Winky Wright
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Winky Wright | |
| Image:Winkywright.jpg |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Ronald Lamont Wright |
| Nickname | Winky |
| Weight | Middleweight |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth date | November 26, 1971 |
| Birth place | Washington, DC, USA |
| Style | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 54 |
| Wins | 51 |
| Wins by KO | 25 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
Ronald Lamont "Winky" Wright (born November 26, 1971 in Washington, DC) is an American boxer, the former junior middleweight Champion and a current middleweight contender. Due to his defensive, southpaw style and quick jab, Wright is considered one of the best fighters in the world, a rare boxer who is feared by the competition despite his lack of knockout power.
Contents |
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Early years
Wright was an underlooked fighter for many years, for a time fighting 20 fights in seven countries across three continents. Wright would later joke that he couldn't pronounce some of the names of the places he was fighting in. After his 2nd round knockout of Carlos Santana on July 30, 1992 in St. Petersburg, Florida, the ring announcer called him "Winky" Wright, the name given to him by his grandmother when he was 18 months old. The nickname stuck for the rest of his career.
Big time promoters like Don King and Lou Duva would not promote Wright in the early part of his career. His first big time promoters were the French based Acaries brothers, who struck a deal for Wright to fight Darryl Lattimore in Luxembourg on January 1, 1993. Wright knocked Lattimore down three times, and the fight was stopped. Wright went on a tear during his tour of Europe, winning 8 straight in France, Germany, Monte Carlo, only fighting in the United States once over the next year.
[edit] First step up in class
On August 21, 1994, Wright received his first title match against WBA Light Middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Vasquez in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France. Although he was 25-0 at the time, Wright had not fought in a match that had gone more than 8 rounds. His inexperience showed as Winky lost a unanimous decision, with Vasquez knocking down Wright in the second, seventh, ninth, and twice in the round 12.
On February 4, 1995, Wright defeated Tony Marshall by unanimous decision, winning the NABF Middleweight Championship.
[edit] Ongoing world tour and winning the WBO title
Wright continued fighting in Europe, only fighting in the United States once, until his unanimous decision victory against Andrew Council on March 5, 1996 which was aired on the USA Network's Tuesday Night Fights. His impressive win opened the door to fight WBO Light Middleweight champion Bronco McKart, a fight Wright won by split decision. He continued to tour the world, fighting and winning fights in South Africa and England.
[edit] Coming To America
After breaking with the Acaries brothers in 1999, citing that he was tired of all the travel, Wright knocked out Derrick Graham in the third round in Miami, Florida. This set the stage for his first major fight against IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion Fernando Vargas. Although some ringside fans and members of the media felt Wright won the fight, Vargas won a controversial majority decision. Indeed, Vargas did, according to HBO's Punchstat, throw and land more punches, and also landed a higher connection percentage. He also won the 'Championship rounds', i.e the final three rounds of the fight, which many analysts consider to be of utmost and perhaps of extra importance, in title fights. Wright continued to defend the NABF and won the USBA Light Middleweight title in another decision over Bronco McKart.
[edit] Winning his first major title
Felix Trinidad's jump to the middleweight division left the IBF Junior middleweight title vacant. Wright scored a unanimous decision over Robert Frazier on October 12, 2001 to win his first major boxing championship. In his first defense on February 2, 2002, Wright stopped Jason Papillion in the fifth round. He took a third fight against Bronco McKart, which ended in controversy as the referee disqualified McKart for repeated low blows in the 8th round.
Wright's Las Vegas debut was against Juan Carlos Candelo on March 1, 2003. Wright won an unanimous decision. He followed that up with another blowout victory over Angel Hernandez 8 months later.
[edit] Wright vs. Mosley I & II
To the surprise of many including Wright, Shane Mosley challenged Winky to a Junior Middlweight Unification fight on March 13, 2004. Mosley was a celebrated fighter coming off his second win against Oscar de la Hoya, but many felt he was making a mistake in fighting Wright. Wright beat Mosley soundly with his effective jabbing and defense, winning a lopsided unanimous decision, winning the Ring Magazine Jr. middleweight championship of the world and became the division's first undisputed champion in 29 years, and the first man to hold all the IBF, WBA, and WBC Jr. Middlweight titles simultaneously. The rematch took place on November 20, 2004. This fight was much closer, with one judge scoring the bout a draw. However, the other two judges scored 115-113 and gave the majority decision to Wright.
[edit] Winky dominates Felix Trinidad
On May 14, 2005, he defeated Felix Trinidad by unanimous decision. Trinidad was a fan favorite and a feared power puncher, and many figured he would be able to knock Wright out. Instead, Wright's jab and defense once again prevailed, and Wright won virtually "shutting out" Trinidad, winning 120-107 and 119-108 on two scorecards, to establish himself as a top contender to challenge for the WBC middleweight championship. Wright's dominance over such a highly regarded opponent has lead to many placing him among the top two pound-for-pound boxers in the world, just behind Floyd Mayweather Jr. Wright's victory sent Trinidad into permanent retirement short after.
Shortly after the Trinidad fight, Wright formed his own promotional boxing firm Winky Wright Promotions[1].
[edit] Controversy against Taylor
After winning a unanimous decision over Sam Soliman in December of 2005, Wright faced off against unified middleweight champion, Jermain Taylor for the WBC and WBO title. In a close fight, the match was ruled a draw. Two judges scored the bout 115-113 for each fighter, while the final judge scored it a 114-114 draw. Once the decision was announced, Winky stormed out of the ring, upset that he was not awarded the decision. When interviewed later, he refused a rematch with Taylor, stating that he was going to get the same result.
Both camps attempted at negotiating a rematch, but talks failed after neither side could come to an agreement over how to split the money. However, there is still optimism for a rematch in the first half of 2007. Wright beat Ike Quartey on December 2nd, 2006 by Unaimous Decsion. If Taylor wins his next title defense against Kassim Ouma, many suspect a rematch will take place.
[edit] Life outside the ring
Wright currently calls St. Petersburg, Florida home. He is an avid fight fan and regularly attends major boxing events.
A favorite in the hip hop community, Winky has appeared in music videos for Busta Rhymes' "Touch It Remix", 50 Cent's "Outta Control Remix" (feat. Mobb Deep) and Jamie Foxx's "DJ Play a Love Song" (feat. Twista).
| Preceded by: Bronco McKart |
WBO Light Middleweight boxing champion 17 May 1996 – 22 August 1998 |
Succeeded by: Harry Simon |
| Preceded by: Felix Trinidad Vacated |
IBF Light Middleweight boxing champion 12 Oct 2001– 5 Jun 2004 Stripped |
Succeeded by: Verno Phillips |
| Preceded by: Shane Mosley |
WBA Light Middleweight boxing champion 13 March 2004 – May 2005 Vacated title |
Succeeded by: Alejandro Garcia |
| Preceded by: Shane Mosley |
WBC Light Middleweight boxing champion 13 Mar 2004 – May 2005 Vacated title |
Succeeded by: Ricardo Mayorga |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Winky Wright's Career Record
- Solid boxing Winky's Bio and profile
