana, which was avenged via 1st round TKO. His most recent victory was a TKO over Verno Phillips, who had only been stopped one other time very early in his career.
Paul Williams and Winky Wright are both serious competitors and this should prove to be an entertaining fight. The wisdom and experience is in Winky’s favor, but the youth, momentum, and overall enthusiasm favors Paul. Winky hasn’t fought in almost two years and he’s picked a tough fight to come back to. At age 37, Winky is going to have a hard time shedding the rust against a confident, young fighter who throws a high volume of punches. Winky still probably has some fight left in him and you can’t count him out against anyone. But it’s likely that Paul will be too much of a specimen for him to deal with and will take over in the later rounds to win a unanimous decision.