Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
May 15th, 2005
“Nothing But Winky Rights All Night”
Winky looked relaxed and Tito was sporting a new hairstyle. Both looked
supremely confident as they made their way into the ring at the MGM Grand in Las
Vegas Saturday night. In the battle between power and finesse, southpaw vs.
conventional, boxer vs. puncher, Winky’s finesse found a way of turn Tito’s
power into ineptitude.
Trinidad stepped between the ropes thinking he would knock Winky out. From the
opening moments of the fight, Trinidad was using the wrong strategy, always
moving to Wright’s right instead of his left, which is the preferable direction
against a southpaw. With effective use of his right jab, Wright took away
Tito’s powerful left hook and made him look like an amateur for a twelve round
shutout.
Styles make fights, and after what we saw Saturday, I don’t know if Trinidad
could ever beat the silky smooth, Winky Wright, who is truly a thinking man’s
fighter. Wright’s angular stance enabled him to shoot the jab between the guard
of Trinidad’s wider, squarer stance. Trinidad also seemed incapable of changing
directions or making any adjustments throughout the fight.
Ronald “Winky” Wright (49-3-0-25 KO’s) has long been under rated but has proven
to be one of the most complete fighters in boxing. His mastery of defense and
counter punching have brought him to boxing’s biggest stage in spite of claims
that he’s not ‘exciting’ to watch. But if you love the art of boxing, Winky is
your man. There’s nothing boring about a guy who systematically breaks down his
opponents and demonstrates why boxing is called, “The Sweet Science.” It’s taken
a long time but Winky Wright is getting his due. He may not knock a lot of guys
out but he sure knows how to win a boxing match. Winky was the undisputed
154-pound Champion but moved up to Middleweight to face Trinidad.
Felix “Tito” Trinidad (42-2-0-35 KO’s) is a legendary fighter who marched
through some of the best guys in class for years. Though his Majority Decision
win over Oscar De La Hoya in 1999 was highly controversial, he never suffered a
loss until his 2001 meeting with the “Executioner,” Bernard Hopkins, who exposed
the defensive flaws in Tito’s style. Tito retired after his devastating TKO 12
loss to Hopkins, a fight that set the blueprint for neutralizing one of the most
ferocious punchers in the game.
Trinidad came back last October after two years away and destroyed the ever
declining wild man Ricardo Mayorga (27-4) in a fight that featured some
refinements to Tito’s footwork and ring generalship. Considering his famous
punching power, the ‘new and improved’ Trinidad was back—and potentially better
than before.
Seven months later his opponent was Winky Wright, an entirely different
proposition.
Although Wright had only recently moved up to 160, he was clearly the bigger man
in the ring. His thicker frame was never really challenged by the lean,
notorious puncher that is Trinidad. Instead, Winky put on a boxing clinic that
had Tito looking outclassed. He constantly popped Tito with the jab and always
blocked whatever Tito threw back. Trinidad went on autopilot and regressed back
into the one-dimensional fighter that proved easy pickings for Bernard Hopkins
back in 2001.
Trinidad relies too much on his power, which is useless if you can’t deliver it.
Papa Trinidad offered little help in the corner. He had no advice for countering
the problems Winky’s jab presented. I had the impression that Tito’s camp took
Winky for granted and didn’t bother to study tapes of his fighting style.
Trinidad paid a heavy price for assuming he could just walk through Winky
Wright.
Trinidad did not look strong in this fight and showed none of the improvements
he demonstrated in the Mayorga fight to compensate. He was telegraphing his
punches and was often unbalanced, as he threw punches upstairs that were
blocked, followed by left hooks to the body that often times were low blows. The
referee, Jay Nady, cautioned Tito several times and finally took a point from
him for hitting low in the ninth round.
It was shocking that Trinidad’s corner never advised him to change his strategy.
Whenever Trinidad moved to his left, which was rare, he scored. Trinidad’s
corner instructed him to move left, instead Tito kept moving to his right, where
Winky’s right jabs and left hand found his face all night.
Trinidad’s single focus was to go for the knockout. He kept coming forward with
the exact same rhythm that Winky easily timed, figured out and exploited.
Trinidad’s only success (if you can call it that) was shooting left hooks to the
body. Wright simply stepped into a peek-a-boo type stance and used his elbows to
block the body shots and his gloves to block the shots upstairs. His defense was
tremendous. Trinidad rarely landed anything, and when he did, it was never
anything flush.
Trinidad never made adjustments; every round was like Ground Hog Day. It was all
Winky, who jabbed, moved and threw combinations that scored at will. Though
Tito’s corner never told him so, he was losing every single round.
In contrast to the Trinidad corner, Winky’s corner man, Dan Birmingham, gave him
excellent advice. He kept him calm and focused. He reminded him late in the
fight that De la Hoya ran in the late rounds and they gave the fight to
Trinidad. Winky stayed consistent until the final bell.
I scored the fight 120-107, a shutout for Wright.
* * *
Trinidad earned ten million dollars Saturday night. Winky got four million. In a
rematch, those numbers would likely be reversed, which has to the strongest
motivating factor for Wright wanting to do it again. But from a competition
standpoint, I can’t see any reason to bother. In truth, this fight wasn’t even
close, let alone competitive. Trinidad has the option for a rematch but there
was nothing about this fight that merits it—except for the money, big money.
Trinidad’s limited style does not work against a pure boxer like Winky Wright—or
Bernard Hopkins for that matter. There are plenty of other Middleweights
Trinidad can probably knock out should he keep fighting, but his chances are
slim against either Wright or Hopkins, who should fight each other if Hopkins
gets past Jermain Taylor.
Should Trinidad continue boxing, he might be better off at 154, where his power
is undeniable and the competition is more up his alley in the likes of Shane
Mosley, Daniel Santos or the dangerous Kassim Ouma, who’s probably the best in
that division now that Winky’s moved up to 160. Ouma vs. Trinidad would sell a
lot of tickets. Most of the elites at 160 are very good ‘boxers,’ like Felix
Sturm (who really beat DLH), Howard Eastman, and up and coming, Kingsley
Ikeke—whose jab is one of the most potent I’ve ever seen in a Middleweight. The
jury is still out on Jermain Taylor—but Hopkins ought to answer those questions
soon enough.
Congratulations to Ronald “Winky” Wright, who in my opinion is the REAL heir
apparent at Middleweight. At 33 years old, he is in peak form and is capable of
giving Bernard Hopkins the fight of his life should they meet in the ring.
Somehow, I doubt Taylor finds a way to beat Hopkins in July but if he does, its
unlikely he can beat Winky Wright, who may quietly be one of the true, ‘best
pound for pound fighters’ in all of boxing.
* * *
On the under card, IBF, WBA and WBC Welterweight Champion, Zab Judah (34-2-0-24
KO’s) scored a TKO 3 win over IBF mandatory challenger, Cosme Rivera (28-8-2-21
KO’s).
Rivera proved to be a sorry excuse for a “mandatory.” Judah floored him with the
first punch he threw and knocked him down a second time with the second punch.
Rivera, unhurt, smiled at Judah, who then changed the tempo and exercised
patience until he floored Rivera again in the third round. Referee Joe Cortez
stopped it after the third knockdown even though Rivera was quite capable of
continuing. Forget controversy, Cortez did a great service to fans that know a
boring mismatch when they see one.
Beating Corey Spinks and taking his Titles was impressive and Judah deserves all
the accolades but Judah needs to fight and beat WBO Champion, Antonio Margarito
(32-4-0-23 KO’s) before he can legitimately be considered the “Undisputed”
Welterweight Champion.
While the WBO Title may not carry the same clout as the IBF, WBA or WBC, Antonio
Margarito should not be overlooked. He absolutely deserves the chance to fight
for those other Titles more than anyone else in the division. Margarito is a
strong puncher with a rock solid chin. He is entertaining to watch because he’s
fearless, intelligent and gets stronger as the fight gets deeper. He can also
bang with authority. In his last outing, Margarito destroyed highly regarded,
power punching Kermit Cintron with ease, winning by TKO 5.
In the interest of having One Champion per division, Judah vs. Margarito is
screaming to happen.
