by Jeremy "Fasttalker" Bjornberg - 05/16/2005
As I pondered whether the Felix Trinidad versus Winky Wright match would be as good as Diego Corrales' incredible victory over Jose Luis Castillo I came to the obvious conclusion that just wasn't possible. I never realized that the fight would be as boring as the Trinidad versus De La Hoya snorefest.
Winky Wright did bring the fight to Trinidad and he did land solid punches but his turtle defense was impenetrable for Tito. Winky has a reputation for boring one-sided fights and this was no exception. Winky dominated every round of the fight with a great jab and his turtle defense and southpaw dance made it simply miserable for Tito from round one.
Tito actually didn't throw any hard punches after round five and seemed content to throw wimpy pitter-patter combinations a few times each round. Winky took the large Puerto Rican crowd out of the fight immediately and everyone in the arena seemed to sense that they were in for a boxing lesson.
I would hate to call Tito a quitter -- he didn't quit the fight -- but he did seem to give up on victory pretty early. I really expected him or his corner to complain that he hurt his hands on Winky's elbow or forearm and that is why he wasn't throwing any devastating blows. I was shocked that Tito was conceding victory, which went against everything that made him one of the best fighters of the last 10 years.
Tito may retire but if he doesn't he should continue to fight guys who open up and can be punched because he has proven that he does not adjust well to defensive fighters. If Tito is unable to hurt or land cleanly he is fairly easy to pick apart as Winky Wrightdid brilliantly for all 12 rounds. The fight was pretty much the same thing over and over, Winky coming forward with hard jabs and jolting short right hands. All Tito did was bounce around the ring and eat punches -- a strategy that I didn't understand. I think that if Tito does come back it is time to fire his father and hire a new trainer. Felix Trinidad Sr. simply has nothing more to teach Tito.
Winky Wright not only is now a legitimate superstar in boxing he also can lay a claim to a top 10 pound-for-pound ranking in the sport. Winky has dominated two future Hall of Famers and his losses were all questionable.
The only fight that doesn't look like a lock for him to win right now would be a battle with boxing's baddest man, Bernard Hopkins. Winky is a tough match even for Hard Nard, but Bernard has made a career of solving difficult styles, and Bernard's style isn't any easier to train for. I fully expect Winky Wright to look to rematch with Trinidad and then look for the winner of the upcoming Bernard Hopkins defense against the young Jermain Taylor. I don't think Winky Wright will bother anymore with the 154-pound division, none of the moneymakers there would want to fight him and he looked strong at middleweight.
On the undercard undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah dominated Cosme Rivera by way of third round KO. Judah dropped Rivera with the first punch of the fight and it was over from there. Zab looked great in his first defense and afterwards his big mouth called up everyone short of Bernard Hopkins.
This upcoming Saturday HBO and Don King present a card that looks to be fairly promising. Lamon Brewster defends his heavyweight title against the enigmatic Andrew Golota in a potential war. There are also a few good scraps on the undercard. Doc's has the inside track on this fight and there as always all picks are 100 percent guaranteed. Doc's is now an astonishing 14-4 with 3 of the losses to underdogs.
NBC show The Contender had a fantastic fight on Sunday as Peter Manfredo Jr. advanced by beating in a rematch Alfonso Gomez. Next week Jesse Brinkley fights Sergio Mora to decide who will meet Manfredo in the final.
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